Arkansas Highway 9: Perryville to Oppelo

As we leave the intersection of Arkansas Highway 60 and Arkansas Highway 9 in Perryville, we begin a short but character-rich journey northward through the heart of Perry County. The town of Perryville, seat of the county, sits nestled in the rolling foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, surrounded by pine-studded ridges and small farms. Just beyond the town square, where the county courthouse stands as a quiet sentinel of local governance, we set off on AR-9. The highway quickly sheds its small-town surroundings as it stretches into a more pastoral setting, bracketed by a patchwork of hayfields, modest homesteads, and patches of dense woodland.

Within just a couple of minutes, we find ourselves entering the town of Perry, a quiet crossroads community that has long served as a waypoint for travelers heading to and from the Arkansas River Valley. Here, we pass the intersection with Arkansas Highway 10, a major east-west route that connects the Little Rock metro to the south with the scenic Magazine Mountain region to the west. This intersection represents not only a key junction of roadways but also a subtle transition in terrain—from the foothill landscape of Perryville to the broader floodplains that unfold as we head further north. Leaving Perry behind, AR-9 straightens out, running alongside scattered parcels of farmland that speak to the region’s blend of agriculture and rural heritage.

As we approach Oppelo, the land flattens even more, with sweeping views across the Arkansas River Valley opening up in the distance. The final stretch of AR-9 into town is framed by cultivated fields and silos—evidence of a small but enduring farming community that thrives in the fertile bottomlands here. Oppelo itself is a small but active town, with a strong connection to the surrounding countryside and to the nearby Petit Jean Mountain, whose imposing ridge can often be glimpsed on the horizon. We end our drive at the intersection with AR-154, turning west toward one of Arkansas’s most beloved destinations: Petit Jean State Park. This brief but scenic segment of Arkansas Highway 9 serves as both a rural connector and a gentle gateway from the hills into the flatlands—and, ultimately, toward the mountain heights beyond.