The highway connects Dubuque, Iowa with the cities of Janesville, Racine and Elkhorn.

Most of the route is two-lane road with the exception of an expressway bypass of Monroe, a multilane bypass of Janesville, a section where it is concurrent with I-39 and I-90, a combined freeway/divided highway bypass of Burlington to the south, where it is partially concurrent with WI 36 and WI 83, and urban multilane highway in the greater Racine area.

[4] The highway crosses WIS 213 in Orfordville and passes through Footville before beginning its southern bypass of Janesville.

WIS 11 then heads east through Spring Prairie and into Racine County at Burlington.

The first Highway 11 ran from Prairie du Sac to Gotham, then to LaCrosse, and then to Superior.

The remaining route was not a part of the state highway system at the time.