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 2,704 feet (0.824 km) 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 2,570 feet (780 m) at Looney down to 1,310 feet (400 m) in New Castle.
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 1,300 feet (0.40 km) at Millboro Springs to about 1,780 feet (0.54 km) 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
View north along SR 42 near Craigsville, Augusta 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.
State Route 42 Business is a former segment of SR 42 that was converted into a business route that runs through downtown Dayton. It begins westbound at the northern terminus of the SR 42/257overlap, and turns north onto Main Street less than a block later. One block north of there, the road is briefly joined by SR 701 at Huffman Drive, then carries that concurrency for three more blocks, only for that road to branch off to the north onto College Street (SR 290). The route continues to run along the northwest side of SR 42 until it finally terminates at a poultry farm just north of town.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2014)
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