The highway is located in the Bear River Mountains, a sub-range of the Wasatch Range.

The route begins at an intersection with US-89 in Logan Canyon, approximately 28 miles (45 km) east of Logan and 11.4 miles (18.3 km) west of Garden City and Bear Lake.

The route proceeds north along Beaver Creek for approximately 0.64 miles (1.03 km), where it turns northwest and begins climbing to the Beaver Mountain Ski Resort.

The route then turns to the southwest and continues climbing, ending at the beginning of the parking area for the ski resort.

[2] SR-243 was defined in 1953 by the Utah State Legislature as a connection from US-89 to the Beaver Mountain ski resort.