The route travels 67 miles (108 km), from an interchange with Interstate 35 (I-35) north of Perry, to Westport, just west of Tulsa.

The Lone Chimney service plaza, a twenty-four-hour concession area, is located in the median of the turnpike east of the interchange with the spur.

[1][5] On February 1, 1988, the Oklahoma Transportation Commission unanimously approved an extension of US-412 from its original western terminus at Walnut Ridge, Arkansas to Woodward, overlapping the Cimarron Turnpike.

[6] As of 2022[update], passengers of two-axle vehicles (such as cars and motorcycles) pay a total of $7.45 to travel the entire length of the Cimarron Turnpike.

[9] On May 20, 2021, Senator Jim Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma, introduced legislation to designate the portion of US-412 between I-35 in Noble County and I-49 in Springdale, Arkansas as future Interstate 42.

The senators' stated reasons for seeking an Interstate designation along the US-412 included encouraging economic development, expanding opportunities for employment in the region, making travel safer and shipping easier, attracting new businesses, and better connecting rural and urban communities.

Other supporters of the measure include the mayor of Tulsa, G. T. Bynum, and the heads of both ODOT and the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT).

On August 2, 2021, the Oklahoma Transportation Commission unanimously approved a motion to apply the SH-312 designation to the turnpike.

ODOT Director Tim Gatz stated in the Transportation Commission meeting that the numbering addition was primarily to aid in navigation using digital mapping and routing applications.