It crosses nearly the entire width of the state, connecting Cusseta, on the southeastern edge of Fort Moore, near Columbus to Tybee Island on the Atlantic coast near Savannah, via Buena Vista, Ellaville, Oglethorpe, Hawkinsville, Cochran, Dublin, Swainsboro, Statesboro, and Savannah.
SR 26 begins at an intersection with US 27/US 280/SR 1/SR 520 (South Georgia Parkway) in Cusseta, in the southeastern part of Fort Moore, in Chattahoochee County.
It proceeds to the east on Clarke Duncan Highway and travels to the north of Chattahoochee County High School.
SR 26 crosses over a Norfolk Southern Railway line once again and re-enters Fort Moore for just over 1 mile (1.6 km).
Farther to the east, in Buena Vista, is an intersection with the southern terminus of SR 41 Conn. (Baker Street).
Just past the Short Street intersection, the roadway begins paralleling a Norfolk Southern Railway line to the southeast.
Around the northwestern city limits of Ellaville, SR 26 and the Norfolk Southern Railway line take different paths to get to downtown.
Just after enter the city limits of Oglethorpe, the bypass ends, and SR 26/SR 49 Truck curves to the east-northeast.
SR 26 travels to the northeast and curves back to the east just before entering Houston County.
The four highways travel to the south-southeast, skirting along the western edge of Veterans Memorial Park, until they intersect US 341/SR 27/SR 230/SR 257 (Broad Street).
The seven-highway concurrency travels to the east-southeast and crosses over the Ocmulgee River on the Roger H. Lawson Memorial Bridge.
Just past Cedar Hill Cemetery is an intersection with the western terminus of SR 126 (Chester Road).
SR 26 then travels northwest of Bleckley County Elementary School and Uchee Trail Country Club.
The five highways cross over the Oconee River on the Herschel Lovett Bridge and enter East Dublin.
They curve to a north-northeast direction and cross over the Ohoopee River on the William H. Brantley Jr. Bridge and re-enter Emanuel County.
They travel through George L. Smith State Park and intersect SR 121 just before entering Bulloch County.
The two highways curve to the southeast and pass Eastside Cemetery just before intersecting the southern terminus of SR 24 (East Main Street).
A short distance later, I-516/US 80/SR 21/SR 25/SR 26 crosses over various railroad tracks and have an incomplete interchange with West Gwinnett Street.
A short distance later, the concurrency crosses over some railroad tracks of CSX and have an incomplete interchange with Tremont Road.
They cross over Gray Creek and then intersect the western terminus of Johnny Mercer Boulevard, the path of former SR 367.
[12][13] The next month, a portion northwest of Buena Vista had a sand clay or top soil surface.
[16][17] In October, from the west end of the US 80 and SR 19 concurrencies to Dublin, the highway had a completed hard surface.
[17][18] By the end of April 1933, the entire Johnson County portion had a completed hard surface.
[22][23] In March 1934, the Emanuel County portion of the Dublin–Swainsboro segment had a sand clay or top soil surface.
[26][27] In the first quarter of 1935, nearly the entire Chattahoochee County portion of the Cusseta–Buena Vista segment had completed grading, but was not surfaced.
[27][28] By the middle of the year, nearly the entire Pulaski County portion of the Henderson–Hawkinsville segment had a completed hard surface.
[30][31] Late in 1936, two segments had a completed hard surface: from Buena Vista to Ellaville and from Henderson to Hawkinsville.
[65] The at-grade intersection at Jimmy DeLoach Parkway's current southern terminus is to be converted into a full diamond interchange.
It was proposed to be built from US 17/US 80/SR 17/SR 25/SR 26 on the northwestern edge of Savannah south-southwest to just south of US 17/SR 25 and then east-southeast to Montgomery Street.
Between June 1963 and the end of 1965, the western segment of SR 26 Spur was established between two intersections with US 80/SR 26 in the northern part of the city.