The route cuts through the center of Louisiana for roughly its entire length and passes through two of the state's metropolitan areas, Lafayette and Alexandria.

During this stretch, it overlaps the southern 23 miles (37 km) of Interstate 49 (I-49) from Lafayette through Opelousas before making a diversion through rural Evangeline Parish to serve the small city of Ville Platte.

US 167 remains a surface four-lane highway through northern Louisiana and is the primary north–south route through Winnfield, Jonesboro, and Ruston.

More recently, all but approximately 40 miles (64 km) of the route was widened to four lanes as part of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (La DOTD) TIMED program.

The route heads north on Park Avenue, an undivided four-lane thoroughfare, and crosses mainline LA 14 (West Summers Drive).

US 167 travels due north from Abbeville and becomes a divided four-lane highway on a wide right-of-way upon entering rural surroundings.

[2][3][4] US 167 enters the suburban outgrowth of Lafayette and crosses the city limits just beyond a junction with LA 733 (East Broussard Road).

On the north side of town, the highway passes through a cloverleaf interchange with I-10 at exit 103, connecting with Baton Rouge to the east and Lake Charles to the west.

[2][4][5] In St. Landry Parish, the freeway cuts through the adjacent communities of Sunset and Grand Coteau, served by exit 11 to LA 93.

Here, the highway enters the city of Ville Platte and diverges onto the one-way pair of LaSalle and Main Streets through the center of town.

After narrowing to two lanes again, US 167 turns due north at the western edge of Ville Platte and separates from LA 10.

US 167 turns northwest and follows the alignment of US 71 alongside the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) line for the next 13 miles (21 km) through Lecompte, Lamourie, and Chambers.

US 167 takes the entrance ramp to begin another concurrency with I-49, while US 71 proceeds straight ahead onto MacArthur Drive co-signed as US 167 Bus.

On the edge of the business district, US 167 departs from I-49 a final time via exit 84 and transitions onto the Pineville Expressway joined with LA 28.

US 167 proceeds over the six-lane twin-span Purple Heart Memorial Bridge and crosses from Alexandria into the smaller adjacent city of Pineville.

US 167 curves northwest on the Pineville Expressway through Kingsville and intersects US 165, the main route connecting Alexandria with Monroe.

About nine miles (14 km) north of Packton, US 167 curves due west onto East Lafayette Street in the town of Winnfield.

The route overlaps US 84 and LA 34 through the center of town, where it crosses over the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railway line and transitions onto West Court Street.

With the other highways departing to the south and west, US 167 resumes its northerly course out of Winnfield, passing through Dodson and into Jackson Parish.

[2][12][13] In Lincoln Parish, US 167 proceeds north into the city of Ruston and diverges onto the one-way pair of Vienna and Trenton Streets.

[2][13][14] In Union Parish, the highway enters Bernice, where it follows another one-way pair (Cherry and Plum Streets).

At 3rd Street, the highway crosses the state line into Junction City, Arkansas and proceeds northward co-signed with US 63 toward El Dorado.

[16] Several pieces of the southern half of US 167 are included in the state-designated system of tourist routes known as the Louisiana Scenic Byways.

[20] In the northern part of the county, Highway 167 meets another of its three business routes in the state, which runs into downtown Thornton.

[28][29] This change took the highway through Dry Prong to a different junction with US 71 near Creola, slightly extending the route and allowing a more direct connection with Alexandria.

[31] The portion along University Avenue between Johnston and Cameron Streets in Lafayette was concurrent with US 90, as the Evangeline Thruway did not yet exist.

The business route heads northwest on MacArthur Drive, a divided four-lane highway with frontage roads, co-signed with US 71.

The travel lanes converge as the highway immediately heads through an underpass of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) line and crosses under both the elevated I-49 and Pineville Expressway (US 167/LA 28).

diverges again onto the one-way pair of Casson and Fulton Streets near the southeast corner of the downtown area, effectively serving as frontage roads of the Pineville Expressway.

The average daily traffic volume in 2013 ranged from 7,300 to 24,400 vehicles with the highest counts recorded near the I-49 and US 167 interchanges at either end of the route.