The segment maintained by Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) begins at US 41 north of the entrance to Rainbow Springs State Park, where it moves at a northeast angle before crossing under a narrow railroad bridge.

Immediately after the SR 19 intersection, the road crosses the Marion-Lake county line and runs along an overlook and camping area at Wildcat Lake.

The road curves back east, and then northeast again as it passes along the south side of Volusia Speedway Park before the intersection of SR 11 in DeLeon Springs.

Despite officially entering the City of Ormond Beach, the highway runs along the north side of Tiger Bay State Forest and the Dan Rice Airport, but then becomes more suburban as it approaches the vicinity of the Tomoka River where the Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway ends just before I-95 at exit 268 which is a block away from CR 4009.

The road makes one last left curve at Old Tomoka Avenue before approaching the grade crossing of the Florida East Coast Railroad main line, and then intersects with US 1 (North and South Yonge Street).

From there, SR 40 overlaps the Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail, where the divider begins again on the Granada Bridge over the Halifax River, and immediately intersects John Anderson Drive (CR 2803), where one leg of the scenic route heads north and West Granada Boulevard becomes East Granda Boulevard, before finally terminating at SR A1A.

On May 14, 2024 the driver of a Ford Ranger pick-up truck collided with a bus carrying farm workers east of Rainbow Lake Estates, killing eight people and injuring 40 others.

[4][5] A proposed expansion of SR 40 resulted in the State Road 40 Environmental Feasibility Study,[6] which reviewed potential impact of improvements to the existing highway while not destroying the natural beauty of the area.

CR 40 is named Follow That Dream Parkway west of US 19/US 98 after the 1962 Elvis Presley movie that was filmed in Inglis, Yankeetown and the surrounding area.