U.S. Route 41
United States Highway 41 is a north-south United States highway that runs from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Miami Beach, Florida.
Description of route
- The northern terminus of the highway is at Copper Harbor, Michigan, at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior. It descends the Keweenaw Peninsula southward, then crosses the western Upper Peninsula eastward to Marquette. From Marquette it cuts south to Lake Michigan, then southward along the coast of Green Bay to Menominee. It crosses the Menominee River at its mouth and enters Wisconsin at Marquette. In northern Wisconsin, it passes through the city of Green Bay. After travelling through Milwaukee, it joins with Interstate 94.
- After entering Illinois it splits off of I-94 and continues as the Skokie Highway for around 25 miles before briefly rejoining I-94. It then continues south to Chicago, Illinois' lakefront area as "Lake Shore Drive", running along the shores of Lake Michigan and past downtown Chicago.
- From there it continues south through western Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, where it passes through the cities of Nashville, Murfreesboro, and Chattanooga. Along this route is an Alternate Highway 41 (signed "41A"), located to the west of the main Highway 41. It begins in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, rejoining the mother route for a very short distance in Nashville, before separating again and rejoining Highway 41 in Monteagle, Tennessee.
- It parallels Interstate 75 south through the state of Georgia and into the state capital of Atlanta. It continues south through the city of Macon, continuing to follow I-75 closely into Florida where it passes the southwestern edge of the Osceola National Forest and Okefenokee Swamp.
- About a third of the way into Florida, it drifts west toward the Gulf of Mexico and runs through the cities of Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers, and Naples.
- At Naples it turns southeast into the vast Everglades wilderness where it's known as "The Tamiami Trail" (Tampa to Miami Trail); this section has been designated a National Scenic Byway. The byway runs almost due east through the Big Cypress National Preserve and north of Everglades National Park.
- It continues east through the south end of Miami, and finally terminates on the southern end of Miami Beach at the Atlantic Ocean.
Termini
As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus is east of Copper Harbor, Michigan at a turnaround in a state park on Lake Superior in the state's Upper Peninsula. Its southern terminus is in Miami, Florida at an intersection with U.S. Highway 1.
Historic termini
When their routes were originally laid out in 1926, US 41's southern endpoint was in Naples, Florida at the western endpoint of US 94. In 1950, US 94 was decommissioned, and the entire route became part of US 41, giving it a short east-west section. The former US 94 route ended in Miami, Florida at the same intersection it does now (in 2004).
However, from 1955 to 2000, the US 41 was extended across to Miami Beach, ending at Florida State Highway A1A.
Alternate routes
As of 2004, Alternate US 41 (signed "41A") has a northern terminus in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 10 miles (16 km) north of the Tennessee line. It serves the city of Clarksville, Tennessee on its way to Nashville, where it separates again to serve Shelbyville, Winchester, and Tullahoma before finally rejoining the mother route atop Monteagle Mountain. US-41A runs to the west of US-41 for its entire length, aside from one mile in Downtown Nashville, where they are contiguous.
States traversed
The highway passes through the following states:
Related US Routes
- U.S. Highway 141
- U.S. Highway 241
- U.S. Highway 341
- U.S. Highway 441
- U.S. Highway 541
- U.S. Highway 641
- U.S. 94 had no "child" routes
- List of United States Highways
Trivia
U.S. Highway 41 was immortalized in the song Ramblin' Man by the Allman Brothers.
Sources and external links
- Endpoints of U.S. highways: U.S. Highway 41 and U.S. Highway 94 (used with permission)