 New York State Route 38 | ||||
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 Map of New York with NY 38 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by NYSDOT and the city of Auburn | ||||
| Length | 95.65 mi[1] (153.93 km) | |||
| Existed | 1930[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  NY 96 in Owego | |||
| North end |  NY 104A in Sterling | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | New York | |||
| Counties | Tioga, Cortland, Tompkins, Cayuga | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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New York State Route 38 (NY 38) is a north–south state highway in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with NY 96 in the town of Owego in Tioga County. The northern terminus is at a junction with NY 104A in the town of Sterling in Cayuga County. NY 38 is a two-lane local road for most of its length. The route is the main access road to parts of Auburn, Dryden, Newark Valley and Port Byron. It passes through mountainous terrain in Tioga and Cortland counties, but the terrain levels out as it heads through the Finger Lakes area and Cayuga County.
The route intersects several long-distance highways, including NY 13 in Dryden, U.S. Route 20 (US 20) and NY 5 in Auburn, and NY 31 in Port Byron. It passes over the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90 or I-90) north of Port Byron; however, there is no connection between the two. NY 38 has two suffixed routes. The first, NY 38A is an alternate route of NY 38 between Moravia and Auburn, while the other, NY 38B, is a simple east–west connector in the Southern Tier. While NY 38 runs along the western shore of Owasco Lake, NY 38A travels to Auburn along a routing east of the lake.
NY 38 passes along or near waterbodies for much of its length. From its southern end in Owego to the town of Harford, the route parallels Owego Creek or a branch of said creek. Between Groton and Mentz, it runs along the aforementioned Owasco Lake and its inlet (south of the lake) and outlet (north of the lake). It also comes within 4 miles (6 km) of Lake Ontario at its northern end.
In the 1920s, the portion of NY 38 between Owego and Freeville was designated as New York State Route 42 while the segment from Freeville to Moravia was the southern part of New York State Route 26, a highway that continued north from Moravia to Syracuse. NY 38 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, utilizing all of pre-1930 NY 42, the Freeville–Moravia portion of NY 26, and a previously unnumbered highway north to Sterling. Originally, NY 38 extended south into the village of Owego by way of an overlap with NY 96. It was truncated to its current southern terminus by 1994.