The state highway runs 1.94 miles (3.12 km) from MD 7 in Rosedale north to the end of state maintenance in Overlea.

MD 588 heads north as a two-lane undivided road through residential subdivisions.

The state highway passes through a commercial area before crossing I-95 with no access.

MD 588 continues north through a residential area of Overlea, passing Overlea High School before reaching its northern terminus just beyond the intersection with Brookwood Avenue.

[1][2] MD 588 was brought into the state highway system when the existing county highway was widened with concrete shoulders and resurfaced with macadam in 1935.