Despite that the highway is now travelling directly east, directional signs still reference the direction of this highway as north. Passing through Virginia and approximately a kilometre inland from Lake Simcoe, the highway passes through a moderately developed area, with frequent businesses lining the route. It passes south of Duclos Point Provincial Nature Reserve prior to meeting Durham Regional Road 23 (Lake Ridge Road) south of Port Bolster, where it crosses from the Regional Municipality of York to the Regional Municipality of Durham. The highway jogs northeastward several kilometres to align with the former Brock–Thorah township line, crossing alongside a power transmission corridor several times along this segment. The final section travels eastward to Highway 12, south of Beaverton and west of Cannington and Woodville. The route is mostly rural, passing around the urban areas of Stouffville and south of Sutton. However, the east–west section that lies to the south of Lake Simcoe is slightly developed and features a lower speed limit of . The remainder of the route is signed at . Like other provincial routes in Ontario, Highway 48 is maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. In 2010, traffic surveys conducted by the ministry showed that on average, 13,300 vehicles used the highway daily along the section between York Regional Road 25 (Major Mackenzie Drive) and York Regional Road 14 (Stouffville Road) while 5,950 vehicles did so each day along the section between Durham Regional Road 23 (Lake Ridge Road) and Brock Side Road 17 (former Highway 12), the highest and lowest counts along the highway, respectively. History Highway 48 incorporates a significant portion of the former Scarborough and Markham Plank Road, now known as Markham Road, into its length. This section was not incorporated into the highway until 1954, yet predates the Highway 48 designation entirely. Markham Road began as the eighth concession east of Yonge Street in the Home District of Upper Canada, and was blazed by settlers to whom land had been granted along the right-of-way. The right-of-way extended from Lake Ontario in the south to what is today York Region Road 8A (Baseline Road) in Sutton, just south of Lake Simcoe, in the north. Improvements to the road and the necessary funds were authorized by an act of the Upper Canada provincial parliament on February 13, 1833 for the section in Scarborough township between Danforth Road (present day Painted Post Drive) and