It extends for just over 7.5 miles (12.1 km) along the Orleans–Monroe county line from an intersection with NY 104 in Clarkson to the Lake Ontario shoreline north of an interchange with the Lake Ontario State Parkway in the Hamlin hamlet of Troutburg.

NY 272 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and has not been altered since.

The two-lane route heads north, passing through open fields and over Sandy Creek to intersect NY 18 at Kendall Mills, a hamlet in the town of Hamlin.

The number of homes and businesses along NY 272 begins to rise during the stretch between Kendall Mills and Morton.

North of Morton, the amount of development along the road declines sharply as it heads toward Lake Ontario.