State Route 176 was created in September 1980 along previous County/Secondary State Roads 81 and 89 in DeKalb County and part of County/Secondary State Road 89 in Cherokee County. Part of the route took over what had been State Route 275 and forms the northern end of the Little River Canyon Rim Parkway: a scenic, but severely substandard highway following the northern rim of the limestone canyon for 22 miles (35 km).