NY 238 begins at an intersection with US 20A in an area of the town of Orangeville known as Halls Corner. It heads north as Halls Corners Road, passing through sparsely populated areas of the town and serving Dream Lake Campground, located east of NY 238 on Buffalo Road. At Buffalo Road, the route makes a slight turn to the northwest and enters the town of Attica. Across the town line, NY 238 passes by one of Attica's reservoirs on its way to the small hamlet of Attica Center, where the route encounters the southern terminus of County Route 42 and the eastern terminus of CR 39. Outside of Attica Center, NY 238 winds its way northward toward the village of Attica, passing the eastern edge of the Attica and Wyoming Correctional Facilities—more prominently the work farm operated by the facilities. Just outside the Attica village limits, NY 238 turns west, taking over East Main Street from CR 19 at a junction adjacent to the Attica Central Middle and High Schools. NY 238 continues west into Attica, initially passing quietly through mostly residential areas of the village. It soon enters the business district, where it connects with the northern terminus of CR 31. After three more blocks, the route descends into the Tonawanda Creek basin and meets with NY 98 at High Street. NY 238 turns north here, overlapping with NY 98 along Market Street for to Buffalo Street, where NY 238 turns northwest to follow Buffalo Street out of the village and into Genesee County. Across the county line, NY 238 cuts across the southwestern corner of the town of Alexander on its way into the town of Darien. It closely follows the Norfolk Southern Railway's Southern Tier Line through this mostly rural area, and CR 45 follows a parallel routing to NY 238 on the opposite side of the tracks through much of the area. CR 45 leaves NY 238 just outside Attica, and rejoins the state route about later in Darien. As a result, one road which used to cross the tracks in this area—CR 36—has been cut in half, eliminating the requirement to maintain its grade crossing. After CR 45's western terminus, NY 238 turns more northward again, entering a residential area and terminating at a junction with US 20 in the hamlet of Darien.
History
NY 238 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York to the portion of its modern alignment between Orangeville and Attica. It was extended northwest to Darien by the following year. The portion of NY 238 between Attica and Darien originally followed Attica Road, crossing what is now known as the Southern Tier Line twice. NY 238 was moved onto its current, more northerly alignment by 1978, avoiding the railroad tracks entirely.
