PA 435 begins at an interchange with I-380's Exit 13 at the northwestern corner of Gouldsboro State Park in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, heading northeast as a two-lane undivided road.

Immediately after beginning, the route reaches a junction with the southern terminus of PA 507 and turns northwest onto a four-lane divided highway.

The highway continues north through Clifton, passing west of Big Bass Lake and soon the Covington Industrial Park.

[3] PA 435 continues to the northeast through the residential regions of Covington Township as a two-lane road, passing into the small hamlet of Daleville, where it gains a center left-turn lane.

PA 435 continues northward out of Daleville and begins to parallel with the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, narrowing to a two-lane road and briefly gaining a second southbound lane.

The highway heads past the Saint Catherine's Cemetery and soon crosses into the borough of Moscow as a two-lane road.

Passing Fairview Memorial Park, Blue Shutters Road (State Route 2010) soon merges in.

After the reservoir ends, PA 435 crosses under the curving rail line and continues northward into the hamlet of Elmhurst.

The section through Covington Township was built as a plank road between 1819 and 1826 by John Delong under the employment of Henry Drinker.

[7][8] The Lackawanna Trail was designated as PA 2 in 1924, with the route running between Philadelphia and the New York border in Great Bend.