NY 162 is a two-lane highway for all of its length, although its final 1.25 miles (2.01 km) has a climbing lane southbound as it leaves the Mohawk Valley over the Sprakers Gorge.

The route was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and realigned slightly in the late 1960s to bypass an accident-prone stretch near its northern terminus.

For a short distance from CR 35, NY 162 proceeds westward through Esperance, turning northwest at a junction with Sprakers Road.

At the western end of Currytown, the route intersects with Flat Creek Road (CR 98), where it turns northwest through the town of Root.

[3] The origins of NY 162 date back to the late 1900s when the section of the route north of Rural Grove was improved to state highway standards under a project contracted out on September 20, 1907.

[7] The design of the road left it prone to several accidents each year;[8] additionally, the brakes of northbound tractor-trailers would often fail as drivers tried to descend the hill.

[9] Various safety measures were implemented by the New York State Department of Public Works (NYSDPW) in response to the frequent accidents.

[10] In 1964, NYSDPW unveiled plans for a new bypass that would avoid the accident-prone route and meet NY 5S at an interchange west of Sprakers.