Part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) system, it runs from Sendai Station in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture to Uzen-Chitose Station in Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture, acting as a connector between the Tōhoku Main Line/Tōhoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line in southern Tōhoku.

The name "Senzan" (仙山) takes the first Kanji characters from the two cities that the line connects: Sendai (仙台) and Yamagata (山形).

Presently, parts of the track are being elevated and there are plans to build a new station near the Shin-Ishinomaki Highway railroad crossing.

However, trips to the Sakunami Hot Springs as well as the Yamadera temple well known from Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi are popular.

Also, during the ski-season, the only way to get to places such as Omoshiroyama is the train and there are a great number of passengers during the tourist season.

There used to be many more trains that utilized the Tōhoku Main Line's tracks, but the numbers have decreased in recent years.