The highway travels north from SR 26 between Royal City and Othello through farmland and east through the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge and on top of the O'Sullivan Dam over the Potholes Reservoir before ending at SR 17 northwest of Warden.

A roadway to the Potholes Reservoir has appeared on maps since 1922 and a fully paved road on the current route was built by 1981.

State Route 262 (SR 262) begins at an intersection with SR 26 between Royal City and Othello, north of the west area of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge in rural Grant County.

[9] A basic, unpaved road was built during the early 20th century in Lind Coulee on the current route of State Route 262 (SR 262), appearing on a 1922 United States Geological Survey map of the Othello area.

[10] After the establishment of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge in 1944 and the completion of the O'Sullivan Dam and the Potholes Reservoir in 1949,[11][12] the road was paved and connected to SR 17 after the 1964 highway renumbering.