The Cross Island Parkway begins at an interchange with the Belt Parkway and the Southern State Parkway in the Cambria Heights section of Queens. A short distance after exit 25B, which serves Linden Boulevard, forks off the Cross Island. The parkway runs northward along the Queens-Nassau county line upon leaving the interchange, running between Cambria Heights in Queens and Nassau's town of Hempstead (Elmont and Bellerose Terrace) as it enters Belmont Park. In Belmont Park, the Cross Island enters exit 26A, the first of two gated-entrance exit ramps for Belmont Park parking lots. After crossing under Belmont Park Road, the parkway enters exit 26B, a partial cloverleaf interchange which serves NY 24 (Hempstead Avenue in Queens Village and Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont). Paralleling the race track, the Cross Island Parkway continues north, passing west of Belmont Park's Long Island Rail Road station, where southbound exit 26C forks to NY 24.