Duluth, Minnesota at the western end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the Duluth–Superior seaport is the largest and farthest-inland freshwater seaport in North America. By far the largest and busiest on the Great Lakes, the port handles an average of 46 million short tons of cargo and over 1,100 visits each year from domestic and international vessels. With of waterfront, it is one of the leading bulk cargo ports in North America and ranks among the top 20 ports in the United States. Duluth is a major shipping port for taconite pellets, made from concentrated low-grade iron ore and destined for midwestern
Duluth, Minnesota winter of 1997–98. The Blue Heron is part of the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System, and is available for charter by research scientists on any of the Great Lakes. Local newspapers include the "BusinessNorth" monthly, the "Duluth News Tribune", the "Duluth Budgeteer News," the free newspapers "Transistor", "The Zenith", and "The Reader Weekly". Locally based nationally distributed magazines include "Cabin Life", "Lake Superior Magazine," and "New Moon Magazine". The Duluth area marks the northern endpoint of Interstate Highway 35, which stretches south to Laredo, Texas. U.S. Highways that serve the area are U.S. Highway 53, which stretches from La Crosse,