The highway runs 4.21 miles (6.78 km) from MD 2 near Owensville east to Riverside Drive in Galesville in Anne Arundel County.

The highway heads east as two-lane undivided Owensville Road.

The highway enters the Owensville Historic District, within which the highway intersects Owensville Sudley Road and passes southeast of historic Christ Church.

The highway continues east as Galesville Road into the namesake unincorporated village, where the road passes the Carrie Weedon House, the site of the Galesville Heritage Museum.

[2] MD 255 carries the name Main Street from Woodfield Road to its eastern terminus at Riverside Drive on the West River.