The highway serves as a direct route from West Jefferson towards Wilkesboro.

A majority of the route parallels Beaver Creek down to its confluence with the South Fork New River.

[1] The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) measures average daily traffic volumes along many of the roadways it maintains.

In 2016, average daily traffic volumes along NC 163 varied from 2,000 vehicles per day west of the Obids Creek crossing to 5,900 vehicles per day near its western terminus.

[3] Established in 1961 as a new primary routing along an existing secondary road (SR 1002), from West Jefferson to near Horse Gap; little has changed since.