SR 263 connects Mount Jackson with a resort area in the mountains of southwestern Shenandoah County.

SR 263 begins at the eastern end of Shrine Mont Circle, a loop that is designated SR 659 and serves Shrine Mont, an Episcopal Diocese of Virginia retreat that hosts the annual Shenandoah Valley Music Festival.

The state highway heads northeast as a two-lane undivided road from Orkney Springs through a narrow valley between Great North Mountain to the west and Supin Lick Mountain to the east.

After passing the Bryce Resort, SR 263 veers southeast and crosses the latter mountain and follows Straight Run through a gap in Timber Ridge to enter the Shenandoah Valley, on the west edge of which the state highway intersects SR 42 (Senedo Road).

SR 263 passes under the Chesapeake Western Railway before reaching its eastern terminus at US 11 (Main Street).