DE 36 begins at an intersection with DE 404 in Scotts Corner, heading to the northeast on two-lane undivided Scotts Store Road. The road runs through a mix of farmland and woodland with some homes, coming to an intersection with DE 16. At this point, DE 16 turns east to become concurrent with DE 36 on Hickman Road. The road enters the town of Greenwood and becomes Market Street, passing several homes along with a few businesses. The highway crosses the Delmarva Central Railroad's Delmarva Subdivision line at-grade before it intersects US 13 on the eastern edge of Greenwood. Past this intersection, DE 16/DE 36 leaves Greenwood and becomes Beach Highway, crossing the Nanticoke River. In Saint Johnstown, the road becomes a divided highway and DE 36 splits from DE 16 by turning to the northeast onto two-lane undivided Shawnee Road. The road heads through agricultural areas with some woods and homes, passing through the community of Staytonville. Farther northeast, the road reaches the city of Milford. Upon reaching Milford, the route runs through residential areas and intersects US 113. Past this intersection, DE 36 becomes Lakeview Avenue and passes to the west of the former Bayhealth Milford Memorial hospital. The road forms the eastern border of Silver Lake, a lake along the Mispillion River, and crosses the Delmarva Central Railroad's Indian River Subdivision line at-grade. After this, DE 36 continues to the east on Causey Avenue past homes and businesses. In the downtown area of Milford, the route turns north onto two-lane divided Walnut Street briefly before it heads east on two-lane undivided Southeast Front Street. The route passes through the residential eastern part of Milford where it intersects DE 1 Bus. DE 36 leaves Milford and heads to the northeast on Cedar Beach Road, entering a mix of farmland, woodland, and homes. The road turns to the east, running a short distance to the south of the Mispillion River as it comes to a diamond interchange with the DE 1 bypass of Milford. Past this interchange, the route continues to the northeast. DE 36 winds east through a mix of farmland and marshland and comes to a drawbridge over the Cedar Creek in the town of Slaughter Beach. The DE 36 designation ends here, but the road continues past the drawbridge into Slaughter Beach where it becomes Bay Avenue and turns south to run along the Delaware Bay. The section of the route between Maple Avenue in Milford and Slaughter Beach is designated as part of the Delaware's Bayshore Byway, a Delaware Byway. DE 36 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 9,681 vehicles at the eastern edge of Greenwood to a low of 1,854 vehicles at the eastern border of Milford. None of DE 36 is part of the National Highway System.
History
By 1920, a section of present-day DE 36 southwest of Milford was completed as a state highway while a portion leading further northeast into Milford was under contract as one; the remainder of the route existed as an unimproved county road. The portion leading into Milford was completed four years later, in addition to the segment of the road through Greenwood. A year later, the state highway was under proposal between Greenwood and southwest of Milford. The state highway between Greenwood and Milford was finished in 1929. All of current DE 36 was completed by 1931 except for the easternmost part of the road. DE 36 was designated to follow its current alignment between DE 16 east of Greenwood and Fort Saulsbury by 1938, with the entire route paved except for the part near Fort Saulsbury. The unpaved portion was paved a year later. DE 36 was extended westward to its current terminus at DE 404 by 1994.
