The highway travels for 15 miles (24 km) in a northeasterly direction between George and Ephrata, traveling from SR 281 Spur at its interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90) to SR 28.

[3] The two-lane highway travels due northeast through farmland in rural Grant County, passing Grigg Farm Airport and crossing over the Winchester Wasteway, before ending at an intersection with SR 28 southwest of Ephrata.

In 2011, WSDOT calculated that between 2,100 and 2,500 vehicles per day used the highway to travel between George and Ephrata.

[6] SR 283 was created during the 1964 highway renumbering as the successor to the George–Ephrata branch of PSH 7.

[7][8] The branch, created in 1949 to connect Ephrata to U.S. Route 10 (US 10),[9] was built and paved as a two-lane highway in the 1950s.