State Route 854 begins northwest of Lovelock at an intersection with Pitt Road/Eagle Picher Mine Road (SR 399).

From there, the two-lane highway travels south along Lone Mountain Road for about 1.6 miles (2.6 km), passing a local cemetery.

The route then turns east and heads through farmlands towards downtown Lovelock.

[1][3] SR 854 was originally designated as the easternmost end of the much longer State Route 48.

SR 48 followed the current highway away from Lovelock, then turned westward along present-day State Route 399 passing near the Seven Troughs Mine area to terminate at State Route 34 at Gerlach.