It connects Guerguerat in the south near the border with Mauritania to Tangier on the northwest coast of Morocco.

[1] It is an important highway running along the western Atlantic coast of the country.

It passes through Rabat, Larache and other important cities and for a substantial part of the Rabat-Tangier leg runs parallel with the A1 Rabat–Tangier expressway.

Between Tan-Tan and Tarfaya, the route runs through Khenifiss National Park.

National Route 1 is a part of a major transport corridor which runs from Morocco via Mauritania to Dakar in Senegal.