The highway was originally designed to be the northernmost segment of State Route 1, but after construction of the Coast Highway through the Lost Coast region was abandoned, the route to Ferndale was renumbered to SR 211.

Currently, Route 211 runs about 5 miles (8 km) from roughly the intersection of Main Street and Ocean Avenue in Ferndale north to US 101 in Fernbridge, crossing over the bridge of the same name over the Eel River.

However, the highway was meant to extend south through the Lost Coast region to California State Route 1 near Rockport.

This remaining 103 mi (166 km) of Highway 211 is unlikely ever to be constructed because of the steep and unstable highlands of the Lost Coast.

[5] Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was when the route was established, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.