Known for most of its length as Kenilworth Avenue, the highway runs 9.40 miles (15.13 km) from the District of Columbia boundary in Tuxedo, where the highway continues south as District of Columbia Route 295 (DC 295), north to MD 212 in Beltsville.

MD 201 is a four to six-lane divided highway that connects Washington, D.C., with the northern Prince George's County municipalities of Cheverly, Bladensburg, Edmonston, Riverdale Park, College Park, Berwyn Heights, and Greenbelt.

The highway also provides part of the connections from Interstate 95 (I-95)/I-495 to a pair of Washington Metro stations.

The Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA) plans to extend MD 201 north toward Laurel.

MD 201 begins at the District of Columbia boundary in Tuxedo as Kenilworth Avenue, which continues into Washington, D.C., as DC 295.

The highway drops to four lanes ahead of its partial cloverleaf interchange with MD 450 (Annapolis Road).

The route runs along the border of Riverdale Park to Brier Ditch, just north of which the highway intersects Campus Drive and Good Luck Road.

[1][2] MD 201 has a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-95/I-495 (Capital Beltway) and meets the western end of Crescent Road opposite the entrance to MDSHA's District 3 office.

The highway continues through the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, within which the highway crosses Beaverdam Creek and curves north to its terminus at the intersection of Powder Mill Road and Edmonston Road on the eastern edge of Beltsville.

MD 201 continued along a road that no longer exists across Beaverdam Creek and the Pennsylvania Railroad (now Amtrak Northeast Corridor).

The portion of John Hanson Highway from New York Avenue to the interchange opened that same year.

[21] The following year, the divided highway was extended north through the interchange with the Capital Beltway to relocated Crescent Road in Greenbelt.

MD 201 would continue along Virginia Manor Road to Konterra Drive (Maryland Route 206), which has an interchange with I-95.