The highway connects the Alabama state line with Summerville, via Cloudland and Menlo.

SR 48 begins at the Alabama state line, where the roadway continues as Alabama State Route 117.

SR 48 continues east, through rural areas of the county, to Summerville, where it meets its eastern terminus, an intersection with US 27/SR 1 in downtown.

[citation needed] Between Menlo and Summerville, the route sees an Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) over 5,000 vehicles.

[citation needed] The entire route is in Chattooga County.