M-123

M-123 is a state trunkline highway in the eastern Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It is one of only a few highways in Michigan that curve around and form a U-shape. In fact, M-123 has three intersections with only two state trunklines; it meets M-28 twice as a result of its U-shaped routing. M-123 also has a rare signed concurrency with a County-Designated Highway in Michigan; in Trout Lake, there is a concurrency with H-40. All of M-123 north of M-28 is a Scenic Heritage Route within the Michigan Heritage Route system. The highway was first designated before 1936 along a section of its current routing. Sections added since then encompass segments formerly belonging to US Highway 2 (US 2) and M-48. The last changes came to the highway in 1962 and 1963, when the northern end was extended and the southern end was truncated slightly. Route description M-123 serves a thinly-populated section of the state. Much of the highway passes through the eastern unit of the Hiawatha National Forest. No part of the highway is listed on the National Highway System, a system of strategically important highways. The section of highway north of the two M-28 junctions is both a Michigan Scenic Heritage Route and part of the Lake Superior Circle Tour. Rogers Park to Paradise The southern terminus of the highway is at exit 352 along Interstate 75 (I-75) north of St. Ignace in Rogers Park. The roadway also connects to County-Designated Highway H-63 (Old US 2) at the interchange. From the interchange north, the highway runs northwest as Tahquamenon Trail to the community of Allenville near Brevort Lake in Brevort Township. Here it meets H-57. Just north of Allenville, the trunkline crosses through the adjacent community of Moran. Allenville was a stop on the Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Railroad (DM&M), and Moran was named after William B. Moran, one of the early settlement's founders. North of Moran the roadway runs parallel to the DM&M's abandoned rail right-of-way and passes by the Fred Dye Nature Sanctuary. Before crossing into Chippewa County, the highway passes through the community of Ozark, home of a rock quarry. North of the county line is the community of Trout Lake, where M-123 meets and merges with H-40 across railroad tracks and through town near Wegwaas, Frenchman and Carp lakes.