[3] At its northern end, the road passes through imposing plantations of radiata pine trees that supply the timber complex of Oberon.

The final section of around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long, located between the Abercrombie River and the end of Wombeyan Caves Road was sealed in February 2008.

In 2007, the Upper Lachlan Shire received a grant of $710,000 over 3 years from the New South Wales Government to cover one third of the cost of realigning and sealing that remaining section and will allocate $1,420,000 of council funds over those three years to complete the work.

Laggan-Taralga Road from Crookwell ends in the historic town of Taralga a little further south.

256 was declared along this road on 8 August 1928, from the intersection with Great Western Highway at Oberon and Taralga to the intersection with Hume Highway at Goulburn (and continuing northwards to Bathurst);[2] with the passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929[7] to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, this was amended to Main Road 256 on 8 April 1929.