The highway passes through remote, wooded, and hilly terrain for its entire length.

Route 516 begins at an intersection with Trans-Labrador Highway (Route 510) at Cartwright Junction and heads northward through remote, hilly, and wooded terrain for the next several kilometres.

It crosses the Paradise River before meeting a local road leading to the community of the same name.

This aforementioned intersection is located at the site of the former Paradise River Airport.

The highway then parallels the eastern shore of Sandwich Bay for several kilometres, where it passes by Cartwright Airport, before entering the Cartwright town limits.