Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for detecting road surface properties. The apparatus includes a storage which stores a reflectivity table that comprises a degree of reflectivity of a rainy road relative to a reference reflectivity and a degree of reflectivity of a snowy road relative to the reference reflectivity; a reflection measurement unit which measures a reflection which is the amount of a laser beam that is emitted through a light emitting unit of a laser sensor, reflected from the road surface, and received by a light receiving unit; a reflectivity calculation unit which calculates a degree of reflectivity for the road in front of the vehicle via a ratio of the measured reflection and the reference reflectivity; and a road surface property determination unit which detects the corresponding road surface properties based on the reflectivity table.