The route serves as a spur from the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Mitchell. The highway begins at mile marker 355 on the Blue Ridge Parkway (on the border of Yancey and Buncombe counties); once past the gates, drivers are greeted by the only NC 128 shield on the whole route, its only indication (other than on a map) that it is a state highway. The two-lane road has mild curves as it enters Mount Mitchell State Park. It continues its ascent till it ends at the state park's parking lot, just below the summit of Mount Mitchell, the highest point in eastern North America.