Smyth County SR 42 begins at
State Route 91 at
Broadford, where SR 91 turns north to cross
Brushy Mountain. SR 42 continues the east-northeasterly path of SR 91 through the valleys formed by the
North Fork Holston River, crossing
State Route 16 at
Black Hill.
Bland County SR 42 continues past
Groseclose Store and
Ceres, meeting
State Route 623 at
Sharon Springs, the source of the North Fork Holston River. A low crossing of the
Tennessee Valley Divide at about takes SR 42 into the valleys formed by
Walker Creek. After passing
Effna, SR 42 joins
U.S. Route 52 as that route comes down from its
Big Walker Mountain crossing. SR 42 crosses
Interstate 77 as it approaches
Bland, and, in Bland, it meets
State Route 98 and parts ways with US 52, still heading east-northeast near Walker Creek. SR 42 passes
Point Pleasant and
Crandon, and meets
State Route 738 at
Mechanicsburg, before crossing
Kimberling Creek, a tributary of Walker Creek, and then entering Giles County.
Giles County SR 42 continues to follow
Walker Creek through Giles County, passing
White Gate before ending at
State Route 100 at
Poplar Hill. SR 42 formerly turned north on SR 100, following Walker Creek northeast to
Staffordsville. There it turned east on current
State Route 730 (now connected to SR 100 via SR 750, an old alignment of SR 100), following some smaller brooks and passing over a summit on its way to
Eggleston, where it crossed the
New River. SR 730 continues through a rather hilly area from Eggleston to its end at
U.S. Route 460, from which US 460 follows
Sinking Creek past
Maybrook to the next piece of SR 42 near
Newport. SR 42 begins again at
U.S. Route 460 near
Newport. It crosses old US 460 in Newport and begins following Sinking Creek in a general east-northeasterly direction.
Craig County After entering Craig County, SR 42 passes the communities of Huffman,
Simmonsville, and
Sinking Creek, the creek with that name ending soon after. SR 42 then crosses a summit at and begins to parallel
Meadow Creek past
Looney to
Meadow Creek Falls, where it reaches its first twisty section. It descends through a gap between
Sinking Creek Mountain and
Johns Creek Mountain and down the slopes of Johns Creek Mountain into the town of
New Castle, where it ends again at
State Route 311. This descent takes it from at Looney down to in New Castle. SR 42 once continued northeast on
State Route 615, part of the way to
U.S. Route 220 near
Eagle Rock. (The gap was never completely filled, and part of SR 615 was
State Route 43.) This route generally parallels
Craig Creek, which takes the waters of Meadow Creek from New Castle into the
James River at Eagle Rock. From Eagle Rock, which is in
Botetourt County,
U.S. Route 220 heads north, mostly along the James River, to
Cliftondale Park (east of
Clifton Forge) in Alleghany County. There, US 220 joins
Interstate 64/
U.S. Route 60 to the west, but the old SR 42 heads east on old US 60 (State Route 670 and
State Route 632) over a summit at about to
State Route 269.
Alleghany County The third—and longest—piece of SR 42 begins where old
U.S. Route 60 becomes
State Route 269. SR 42 begins by heading north, along with SR 269, to exit 29 of
Interstate 64/US 60. There SR 269 ends, while SR 42 heads north-northeasterly, generally following the
Cowpasture River past
Nicelytown and into Bath County.
Bath County SR 42 continues near the Cowpasture River past
Nimrod Hall to
State Route 39 at
Millboro Springs. It turns east with SR 39, rising from about at Millboro Springs to about near
Hotchkiss. There the ground levels out, and the combined SR 39 and SR 42 continue east, paralleling
Mill Creek into Rockbridge County at
Panther Gap.
Rockbridge County SR 39 and SR 42 continue to parallel Mill Creek from Panther Gap into
Goshen, where SR 39 splits to the southwest and SR 42 turns northeast, crossing the
Calfpasture River. It runs alongside some small creeks on its way to
Bells Valley, and continues to follow small creeks into Augusta County.
Augusta County SR 42 passes through
Craigsville, Following the
Little Calfpasture River from there past
Augusta Springs and
Mount Elliott Springs to
Chapin. It crosses a summit of at
North Mountain and then follows
Buffalo Branch through
Buffalo Gap to the west end of
State Route 254. Once SR 42 passes through Buffalo Gap, the land is flatter, and the road heads cross-country, still in a north-northeasterly direction, past
Churchville (where it crosses
U.S. Route 250),
Stover,
Parnassus,
Moscow,
Mount Solon, and
Mossy Creek.
Rockingham County SR 42 continues through
Bridgewater, where
State Route 257 joins it from the east, to
Dayton.
State Route 42 Business follows the old road through Dayton, and SR 257 leaves to the west, while
State Route 290 crosses there. Then SR 42 enters the city of
Harrisonburg on High Street. It passes straight through Harrisonburg from High Street across
U.S. Route 33 (Market Street) onto Virginia Avenue, leaving the city to the north. SR 42 continues in its north-northeasterly direction from Harrisonburg, passing
Edom,
Broadway (where it crosses
State Route 259), and
Timberville (where it weets the west end of
State Route 211 and crosses the
North Fork Shenandoah River, which also passes through Broadway).
Shenandoah County At
Forestville, SR 42 turns to the northwest until
Getz Corner, where it again turns north-northeasterly. It passes
Hudson Crossroads,
Conicville,
Davey Hill, and
Columbia Furnace, where it meets
State Route 675, formerly part of
State Route 59 west into
West Virginia. At Columbia Furnace, SR 42 curves to the east, using the old SR 59 past
Harmony and
Calvary and across
Interstate 81 to its end at
U.S. Route 11 and State Route 670 in southern
Woodstock. ==Major intersections==