Known as Mount Cook Road, it is a road which is a popular tourist route between the settlements of Twizel and Mount Cook Village.

For the first 31 km of the road, SH 80 runs in a northerly direction parallel with the banks of Lake Pukaki to the right and the Mackenzie Basin to the left.

About 10 kilometres along the road, the basin is superseded by the Ben Ohau Range.

After a further 20 kilometres, the road passes the head of Lake Pukaki where it changes name to the Tasman River.

The highway eventually terminates just east of Mount Cook Village after a further 24 kilometres.