The southern part of the route sees heavy traffic, mostly due to Pahrump's continued growth as a Las Vegas bedroom community.

The route is known as Blue Diamond Road within the Las Vegas area, with the remainder referred to as the Pahrump Valley Highway.

It runs west-southwest towards the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and over Mountain Springs Summit (elevation 5,502 feet (1,677 m)) before turning northwest towards Pahrump.

A section of SR 160 between Las Vegas and Pahrump was closed on the weekend of November 4–5, 2017, for the attempt of a world record for the fastest production car.

[10] The same section of SR 160 was closed again on October 10, 2020 for another attempt of a world record for fastest production car, this time for the SSC Tuatara.