New York State Route 52
New York State Route 52 is a state highway in the southeastern part of the state. It generally runs from west to east through five counties, beginning at the Pennsylvania state line in the Delaware River near Narrowsburg, crossing the Hudson River on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, and ending in Carmel. NY 52 and NY 55, both major east-west routes of the Mid-Hudson Region, run parallel to each other, intersecting in downtown Liberty.
With the exception of the section overlapping Interstate 84, most of Route 52 is a two-lane road through lightly developed rural areas. The road west of the Hudson River serves a number of small communities in the southern Catskills and Hudson Valley, such as the villages of Jeffersonville, Ellenville and Walden. East of the Hudson, it closely parallels I-84 after leaving it at the village of Fishkill. It once passed through the cities of Newburgh and Beacon, following a ferry between them, but since the bridge's construction Route 52 runs concurrently with I-84 just to their north.
Much of what is today Route 52 was built as private turnpikes in the early 19th century. After their operating companies folded later in the century, the state took over the roads in the 1890s. While some portions of today's Route 52 were included in New York's first designations of state highways, it was not until a 1930 renumbering that Route 52 took that number.
At that time it followed most of its present alignment, but continued east of its present terminus to NY 22. The truncation to its junction with US 6 in Carmel came later in the 1930s, along with an exchange of alignments between routes 52 and 216. When the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge was opened in the early 1960s, Route 52 was rerouted onto I-84, bypassing a route to the ferry landings in Newburgh and Beacon. The alignment to I-84 in the latter city is today Route 52 Business.
Route description
Sullivan County
A little over half of NY 52's total mileage is in Sullivan County, due to its circuitous route in the less developed western half of the county, where some segments are maintained by the county rather than the state. East of Liberty, the route takes a more direct course toward its highest elevation, in the part of the county that is more dominated by resorts and summer camps.Narrowsburg to Jeffersonville
NY 52 begins at the midpoint of the Narrowsburg–Darbytown Bridge over the Delaware River as a county-maintained continuation of PA 652. Co-designated as County Route 24, NY 52 proceeds southeast through the hamlet of Narrowsburg in the town of Tusten as the two-lane Bridge Street. After crossing over Norfolk Southern's Southern Tier Line, NY 52 and CR 24 pass St. Francis Xavier Cemetery and then leave the center of Narrowsburg, merging with NY 97 south of Feagles Lake. County maintenance ends at this point.The two routes soon bend eastward to a junction where NY 52 turns northward on a county-maintained roadway. Now co-designated as CR 111, NY 52 bends northeast through Tusten, remaining a two-lane rural roadway as it climbs slightly out of the river valley. The surrounding landscape is mostly forested, with occasional farm clearings. A mile from that junction, NY 52 and CR 111 reach the small hamlet of Lava, crossing the northern terminus of CR 25. Continuing northeast out of Lava, the two routes continue past Beaver Pond and then descend into the Tenmile River valley. A short distance later, NY 52 crosses into the town of Cochecton, where CR 111 terminates and NY 52 becomes concurrent with CR 112.
NY 52 continues northeast through Cochecton, reaching the hamlet of Cochecton Center. After passing through, NY 52 and CR 112 turn straight northwest for through Cochecton at a junction with CR 115. At the second junction with Kelly Road, the route turns north for a half-mile, turning westward at Buff Road to reach the southern shore of Lake Huntington. The routes turn north along the western shore, entering the eponymous hamlet and reaching the eastern terminus of CR 116. At this junction, CR 112 ends, and NY 52 becomes maintained as CR 113.
CR 113 and NY 52 turn northeast briefly along the northern shore of the lake, then leaving it and continuing northeast through Cochecton. Farms begin to break up the forest cover around the road more extensively here. At the junction with Shortcut Road, NY 52 turns to the north, reaching a junction in a half-mile with NY 17B and the eastern terminus of CR 114. At this junction, the small hamlet of Fosterdale, NY 17B turns north and joins NY 52, which becomes state-maintained again. The routes continue northward for, where they split. NY 17B turns northwest along CR 117; NY 52 bends northeast and soon northward as a state-maintained highway.
After crossing the Delaware town line, NY 52 bends east past a residential section around Pine Lake. At Mueller Road, NY 52 turns north and begins to run along the shore of Kenoza Lake. At the northern end of the lake, NY 52 reaches the hamlet of Kenoza Lake. The route turns northwest out of the small lakeside community, continuing north. Crossing the East Branch of Callicoon Creek, which it will follow to its source, NY 52 passes the southern end of Stone Arch Bridge Historic Park. After the bridge, NY 52 reaches the eastern terminus of NY 52A. NY 52 turns northeast along the creek, soon turning northward. The surrounding valley is now mostly cleared farmland. Two miles from the NY 52A junction, NY 52 reaches the hamlet of Kohlertown.
Jeffersonville, Liberty, and Woodbourne
Just north of Kohlertown, NY 52 reaches a junction with the terminus of CR 164. One block later, CR 128 forks off to the northwest. At this junction, NY 52 turns northeast and crosses the town line into Callicoon. Here, this is also the boundary of Jeffersonville, the first village along the route.NY 52 enters downtown Jeffersonville on East Main Street, with parking along both sides. It turns east at a junction with Center Street then bends southeast out of the village, following the northern shore of Lake Jefferson. Beyond the lake, the route bends northeast past a junction with CR 144 then continues along the headwaters of the East Branch.
