over a branch of the Cayuga Lake inlet before separating at Taughannock Boulevard. While NY 96 continues west on Buffalo Street, NY 89 heads north on Taughannock Boulevard, crossing over the inlet and running along the western shore of Cayuga Lake as it exits the city and enters the town of the same name. Outside of Ithaca, NY 89 heads generally northwestward along the western side of a valley surrounding Cayuga Lake. Due to the steep terrain of the surrounding area, this portion of the route passes through sparsely populated and mostly forested areas. In Ulysses, the northernmost town that NY 89 passes through in Tompkins County, the highway serves Taughannock Falls State Park, a mostly linear park that follows Taughannock Creek west to the village of Trumansburg. NY 89 crosses the northernmost portion of the park on its way into Seneca County. Seneca County In Seneca County, NY 89 remains relatively isolated in relation to other state routes, even though it leaves the lake valley at the southern county line for an alignment that takes it along the western lip of the gully. For its first in the county, NY 89 closely parallels NY 96, the latter of which is located on slightly higher ground a short distance to the west. While NY 96 serves several hamlets and the village of Interlaken, NY 89 heads across largely unpopulated areas of the towns of Covert and Ovid and traverses little more than farmland. The routes diverge at the Romulus town line, where NY 96 turns west toward the village of Ovid. NY 89, meanwhile, continues northward into Romulus, where it gradually moves closer to the western lake shore as it descends back into the lake valley. It reaches the shoreline near the hamlet of Elm Beach, from where the route continues along Cayuga Lake for into the town of Varick. Along the way, NY 89 serves dozens of lakeside homes and several small communities, including East Varick. The 7-mile stretch ends at the Fayette town line, where the route leaves the lake to take a slightly more inland routing through the town. As a result, the lakeside homes give way to farmland once again, and the rolling terrain follows NY 89 northward into the town of Seneca Falls. The route proceeds generally northward through Seneca Falls, serving Cayuga Lake State Park and the small hamlet of Bridgeport prior to crossing