It compromises a portion of the Farm Heritage Road byway between Peterstown and West Virginia Route 122.

Route 12 is part of the Farm Heritage Road, a West Virginia State Byway, from Peterstown to Forest Hill.

[2] It passes through the unincorporated communities of Cashmere, Ballard, and Red Sulphur Springs before entering Summers County.

The highway continues northward from Forest Hill, paralleling the Greenbrier River and passing Big Bend Mountain before it meets West Virginia Route 3 at Hilldale.

The route heads north through a mountainous area, passing through the communities of Blaker Mills and Asbury.