The northern part of Kings Road passes through residential areas and crosses the Little Para River.

East of the railway lines, the character changes to industrial manufacturing, and the Parafield Airport.

It rises up the face of the Adelaide Hills through a corridor of native bushland and sweeps past the Golden Grove development of the 1980s to North East Road at Modbury.

Much of the McIntyre Road corridor was originally reserved as part of the 1960s Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study (MATS Plan).

McIntyre Road was opened in 1989, funded primarily by the Australian Government.