Between Celina and Livingston it is part of Corridor J of the Appalachian Development Highway System.

[7][8] After exiting Celina, SR 52 turns southeast to cross into Overton County.

A short distance from the county line, it comes to a junction with SR 136 just north of Standing Stone State Park.

A short distance past the river, SR 52 intersects Rugby Parkway, which until December 2013 was the actual route of SR 52, which runs a loop through the historic community of Rugby, while the current route runs along a new bypass to the south.

SR 52 then becomes very narrow and curvy and straddles Morgan County's eastern boundary line for several miles before finally entering Scott County to end in the community of Elgin at an intersection with US 27 (SR 29).

[11] The SR 75 designation has since been reassigned to a state highway in northeastern Tennessee.

Sometime between 2010 and 2013, SR 52 in Red Boiling Springs was rerouted onto a bypass route to the south of that city.

Several other older alignments of SR 52 still remain in Macon and northern Sumner Counties, including Church Street in Lafayette, and Austin Peay Highway near Westmoreland.

Parts of an even older alignment of State Route 52 in Clay County still remains intact also.