The highway travels through the city of Nelson and nearby town of Richmond, continuing southwest across the plains of the Wairoa and Motueka Rivers.

The highway continues south past Ross and Harihari, moving through state forests as it crosses several fast-moving rivers.

Seventy kilometres south of Harihari, the highway skirts Lake Mapourika and reaches the tourist settlement of Franz Josef Glacier.

The glacier itself, one of two within easy walking distance of the highway, lies nearby in the Southern Alps, which here come very close to the Tasman coast.

The highway continues along the western shore of Hāwea, then south along the Cardrona River to Albert Town, close to the tourist centre of Wānaka.

From here, SH6 turns west, following the narrow and twisting Kawarau Gorge, emerging close to the wine-producing area of Gibbston.

[4] On 17 September 2000, a large-scale rock fall buried the highway at the bluff, and several motorists narrowly avoided being killed.

The highway turns south to follow the southeastern shore of the lake, skirting the foot of The Remarkables and the Hector Mountains.

The highway continues to follow the Ōreti south, through Lumsden, then across the Southland Plains, past the town of Winton before reaching its terminus at a junction with SH 1 in central Invercargill.

SH 6 in Nelson City previously went through Stoke between Annesbrook Drive and the Richmond Deviation via Main Road.