Most of the highway east of Lebanon is hilly and curvy, passing through a large part of the Missouri Ozarks.

City streets connect to a ferry providing passage across the Mississippi River to Illinois.

In the national forest, the highway forms a six-mile (10 km) concurrency with Route 49.

West of Licking, Route 32 enters another section of the Mark Twain National Forest.

Three miles northwest of Falcon, the highway leaves the Mark Twain National Forest.

The road then continues west, forming the main highway between the two county seats of Buffalo and Bolivar.

At this intersection, the highway turns due north for five miles (8 km) before reaching U.S. Route 54 and ending in eastern El Dorado Springs.