The road connects Markle, Bluffton, and Geneva and passes through mostly farmland outside of cities and towns.

This extension was removed between late 1990s and early 2000s, the east end of SR 116 was truncated to its current location at US 27.

East of Markle the road rural Wells County heading east-southeast, parallel to the Wabash River, and passing through farmland.

[1][2][3] In Bluffton the road crosses a railroad track before and intersection with SR 1 (Main Street).

SR 116 passes south of Metropolitan School District Bluffton-Harrison buildings before leaving Bluffton.

[1][2][3][4] Past Bluffton the road bends to become southeast-northwest, parallel to the Wabash River and south of the Ouabache State Park.

This segment of SR 116 has the lowest traffic count of the entire length of the state road at 803 vehicles on average daily in 2016.