It makes a 233.1 miles (375.1 km) crescent through the northeast corner of the state, running from SH-99 in Osage County to Interstate 40 (I-40) near Gore.

In downtown Grove, SH-10 again joins US-59, and is signed with that highway for 30 miles (48 km) through mostly rural parts of Delaware County, including the county seat, Jay, where State Highway 20 joins with SH-10 and US-59 for approximately two miles.

[3] SH-10 continues south for 3 miles (4.8 km), coming to an interchange with U.S. Highway 412, the Cherokee Turnpike, at the town of Kansas.

[3] (US-59 departs just south of the interchange and follows US-412 east toward the Arkansas state line at West Siloam Springs.)

SH-10 then begins paralleling the Illinois River, a popular recreation area primarily accessed through SH-10.

After leaving US-62, SH-10 runs mostly parallel to the Arkansas River, passing through the towns of Braggs, Oklahoma and Gore.

It has a brief concurrency with U.S. Highway 64 to cross the Arkansas River, and splits off to the south in Webbers Falls.

From that intersection, rather than turning west towards Miami, SH-10 continued northeast to end southwest of Joplin, Missouri, approximately where Interstate 44 crosses the state line now.

[2] However, the other terminus was moved north at the end of that year, resulting in SH-10 being truncated to Gore after November 12, 1941.

[8] The section of SH-10 east of Gore was pressed into service as a detour for I-40 traffic after the collapse of its bridge over the Arkansas River on May 26, 2002.

Local firefighters directed traffic there 24 hours a day, with daytime temperatures approaching 100 °F (38 °C).