It is one of the four main roads used by motorists and travelers to access Baguio from the northwestern lowlands of Luzon.

The La Union section of Marcos Highway was named Jose D. Aspiras Highway after former La Union assemblyman and Tourism Minister Jose Aspiras.

The 519-meter (1,703 ft) long Badiwan Viaduct, constructed in 2001, with help from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), serves as a major bridge along Badiwan, Barangay Poblacion in Tuba, Benguet.

[9][10] Several meters from it is a concrete rock shed to protect motorists from landslides.

[5] The blasted remains of the bust of Ferdinand Marcos,[11] a giant concrete head sculpture of the former president, can be seen along the highway at Barangay Palina, in Pugo, La Union.