State Route 53 is a 345 miles (555.2 km) state highway

State highway

State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

. The majority, between Dothan and Huntsville, is signed as U.S. Highway 231 (US-231), but the two ends - south to Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 and north to I-65/US-31 near Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 - are independent. In those areas, US-231 uses State Route 1

State Route 1 (Alabama)

U.S. Highway 431 , internally designated by the Alabama Department of Transportation as State Route 1 , is a major north–south state highway across the eastern part of the U.S. state of Alabama...

, sharing the route with US-431 north of Huntsville.

Major intersections

Beginning at its southern terminus, SR-53 assumes a slight northwestwardly trajectory as it passes through Dothan, where it joins U.S. Route 231, heading towards Montgomery

Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...

. Between Dothan and Huntsville

Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....

, SR-53 is the unsigned partner to US-231.

At Huntsville, SR-53 diverts from US-231 and once again becomes a signed route until it reaches its terminus just west of Ardmore

Ardmore, Alabama

Ardmore is a town in Limestone County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Metro Area. It is home to the Saturn 1B Rocket, at the Alabama Welcome Center, just south of the Tennessee border, on Interstate 65. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town is 1,194....

 at Interstate 65/U.S. Highway 31. The northbound lane of SR-53 actually enters Tennessee before going south to I-65. Tennessee State Route 7

Tennessee State Route 7

State Route 7 is a south–north route from the Alabama state line in Giles County, Tennessee to SR-100 in Hickman County....

 runs concurrently with the route on the state line and both Alabama and Tennessee mile markers are present on the highway.

Major intersections