From west to east, the road passes through the townships of Sinhua, Yujing, Jiasian, and then the aboriginal communities of Taoyuan, Meishan, and Lidao.

Before crossing the Central Mountain Range, the road follows the Laonong River Valley for a considerable distance.

The road, considered one of South Taiwan's major tourist attractions, is sometimes damaged by landslides, especially during the wet summer months.

The route was cut through the mountains in the early 1970s, but the highest sections were not properly surfaced until 1992.

[1][2] The highway was badly damaged by Typhoon Morakot in 2009, with landslides washing away entire sections, and has been closed ever since.