The road heads east across the Farmington River and turns southeast, passing by Talcott Mountain State Park then heading into the town of Bloomfield, where it becomes Simsbury Road.

In Bloomfield, it passes the western end of Route 178 and continues generally southeast across the southwestern part of town into West Hartford.

At the Bloomfield-West Hartford line, the road becomes four lanes wide as it intersects with Route 218.

The road runs for another 1.7 miles (2.7 km) in West Hartford as it continues southeast to end at an intersection with Route 189 near the University of Hartford.

Route 185 was established in 1932,[2] running north–south from US 44 in West Hartford to the current western terminus.