The 147-kilometre (91 mi) highway runs generally north–south, with Somerset, near Burnie, as its northern terminus and Zeehan as its southern terminus.

The highway is susceptible to ice and snow in winter.

One of the notorious sections is at the edge of Mount Black; numerous accidents have occurred in the area.

[5] Portions of the highway have been made redundant by extra roads built by Hydro Tasmania during their work on the upper Pieman River scheme and the Henty River dam schemes.

[7] Prior to the construction of the highway, the west coast of Tasmania could only be accessed by the Emu Bay Railway, or by ship to Regatta Point or Strahan in Macquarie Harbour.