An example of the Alternative 1 designation remaining is on the old Princes Highway route from Dandenong to South Melbourne in Victoria.

It leaves the Sydney central business district via the Eastern Distributor, and continues southward through the Sydney metropolitan area via Southern Cross Drive, General Holmes Drive, The Grand Parade, President Avenue, and the Princes Highway (NSW).

It then proceeds west following the Princes Highway to Warrnambool, into South Australia to Mount Gambier, and then to Adelaide.

The Savannah Way is the largely unsignposted route for Highway 1 between the QLD/NT border, east of Borroloola, and Normanton, Queensland.

With such a vast length, road conditions vary greatly;[4] from multi-lane freeways in populous urban and rural areas, to sealed two-laners in remote areas, such as the Nullarbor Plain, to single lane roads, such as in northern Queensland.

Isolated roadhouses serving the small amount of passing traffic are often the only signs of human activity for hundreds of kilometres.

Highway 1 has been described as a "death trap",[4] particularly two-lane sections in northern Queensland, due to driver fatigue.

[4] The vast distances between destinations and limited rest areas, especially those suitable to trucks, contribute to the problem.

Large capital cities, busy holiday resorts, dramatic coastlines, forests ranging from tropical to temperate gum forests, giant karri stands, scrubland, deserts, and huge tropical swamps are some of the variety of landscapes that can be found along the route.

A drive around Highway 1 with a major detour to Uluru and back again practically covers most of Australia, making it a popular route for vanlifers and overlanders.

[6] While there have been previous attempts (notably Motor Magazine's 2004 record of 6 days, 8 hours and 52 minutes[7]) which skipped inland direct to Mt Isa, the Highway 1 to Hell team travelled the route of Highway 1 skipping Tasmania's stretch of road[8] [9] (equaling 14,280 km (8,873.181 mi)) in 5 days, 13 hours and 43 minutes.