In between, M-72 runs across Northern Michigan woodland, agricultural areas of the Leelanau Peninsula near Traverse City, and the Au Sable River watershed.

M-72 starts its trans-peninsular journey at M-22 in the community of Empire on the shores of Lake Michigan in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

The two highways run along Grandview Parkway, a four-lane boulevard on the shore of the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay.

These three highways stay merged in a triple concurrency along the length of Grandview Parkway and across the Boardman River along the bay, bypassing downtown.

At Garfield, M-37 turns north to run up the Old Mission Peninsula which separates the west and east arms of Grand Traverse Bay.

M-72 turns east to cross rural eastern Grand Traverse County along rolling hills through the communities of Williamsburg and Barker Creek.

M-72 crosses the Manistee River at the Kalkaska–Crawford county line and passes the northern shore of Lake Margrethe west of town in the Camp Grayling military reservation.

Fairview marks the northern and eastern end of the concurrency as M-33 turns north towards Atlanta, and M-72 continues easterly into Alcona County.

North of Curran, M-72 merges southward with M-65 for approximately 7 miles (11 km) before heading due east through the Barton City and Lincoln areas to Harrisville.

[6] M-72 has been listed on the National Highway System (NHS) between the intersection of Division Street and Grandview Parkway in Traverse City and the southern junction with BL I-75 in Grayling.

[8] In addition to the NHS listing, M-72 has been included on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour along its segments concurrent with M-22 and US 31 in the Traverse City area.

[3] M-72 was first designated by July 1, 1919, and it ran from the middle of Alcona County near Barton City east to Harrisville and then south along Lake Huron shore to Greenbush.

[16] The Michigan State Highway Department rerouted M-33/M-72 near Fairview in late 1951 or early 1952, turning the former route back to local control.

[24][25] In 2008, M-72 within Alcona County was named the "Hazen Shirley 'Kiki' Cuyler Memorial Highway" in honor of the Michigan native and Hall of Fame baseball player.

[26] M-208 was a state trunkline highway in that served as a spur route from US 27 (current BL I-75) to the "Wakeley Bridge" in Crawford County in the 1930s.