After passing a swampy area in the woods to the north, NY 52 intersects CR 23 (Rock Cut Road), then runs through swamps along the southern shore of Orange Lake on an eastward heading. Immediately afterwards, a single intersection marks the very small commercial center of the hamlet of Orange Lake. Just past the hamlet, NY 52 turns southeast again at a junction with Monarch Drive and enters an area where woods screen residential neighborhoods off the route. It is paralleled on the north by Bushfield Creek, which drains Orange Lake. With both the creek and route going past a large hill on the south, NY 52 bends southeast again to cross under the New York State Thruway (I-87).