The highway is routed to serve Mokelumne Hill and West Point in Calaveras County.

At Mokelumne Hill, the route intersects SR 49, taking a slightly more winded path.

SR 26 enters and exits the city of West Point before making an extremely long hairpin turn.

[5] The segment between the community of Mokelumne Hill and West Point is named the Stephen P. Teale Highway, after the state senator.

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.