MD 488 is a connector between La Plata and eastern Charles County, including the town of Hughesville.

The state highway heads northeast as a two-lane undivided road, passing Radio Station Road, which leads to Laurel Springs Regional Park and La Plata High School.

MD 488 leaves La Plata and enters a forested area in which the highway crosses Kerrick Swamp and intersects Piney Church Road, which heads north toward Regency Furniture Stadium, home of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and St. Charles High School.

The state highway passes the historic home The Lindens and crosses Piney Branch—a tributary of the Zekiah Swamp, which parallels the highway to the southeast—before reaching its eastern terminus at a directional crossover intersection with MD 5 (Leonardtown Road) west of Bryantown.

The two sections from MD 6 to the La Plata town limits and from there across Kerrick Swamp to near Piney Church Road were built in 1933.