The highway was originally State Route 69, but was renumbered in 1993 due to sign theft caused by the sexual connotation of the number.

Upon reaching the city of Honeyville, it resumes a more northerly direction through Crystal Springs, Madsen, and Deweyville, before ending in Collinston.

There it turned east over Beaver Dam Summit to the north of the Wellsville Mountains, and crossed the Cache Valley to US-91 in Logan.

The Department of Transportation passed a resolution on March 24, 1989, recommending that the State Legislature modify SR-30 to run west from Collinston to the under-construction I-15, partially restoring the portion of SR-69 that had been eliminated in 1977.

"The Utah Transportation Commission approved the request, changing the number from 69 to 38 (which had been unused since 1975) on October 15, 1993;[3] signs were replaced in April 1994.