Southern section From the southern terminus at SH-7, the southern section of SH-74 goes due north to
Elmore City, where it intersects with
SH-29. After a couple of turns in the Elmore City area, the highway continues due north to
Maysville and
SH-19. Still continuing northward, the highway meets the southern terminus of
SH-24, and continues into
Purcell. In Purcell, SH-74 overlaps
U.S. Highway 77 (US-77) and
SH-39. It finally splits off and begins heading west. From here, the highway becomes more hilly and curvy as it heads toward
Washington. The road never actually enters Washington, passing just north of it. However, Washington is accessible via SH-24, which has its northern terminus at SH-74 as well. (Both termini of SH-24 are at SH-74.) The highway then returns to a due north course after its intersection with SH-24. It goes through the town of
Goldsby and then ends at I-35. In the future, it will continue as
Interstate 335 (I-335).
Northern section The highway's northern section begins at a
combination interchange with
I-44 in
Bethany. The first part of the northern section is a freeway, called the
Lake Hefner Parkway because part of it runs along the east shore of
Lake Hefner. The freeway, a major part of the Oklahoma City freeway system, serves the northwestern part of
Oklahoma City. The freeway ends at 164th Street, and SH-74 continues northward on Portland Avenue. The road passes through the towns of
Crescent,
Covington, and
Garber, Oklahoma as it continues, again on a due north course. Between Covington and Garber the road intersects with
US-64/
US-412, which can be used to access
Enid, just to the west. north of US-412, the highway meets
US-60 near
Lamont. The two roads share a brief concurrency before splitting off again. north of this, SH-74 intersects with SH-11 between Deer Creek and
Numa, Oklahoma. It is at this intersection that the designation ends. ==History==