New York State Reference Routes and Parkway Routes are New York State Highways that possess a signed name (mainly parkways), that the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has determined are too minor to have a signed number, or are former state highways that have since been deleted, their original numbers possibly reassigned elsewhere. They are normally signed on reference markers, located every tenth-mile on the side of the road, though a few exceptions exist.

Every road maintained by NYSDOT also has a state highway (SH) number, used in state laws.

Region 1

Covers the Capital District, Saratoga-Champlain and Upper Hudson Valley areas

Counties: Albany, Essex, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, Washington
Major Communities: Albany, Catskill, Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Ticonderoga, Troy

Region 2

Covers the Central, Mohawk Valley, and South-Central Adirondack areas

Counties: Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida
Major Communities: Amsterdam, Gloversville, Rome, Utica

Region 3

Covers the Eastern Finger Lakes area

Counties: Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Oswego, Seneca, Tompkins
Major Communities: Auburn, Cortland, Ithaca, Oswego, Seneca Falls, Syracuse

Region 4

Covers the Western Finger Lakes and Genesee Valley areas

Counties: Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Wayne, Wyoming
Major Communities: Batavia, Geneseo, Geneva, Newark, Rochester, Warsaw

Region 5

Covers the Niagara Frontier and Southwestern areas

Counties: Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara
Major Communities: Buffalo, Jamestown, Lockport, Niagara Falls, Olean

Region 6

Covers the Western & Central Southern Tier areas

Counties: Allegany, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Yates
Major Communities: Corning, Elmira, Hornell, Penn Yan, Watkins Glen, Wellsville

Region 7

Covers the North Country and Northern Adirondack areas
Counties: Clinton, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence
Major Communities: Massena, Ogdensburg, Plattsburgh, Watertown

Region 8

Covers the Middle & Lower Hudson Valley areas

Counties: Columbia, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, Westchester
Major Communities: Hudson, Kingston, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, White Plains, Yonkers

Region 9

Covers the Eastern Southern Tier, Central-Leatherstocking and Catskills areas
Counties: Broome Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan
Major Communities: Binghamton, Monticello, Norwich, Oneonta

Regions 10 and 11

Covers Long Island (10) and New York City (11)

Counties: Bronx (11), Kings (11), Nassau (10), New York (11), Queens (11), Richmond (11), Suffolk (10)