It spans from Sham Shui Po in Kowloon to Tai Po in the New Territories of Hong Kong.

The road begins at Nathan Road near Sham Shui Po, runs through the valley between Golden Hill and Beacon Hill, and connects to Sha Tin.

Until the completion of the Lion Rock Tunnel in 1967, Tai Po Road was the main road connecting the New Territories with Kowloon.

On 10 February 2018, at approximately 18:13 HKT, a Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) double-decker bus flipped onto its side on Tai Po Road.

The incident was Hong Kong's second deadliest road traffic accident, behind a 2003 incident on Tuen Mun Road that killed 21.