Lake Welch Parkway begins, heading north, on the northbound side of Seven Lakes Drive. Although there is no direct connection with southbound Seven Lakes Drive, the section containing the interchange is widened to form a modified traffic circle, allowing U-turns on either side of this divider to permit access from both sides. The next intersection north is with Johnsontown Road, a dirt road which parallels Lake Welch Parkway, and used to run uninterrupted to Lake Welch, partially along the current parkway's right of way. It is now interrupted after ¾ mile at Camp Wikaki Rd, a non-public road for camp activities, at the next intersection with Lake Welch Parkway. A ½ mile later, the parkway intersects with the next portion of Johnsontown Rd, which is paved; at the same point, the Long Path then crosses the parkway on its way up Nat House Mountain. There is a bridge ⅔ mile later over County Route 106. There is no interchange between the Parkway and CR-106, but the paved portion of Johnsontown Road provides access to CR-106, Lake Welch, and St. John's-in-the-Wilderness Church. About northeast of the bridge, the parkway becomes divides, forming a traffic circle with the access road to the Lake Welch recreation area. The access road continues south to CR-106, forming another path between the two roads. Lake Welch Parkway continues as a two-lane undivided road for another mile to the vicinity of Tiorati Brook Road, where it widens into a divided highway once again. The parkway connects to the road by way of a Y-interchange with a northbound-to-southbound U-turn. North of Tiorati Brook Road, the parkway is only open seasonally. The median ends just east of the interchange with the Palisades Interstate Parkway. The first connection encountered of this interchange is the Palisades southbound exit ramp, which merges into Lake Welch Parkway southbound. This is followed by ramps to the Palisades southbound and from the Palisades northbound, where Lake Welch Parkway ends. It is only a partial interchange, lacking a connection between Lake Welch Parkway northbound and Palisades Interstate Parkway northbound. TO access the Palisades northbound requires a 3-mile detour via Gate Hill Road.
History
Lake Welch Parkway was conceived in the early 1960s as a new roadway through Harriman State Park. The new road would connect Lake Welch Beach to the Palisades Interstate Parkway via Tiorati Brook Road. The new roadway would be constructed by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission with a bridge over Tiorati Creek and two other smaller bridges along the right-of-way. The new parkway would temporarily terminate at Lake Welch Beach, where an extension down to Seven Lakes Drive would be constructed. Engineers estimated the first section of the Lake Welch Parkway to cost $4.13 million to build, and contracts would be let in Albany on November 16, 1962. Construction of the second segment between Seven Lakes Drive and Lake Welch Beach was announced in November 1967 with the letting of a contract to County Asphalt Incorporated, a firm based in Tarrytown. The contract was for $2,275,744 and would construct the final of Lake Welch Parkway. The firm won the contract as the lowest of four bidders. The extension would also be wide beginning at the Sebago Circle along Seven Lakes Drive. In addition to the new right-of-way, an additional of right-of-way would be use to access the extension with Lake Welch Beach. Also included a project was a bridge over then-NY 210. The slated completion date of the project was December 3, 1969 and would be supervised by the New York State Department of Transportation and its engineer out of Poughkeepsie. Construction was completed nearly four years later, with the new Lake Welch Parkway opening to traffic on June 27, 1971, a little more than 9 years after the opening of Lake Welch Beach. The new parkway, long, intended to relieve congestion along NY 210 in access to Lake Welch Beach, and would connect to the Palisades Interstate Parkway at exit 14A.
Major intersections
The entire route is in Harriman State Park, Rockland County.
