It is the northernmost cross-state highway in Louisiana and runs between Interstate 20 (I-20) and the Arkansas state line for its entire distance.

LA 2 spans nine parishes, connecting five parish seats[a] with direct connections to the remaining four, traveling through Homer, Bastrop, and smaller communities such as Hosston, Plain Dealing, Sarepta, Bernice, Farmerville, Mer Rouge, and Oak Grove.

An interchange with the newly constructed extension of I-49 was scheduled to be completed in Spring 2013 and opened to traffic later in the year.

LA 2 proceeds east as an undivided two-lane highway through the community of Trees then curves to the northeast and back to the east around the tip of Caddo Lake to intersect LA 1 at a point 3.1 miles (5.0 km) north of Oil City.

After 4.8 miles (7.7 km), LA 2 enters Hosston, where it intersects US 71, which heads through Ida into Arkansas on the north and to Shreveport on the south.

3.0 miles (4.8 km) outside of Hosston, LA 2 crosses a bridge over the Red River and into Bossier Parish.

It then crosses the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) tracks and shortly thereafter intersects LA 157 (North Magnolia Street), which takes a northeastern course toward Springhill.

[2][5][6] In Webster Parish, LA 2 enters Sarepta and intersects US 371, which heads north into Cullen and Springhill and south into Minden.

LA 2 then dips slightly to the south and crosses Bayou Dorcheat at a point known as Sykes Ferry.

LA 9 heads northeast through Summerfield to Junction City and south through Homer to points such as Athens and Arcadia.

LA 2 then continues in a general eastward direction for 8.3 miles (13.4 km) before making the first of several crossings over parts of Bayou D'Arbonne Lake.

One block later at Miller Street, LA 33 is added to the concurrency, having entered from the direction of Marion to the northeast.

After passing through the center of town, LA 2 turns east onto East Water Street, gaining a center turning lane, while LA 15/LA 33 continues southward across Bayou D'Arbonne Lake toward Monroe and Ruston, respectively.

[2][10][13] 3.6 miles (5.8 km) past the intersection with LA 830-3, the three concurrent highways enter the village of Mer Rouge on Davenport Avenue, its main street.

Reaching the village's main junction, which lies on either side of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, US 165 turns northward toward Bonita and into Arkansas; US 425 turns south toward points such as Oak Ridge and Rayville; LA 138 begins and heads south toward Collinston; and LA 2 continues on its own as an undivided two-lane highway.

After running due east for a distance of 11.4 miles (18.3 km), LA 2 crosses the Boeuf River into West Carroll Parish.

LA 2 travels east for a final 6.9 miles (11.1 km) before reaching its eastern terminus, US 65, at Highland, a point just north of Lake Providence.

[23][24][25][26] LA 2 was created with the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering,[27] and its route has seen two significant alignment changes—the bypassing of Homer and a re-routing through Webster Parish—and a series of other improvements.

From the Bayou Dorcheat bridge at Sykes Ferry (the original western terminus of LA 2 Alt.

[33][34] Other alignment changes have included the creation of a one-way pair through Bastrop around 1969 with Madison Avenue converted to carry westbound traffic only and Jefferson Avenue added to carry eastbound traffic;[35][36] the slight relocation of the intersection with US 165 at Sterlington around 1982 (Waterside Drive northeast of Old Sterlington Road is a remnant of the original connection);[37][38] the streamlining of the junction at Leton about the same time;[37][38] the shift onto a new bridge over Bayou Dorcheat at Sykes Ferry around 1984;[7][32] and the re-routing onto a parallel street through Plain Dealing (LA 2 originally followed Palmetto Street east of LA 3).

[6][39] More minor alignment changes resulted from the smoothing of several curves along the route, mostly in Claiborne and Union parishes.

[8][9][29][40] More recent alterations have included: a change of connector in Vivian, slightly shortening the route by following Camp Road instead of East Arkansas Avenue;[4][41] the widening of US 63/US 167 to four lanes through Bernice, much of which is concurrent with LA 2, by converting Cherry Street to carry northbound traffic only and parallel Plum Street added to carry southbound traffic;[9][42] and lastly, the construction of a high-level bridge over the Ouachita River slightly shifted the alignment at Sterlington.

Construction is currently underway by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (La DOTD) to extend I-49 north from Shreveport to the Arkansas state line parallel to US 71, a project scheduled for completion in 2016.

An interchange with LA 2 has been constructed east of Hosston and is set to open in Summer 2013 along with all but the southernmost portion of the project on the northwest side of Shreveport.

[b][27] Its route has seen only one major change, the relocation of its western terminus from Sykes Ferry to Shongaloo in the early 1970s.