It is a short spur of U.S. Route 158 (US 158), connecting the U.S. Highway to the small unincorporated community of Poplar Branch.

In 2002, the numbering of this road and of what was then NC 136 which was located in Iredell and Cabarrus counties swapped to place NC 3 near the home of Dale Earnhardt, a deceased NASCAR driver from Kannapolis who drove the #3 car.

NC 136 begins at an intersection with US 158, heading east on two-lane undivided Macedonia Church Road.

NC 136 runs through more woodland with some homes before coming to a dead end at a boat launch on the Currituck Sound.

[5] This was done in order for the other road to honor Dale Earnhardt, a NASCAR driver from Kannapolis that drove the #3 car who was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500.