NY 474 begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the town of French Creek as a continuation of PA 474, which in turn begins a short distance west of the state line in Wattsburg, Pennsylvania.

NY 474 heads east through rural southwest Chautauqua County, briefly paralleling French Creek to the hamlet of Marvin before intersecting and briefly overlapping with NY 426 through the small hamlet of Cutting.

NY 474 exits Cutting and continues on an easterly track into the town of Clymer and the hamlet of the same name, where it meets County Route 15 (CR 15), a local road leading from the Pennsylvania state line (where the road continues south to Corry) north to Sherman in the center of the community.

Outside of North Clymer, the route returns to an east–west alignment prior to entering the town of Harmony and the village of Panama (intersecting CR 33 in the latter) in quick succession.

The change in number allowed for the NY 74 designation to be used for the westward continuation of Vermont Route 74 in Essex County.