At the junction with Hemmer Road, NY 52 bends northeast and soon eastward into the hamlet of Youngsville. There, it passes numerous residences, crosses over the creek and intersects the southern terminus of CR 149. A half-mile west, the route crosses into the town of Liberty, slowly gaining elevation as the East Branch's valley narrows. Turning slightly southeast, NY 52 enters the hamlet of White Sulphur Springs, which it soon leaves after passing a local park.
NY 52 continues winding southeast through a landscape with less farms and more forest, the surrounding hills growing increasingly higher and steeper. After passing south of the hamlet of Loomis, the route bends northeast again reaches the village of Liberty, the largest community thus far along NY 52. It turns due-east and follows Chestnut Street into the village. As the route becomes more commercial, NY 52 turns southeast at the intersection with North Main Street in the center of Liberty. Two village blocks later, NY 55 joins it at the historic Munson Diner. The overlap goes to a roundabout to the east, where the two routes fork. NY 52 continues southeast along Mill Street, passing through an industrial section of Liberty before reaching a second roundabout. At this junction, the route connects with an off-ramp from the eastbound NY 17 expressway, now also Interstate 86.
Paralleling NY 17, NY 52 continues south a short distance through an undeveloped area outside the village, then turns southeast to its actual exit with the freeway. At a junction with CR 175. NY 52 passes through a commercial strip mall section of Liberty, south of the Grossinger Country Club. Now on the Catskill Plateau, at elevations over above sea level, the route becomes rural again. Two and a half miles from Route 17 it bends northeast into the town of Fallsburg near a junction with CR 51. Turning southeast again, NY 52 soon reaches a junction with CR 105. Turning southeast further, the route passes the northern entrance road Sullivan County Community College, the highest elevation on its entire length at, and then descends to the hamlet of Loch Sheldrake.
Crossing through the center of the hamlet, the route passes just south of the actual Loch Sheldrake, then reaches an intersection with CR 104, the center of the small community. At the eastern end of the hamlet, the route passes north of Evens Lake. NY 52 turns east again, through increasingly wooded countryside, soon changing over to a commercial-residential road and running southeast for a short distance. The route soon bends northeast as it descends toward the hamlet of Woodbourne, where NY 42 joins Route 52 from the south.
The two routes curve past residences to Woodbourne's small downtown, then cross the Neversink River. Immediately east of that bridge, NY 42 turns north toward Grahamsville, ending the brief concurrency. NY 52 turns southeast past Woodbourne Correctional Facility to the south, over the south side of a small unnamed hill and then into Ulster County approximately one mile to the east.
Ulster County
Now in the town of Wawarsing, NY 52 bends southeast into an area that remains heavily forested along the next 10 miles as it gradually descends off the Catskill Plateau to Ellenville. The route follows a straight course to the southeast past the small residential hamlet of Dairyland, passing a junction with CR 53A. Four miles further east, it passes another similar small hamlet, Greenfield Park, and bends back to the east a mile after passing the north end of Windsor Lake.NY 52 leaves Dairyland, crossing southeast through Wawarsing into the residential hamlet of Greenfield Park and past Windsor Lake, the source of the West Branch of the Beer Kill, which it follows to Ellenville. East of the lake, the route bends northeastward for two more miles, crossing through some dense woods between steep hillsides and paralleling Old Greenfield Road. Both roads soon bend northward, as the woods recede to more residences. As the West Branch drains into the main Beer Kill, just outside Ellenville, NY 52 reaches a junction with CR 53.
After re-paralleling, NY 52 continues southeast, reaching the terminus of CR 53. Entering Ellenville, the largest village on the route since Liberty, NY 52 divides. NY 52 runs down both Center Street and Canal Street. A few blocks into the village, NY 52 has its only intersection in Ulster County with a numbered route above the county level, US 209. The Shawangunk Ridge looms ahead. The route, on both Canal and Center, then crosses the village's downtown, lower than its peak at SCCC. In the residential section that follows the Sandburg Creek crossing, one of the cross streets, Towpath Lane, marks the former route of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, a National Historic Landmark. NY 52 bends southward, where Canal and Center Streets merge, taking the latter's name. At the village line, it becomes Mountain Avenue.
Over the next three miles, NY 52 climbs over a thousand feet to the crest of the Shawangunk Ridge. This section offers several overlooks on the west side with views of the Catskills to the north and northwest and the valley below. The route itself passes rock outcrops, some with fencing to prevent the road from being blocked off, and steep wooded slopes. Near the base of the climb aqua paint blazes on signposts at the roadside indicate the brief presence of the Long Path hiking trail.
Near the top of the ridge, signs point north on CR 104 to the hamlet of Cragsmoor, as NY 52 reaches the apex of the ridge, at in elevation having regained almost all the altitude lost on the way to Ellenville. As it begins to descend through dense woods of scrub oak, NY 52 enters the town of Shawangunk, very near the Sullivan County line. Shortly afterward, a clearing at a house below one bend in the steep road offers a panoramic view east, towards the Hudson River with the Hudson Highlands also visible. The route winds southeast and levels out at the hamlet of Walker Valley, having descended from the heights of the ridge.
Just southeast of Walker Valley, NY 52 crosses a junction with CR 65. The brief breaks in the forest cover from the hamlet end. A mile beyond, NY 52 turns east, then bends northeast. At Verkeerderkill Park, CR 7, merges in from the southeast. Here more cleared farmland begins to break up the forest. At the junction with New Prospect and Pirog roads, CR 7 turns off northeast, following the former. NY 52 turns southeast and, three-quarters of a mile later, crosses the Orange County line at Shawangunk Kill.