Here Are The Busiest Travel Days For Thanksgiving In Minnesota

If you’re going to be heading over the river and through the woods this Thanksgiving, here’s a heads-up about which days will be the busiest in the air and on the roads here in Minnesota.
Thanksgiving is set for Thursday, November 28th this year, which is fairly late. In fact, it’s *the* latest date on which Thanksgiving can fall. The Farmers’ Almanac notes that since 1941, Thanksgiving has been held on the fourth Thursday in November. So if you do the math, sure enough, the 28th is the latest date possible for Thanksgiving. (The 22nd would be the earliest, btw.)
The Thanksgiving holiday is a uniquely American tradition, filled with tons of food and a gathering together with family and friends as we express our gratitude. It’s a holiday that’s even older than our country is. According to the National Archives Museum, the First Thanksgiving was held back in 1621 near Plymouth, Massachusetts ‘to mark a successful harvest’ that year.
These days, if you’re like many Minnesotans, the Thanksgiving holiday involves traveling. According to AAA, over 55.4 million travelers headed 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period last year. All those travelers made for a busy day at airports like the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Bloomington. The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) said over 3 million travelers went through security checkpoints on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year, a 9 percent increase from 2022.
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Here in the Bold North, however, most of that Thanksgiving traveling involves driving. In fact, AAA notes that over 89 percent of travel for Turkey Day is done in the car, so if you’re packing the Crockpot filled with some delicious Thanksgiving food into the backseat with the kids, we now know just which days you’ll encounter the most traffic here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
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Travel site Afar has the details on the busiest travel days this year:
The Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving (November 26th and 27th)
The Sunday after Thanksgiving (December 1st)
Specifically, Afar says the AAA reports that between 2 and 6 pm on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (November 27th) will be *THE* overall busiest time to drive. If your holiday plans have you on the road at that time, and you’re looking for the most updated traffic information, be sure to check out the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and its Minnesota 511 website.
The Minnesota 511 site and app include real-time updates on traffic incidents and construction info, streaming video, road condition reports, traffic cams, searchable list views, and more. All good things to check before you hit the road this holiday season!
And once you get to your Thanksgiving destination here in the Bold North and consume all that food, if you’re tired of watching football, keep scrolling to check out a list of the 25 Best Thanksgiving Movies of All Time!