Delaware Route 896 (DE 896) is a state highway located in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from U.S. Route 13 (US 13) in Boyds Corner north to the Maryland border northwest of Newark, where the road becomes unsigned Maryland Route 896 (MD 896) briefly before heading into Pennsylvania as Pennsylvania Route 896 (PA 896). The route heads west from US 13 before turning north along with DE 71 in Mount Pleasant, crossing the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal on the Summit Bridge. After the bridge, DE 71 splits off to the east and the road continues to Glasgow, where it comes to an intersection with US 40. DE 896 continues north and interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) before reaching Newark, where it bypasses the University of Delaware to the west by following DE 4, Elkton Road, and South Main Street. DE 896 comes to downtown Newark and continues northwest to the Maryland border. DE 896 has a business route, DE 896 Business (DE 896 Bus.), that passes through Glasgow, and had an alternate alignment south of Glasgow called DE 896 Alternate (DE 896 Alt.).

DE 896 was originally built as a state highway during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1938, the route was designated between DE 71 in Summit Bridge and the Maryland border northwest of Newark. In the 1950s, the route was extended to US 13 south of Townsend, following DE 71 to Middletown and replacing a part of that route south of there. Between the 1950s and 1990s, various alignments of US 301, US 301N, and US 301S followed DE 896. In the 1980s, DE 896 was realigned to head from Mount Pleasant to US 13 in Boyds Corner, with DE 71 later being extended down the former route past Middletown. Also around this time, DE 896 was rerouted to bypass the University of Delaware to the west. A bypass of Glasgow was completed in the 1990s. The concurrency with US 301 between Mount Pleasant and Glasgow was removed in 2019.

DE 896 begins at an intersection with US 13 in Boyds Corner, heading west on two-lane undivided Boyds Corner Road. East of US 13, the road becomes unnumbered Pole Bridge Road and reaches an interchange with the DE 1 toll road. From the southern terminus, DE 896 runs through agricultural areas with some residential subdivisions and woods. The route passes under the US 301 toll road, where it has ramps for emergency vehicles but no public access. The road crosses the Delmarva Central Railroad's Delmarva Subdivision line at-grade and comes to an intersection with DE 71 in Mount Pleasant.

Here, DE 896 turns north to form a concurrency with DE 71 on Summit Bridge Road, a four-lane divided highway. The road runs between the Summit Airport to the west and housing developments to the east. DE 71/DE 896 heads to the northwest through farm fields before turning to the west and passing a residential subdivision to the south. In the unincorporated community of Summit Bridge, the road intersects the northern terminus of DE 15. Past this intersection, DE 71/DE 896 turns north and crosses over the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and the Michael N. Castle Trail on the north bank of the canal on the Summit Bridge, a cantilever truss bridge.

Past the Summit Bridge, the road runs through woods and crosses under Chesapeake City Road before passing east of the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery. DE 71 splits from DE 896 by turning to the southeast on Red Lion Road. DE 896 continues north through residential neighborhoods and fields and passes to the west of Lums Pond State Park. The road reaches Glasgow, where it curves northeast to bypass the community to the east with DE 896 Bus. heading north into Glasgow. DE 896 heads to the east of Hodgson Vo-Tech High School and curves northwest to intersect US 40.

Following this intersection, DE 896 continues northwest as South College Avenue to the west of Glasgow Park, crossing Muddy Run and coming to a southbound ramp that provides access to DE 896 Bus. at the north end of Glasgow. The road passes through industrial and business areas with a few homes, heading to the west of Glasgow High School before intersecting Old Baltimore Pike. The route heads through wooded areas to the east of Iron Hill Park before reaching a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-95 (Delaware Turnpike). Past this interchange, DE 896 crosses the Christina River and enters the city of Newark, running northwest past businesses. The route curves north and crosses West Chestnut Hill Road/Old Chestnut Hill Road, with a reverse jughandle controlling movements between northbound DE 896 and westbound West Chestnut Hill Road, before it reaches an intersection with DE 4. A park and ride lot is located at the southeast corner of this intersection.

At this point, DE 896 turns west to join DE 4 on the four-lane divided Christiana Parkway, passing to the south of the University of Delaware's Science, Technology, and Advanced Research campus. The road narrows into a three-lane undivided road with two eastbound lanes and one westbound lane, curving to the northwest and coming to bridges over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad line and the Christina River. Christiana Parkway reaches an intersection with the northern terminus of DE 279, where DE 4 ends and DE 896 continues northeast on Elkton Road. DE 896 becomes a four-lane divided highway that crosses the Christina River again and heads into residential areas. The road changes names to South Main Street and becomes undivided as it passes businesses before reaching downtown Newark.

Here, DE 896 intersects DE 273, with the road splitting into a one-way pair. Northbound DE 896 becomes concurrent with eastbound DE 273 on West Delaware Avenue, heading to the east, while southbound DE 896 remains along South Main Street, also concurrent with eastbound DE 273. The one-way pair carries two lanes in each direction. Northbound DE 896 soon turns north onto two-way South College Avenue, which carries two northbound lanes and one southbound lane as it passes through the University of Delaware campus. The northbound direction of the route turns west (along westbound DE 273 on West Main Street), reaching the end of South Main Street, which it left earlier due to one-way streets. Here, northbound DE 896 continues northwest onto one-way New London Road, carrying one lane, while southbound DE 896 follows DE 273 on two-way, two-lane West Main Street.