Ontario Highway 121

Highway 121
Route information
Maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
Length	133.7 km[2] (83.1 mi)
Existed	May 25, 1955[1]–May 2003
Major junctions
South end	Highway 35 at Powles Corners
Major intersections	Highway 35A in Fenelon Falls  Highway 503 in Kinmount  Highway 35 in Minden  Highway 118 west in Haliburton Village  Highway 503 west in Tory Hill
East end	Highway 28 in Paudash
Location
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Towns	Fenelon Falls, Minden, Haliburton Village
Villages	Burnt River, Kinmount, Essonville, Tory Hill, Cheddar, Cardiff, Paudash
Highway system
Ontario provincial highways Current Former 400-series
← Highway 118 → Highway 124
Former provincial highways ←  Highway 120 Highway 122  →

King's Highway 121, commonly referred to as Highway 121, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connected several communities in the cottage country region of Central Ontario on the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. Between Fenelon Falls and Minden, Highway 121 served as an alternative route to Highway 35, which was severely congested during summer weekends. From Minden, the highway branched east to Haliburton Village and thereafter followed the present route of Highway 118 to Highway 28 in Paudash.

Highway 121 was established in 1955, connecting to Highway 35 near Fenelon Falls and Minden. It was extended to Tory Hill via Haliburton Village the following year. 1956 also saw the discovery of significant uranium deposits in the Bancroft area, prompting the Department of Highways to construct a new east–west route, Highway 109. It was built to connect Highway 503 (then 500) at Tory Hill with Highway 28 near Paudash; however, in 1964 it would be absorbed into the routing of Highway 121, bringing the highway to its maximum length of 133.7 kilometres (83.1 mi).

The route remained unchanged until the mid-1990s, when government cutbacks led to a mass transferring—or downloading—of a significant portion of the provincial highway network. In 1997, Highway 121 was downloaded between its southern terminus and the community of Fell, north of Fenelon Falls, as well as from north of Kinmount to Highway 35 in Minden. The section between Fell and Kinmount as well as between Highway 35 and the eastern terminus of Highway 118 was downloaded in 1998, resulting in a common terminus with the latter. This was rectified in 2003 by renumbering the remaining length of Highway 121 as an eastern extension of Highway 118.