The state highway runs 11.25 miles (18.11 km) from a dead end in Harborton east to SR 1701 in Wachapreague.

SR 180 begins at a boat ramp on Pungoteague Creek, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay.

The state highway follows the shoreline as two-lane undivided Shore Drive, then turns south onto Harborton Road, the main street of the village of Harborton.

The state highway continues southeast and then east as Pungoteague Road to the town of Keller.

SR 180 follows Main Street through the town of Wachapreague to its eastern terminus at SR 1701 (Atlantic Avenue) on the waterfront of a channel within the wetlands on the Atlantic Ocean side of the peninsula.