It connects Interstate 75 (I-75) north of St. Ignace with the communities of Hessel, Cedarville and De Tour Village along Lake Huron.

Since the trunkline number was finalized, it was extended eastward to end south of Goetzville in the 1950s, with a further extension to De Tour in the 1950s.

M-134 starts at the interchange for exit 359 along I-75 north of St. Ignace in rural Mackinac County near the St. Martin Bay of Lake Huron.

There Huron Shore Drive continues eastward to Cedarville where the highway meets the south end of M-129 north of Marquette Island.

Farther east, M-134 runs along the north side of the many small bays and channels that separate the Les Cheneaux Islands from the mainland.

The highway uses the ferry, run by the regional public transportation agency, to cross the De Tour Passage.

[10] According to tourism officials in the area, over 100,000 vehicles per year are transported round trip on the ferry with almost twice as many additional passengers.

As of 2022[update], fares start at $20 per car and increase based on the size of the vehicle transported, including a fuel surcharge.

[13] Starting in late 1928 or early 1929, the first route designated as M-134 was a road in Missaukee County from M-66 three miles (4.8 km) north of McBain east to Falmouth in the northern Lower Peninsula.

The highway ended at the Mackinac–Chippewa county line, but an extension farther east was shown on maps of the time as under construction.

[3][4] This segment of roadway was completed in the latter half of 1940, extending M-134 to terminate at M-48 about 10 miles (16 km) west of DeTour.

[26][27] In 1958, the highway west of Hessel was shifted to follow an alignment closer to Lake Huron; the MSHD transferred the former routing of M-134 to local control at that time.