NY 26 and Route 41 intersect with NY 221 just to the west of Willet before splitting southwest of the hamlet of Cincinnatus. The next intersection along the road serves as the west end of NY 23, which heads eastward into Chenango County. From here, NY 26 runs generally northeastward to the hamlet of Taylor, where it turns to the east at a crossroad just north of the community's center. The track of the route becomes more northeastward as it crosses into Chenango County. In Chenango County, NY 26 serves only a handful of isolated hamlets scattered across the undeveloped Otselic River valley. About from Taylor, the route reaches the hamlet of South Otselic, home to the National Register of Historic Places-listed South Otselic Historic District and the Holden B. Mathewson House. Another 7 miles brings the route to the hamlet of Otselic, where NY 26 intersects the east–west NY 80 on the opposite side of the river from the community. NY 80 turns northward at this point, overlapping NY 26 as the two roads bends northwestward along the riverbank into Madison County. Madison and Oneida counties The overlap extends for into Madison County to the hamlet of Georgetown, where NY 80 forks to the northwest into a narrow creek valley. NY 26, meanwhile, runs northeast from Georgetown through the Otselic River valley, which begins to narrow as the river approaches its source in the northern part of the town. While the river tapers off, NY 26 climbs slightly in elevation to wind its way northeastward around a series of mountains and hills. The road descends into a narrow creek valley at West Eaton, and the highway proceeds east along Eaton Brook to the hamlet of Eaton on the Chenango River. The stream ends here, leaving the route to traverse another set of mountains to reach a low-lying, marshy area near Bouckville. Here, NY 26 crosses NY 46 ahead of a junction with US 20. NY 26 turns east at the junction, following US 20 through Bouckville toward the village of Madison. US 20 and NY 26 pick up NY 12B at a junction east of Bouckville, and all three routes run east–west through Madison as Main Street. The brief stretch of homes and businesses along Main Street quickly fades outside the village limits, and NY 12B and NY 26 leave US 20 soon afterward. While US 20 continues to