The 155.7-mile-long (250.6 km) route traverses several cities through eight counties from the Knoxville area to the North Carolina state line via Greeneville and Bristol.

SR 34 begins with following US 11E (Andrew Johnson Highway) east of Knoxville.

[1] At Bluff City, US 19E merges with US 19W to make US 19 part of SR 34's concurrency with US 11E until it reaches Bristol.

Just short of the Virginia state line, SR 34 joins US 421 eastbound to cross Holston Lake, goes through Mountain City, and terminates at the North Carolina state line near Trade.

[4] Since 1994, a access-controlled bypass route of SR 34 in Greeneville has been proposed and studied by TDOT.