It traverses south-to-north through portions of Charlton, Ware, Bacon, Appling, Toombs, Emanuel, Jefferson, and Richmond counties in the southeastern and east-central parts of the state.

SR 4 begins at the Florida state line, at a bridge over the St. Marys River, which is south-southeast of Folkston.

They overpass railroad tracks, pass Dogwood Lane, leave Homeland and, resume through rural parts of the county.

US 1, US 23, and SR 4 cross over Little Hurricane Creek on the PFC Clarence Loran Gaskins Memorial Bridge and curve to the northwest.

Upon entering Alma, they pass Bacon County High School Just south of an intersection with Floyd Street and Radio Station Road, they begin a curve to the northeast.

They leave the city limits of Alma and cross over Hurricane Creek on the Curtis Lee Marion Bridge.

US 1 and SR 4 continue northeast and cross over Big Satilla Creek and enter Appling County.

They pass a picnic area just before crossing over the Altamaha River on the Joseph Simmons Alexander, Sr. Memorial Bridge to enter Toombs County.

An intersection with South Washington Street leads to Partin Park and the Lyons Recreation Department.

They cross over Pendleton Creek, travel through rural areas with agricultural land on both sides of the roadway before entering Emanuel County.

They curve to the north, very briefly re-enter the city, and then travel just to the west of Emanuel County Airport.

Just after a curve northwest, travel on a bridge over some railroad tracks, and intersect SR 78 and US 319 (East Calhoun Street).

The highway curves back to the north, then northwest, just south of an intersection with Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Lincoln Park Road.

In Aldreds, an intersection with Walden Brett Road leads to the unincorporated community of Pine Hill.

The concurrency curves to the northeast and intersects Quaker Road, which functions as a northern bypass of the city.

They parallel the southeastern edge of Fort Eisenhower, then cross over Brier Creek and enter Richmond County and the city limits of Augusta.

Crossing over Butler Creek, it meets another former portion of US 1, and curves to the north to an intersection with Meadowbrook Drive and Barton Chapel Road.

Then, the highway travels on the Rosa T. Beard Memorial Bridge over Poplar Street, Wrightsboro Road, and some railroad tracks.

At an intersection with Laney Walker Boulevard, which leads to the college and the Health Sciences campus of Augusta University, the highway enters the Medical District proper.

It intersects with Independence Drive, crosses over some railroad tracks and then passes the John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School.

It indicated that US 1 and SR 4 entered the main part of the city on Deans Bridge Road, like it currently does.

At an intersection with 5th Street, the four highways split off of SR 28 to the north-northeast and traveled to the South Carolina state line.

[24][25] By June 1963, SR 15 was shifted to its current concurrency with US 1/US 23/SR 4 between Florida and Racepond and on US 1/SR 4 from Baxley to South Thompson.

This portion may eventually be incorporated into the proposed eastern extension of Interstate 14 (I-14), which is currently entirely within Central Texas and may be extended into Augusta.

[citation needed] The DOT will widen 21 miles (34 km) of US 1/SR 4 from north of Wadley to Wrens and will be a total of $17M in budget.

was established in 1996, replacing the old mainline US 1/SR 4 through Waycross, via Memorial Drive, Plant Avenue, State Street, and Alma Highway.

was a 1.613-mile-long (2.596 km) alternate route of SR 4 in Alma that traveled south-to-north through the western part of the city.

It began at an intersection with the US 1/US 23/SR 4 mainline (Pierce Street) just south of the main part of Alma, although US 23 is not signed here.

Just past an intersection with South Church Street, it passed an office of the Bacon County Department of Family and Children Services.

It travels north through the heart of downtown, while the main route of US 1/SR 4 heads through the eastern part of the city.