It runs 42.04 miles (67.66 km) in a northwest to southeast direction from LA 86 in New Iberia to the junction of two local roads north of Centerville.

Points of interest along LA 87 include the Bayside antebellum plantation house opposite the Hubertville section of Jeanerette, as well as several sites associated with the Chitimacha Indian tribe at Charenton.

It heads southeast as an undivided two-lane highway through a residential neighborhood, initially traveling along Oak Street.

Exactly one mile (1.6 km) along the route is an intersection with North Lewis Avenue, a commercial thoroughfare that is designated as LA 87 Spur and crosses a vertical lift bridge over Bayou Teche.

[2][3][4] After exiting the city limits, LA 87 continues to parallel the east bank of the bayou through unincorporated Iberia Parish for approximately 10 miles (16 km).

Just before reaching the junction with LA 3182, the highway passes under a canopy of moss-laden live oak trees in front of the historic Bayside plantation home.

Meanwhile, LA 87 continues ahead onto a gravel farm road for over five miles (8.0 km), turning sharply to the west near the midway point.

The gravel portion of the route between Oaklawn and Franklin is classified as a rural local road with the traffic count reported at only 42 vehicles per day.

Complicating matters even further, the numbers 901 and 902 were duplicated in the 1930 act, with Route 902 also defining an unrelated roadway on the opposite side of Bayou Teche.

[12] Thus, the state-maintained roadway along the east bank of Bayou Teche below New Iberia now carried one highway number over its entire length rather than four.

The junction with LA 86 in New Iberia was moved a few blocks away from the Bayou Teche bridge at the time of the renumbering or shortly afterward.

[19] La DOTD is currently engaged in a program that aims to transfer about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of state-owned roadways to local governments over the next several years.

[20] Under this plan of "right-sizing" the state highway system, the portion of LA 87 between Oaklawn and Centerville is proposed for deletion as it no longer meets a significant interurban travel function.

[3][4][22] The designation of LA 87 Spur originated in 1957 when the state constructed a two-lane swing bridge across Bayou Teche at the foot of Lewis Street.