The route heads to the east, following the southern bank of the Black River through undeveloped areas of Jefferson County.

One exception to this lies midway between Dexter and Brownville, however, as NY 12F passes by Watertown International Airport, located in an otherwise barren area south of the highway.

East of the airport, the route proceeds to the southern outskirts of Brownville, where it connects to Bridge Street, a connector linking NY 12F to NY 12E on the opposite side of the river in Brownville.

It passes several office parks and the northern access road to Salmon Run Mall on its way to an interchange with Interstate 81 (I-81) at the northwestern city limits of Watertown.

[6][7] When the first set of posted routes in New York were assigned in 1924, all of SH 1182 became part of NY 3.