Route 39 begins at US 54 in
Cedar County, heading south-southeast towards
Stockton. About one mile (1.6 km) before reaching Stockton, the road begins a brief
concurrency with
Route 32 before turning south again. Two miles south of Stockton is the western terminus of
Route 215. Route 39 enters
Dade County north of
Arcola and south of that village, Route 39 crosses a branch of
Stockton Lake. At
Greenfield is the beginning of a concurrency with
U.S. Route 160 which last for two miles (3 km), with US 160 turning west and Route 39 continuing south to
South Greenfield. The route enters
Lawrence County south of
Pennsboro. At
Albatross is an intersection with
Route 96. At the north edge of
Mount Vernon is the western terminus of
Route 174, and two miles (3 km) further south, Route 39 turns east, joining Business Loop
I-44 for about two miles (3 km). At Interstate 44, the business loop ends, and
Route 265 begins and the two will be united to
Aurora, where Route 39 intersects
U.S. Route 60. South of Aurora, Route 39 enters
Barry County and heads straight south for about sixteen miles and intersects
Route 248. The highway then enters the
Mark Twain National Forest. Eight miles south of Route 248, Route 39 forms a brief concurrency with
Route 76, then turns south again. At
Shell Knob, Route 39 crosses
Table Rock Lake. At
Viola Route 39 enters
Stone County and further south at
Carr Lane is an intersection with
Route 86, and one mile (1.6 km) further south the highway crosses the Arkansas state line. ==Major intersections==