Plan with Rovo. Drive with your favorite map.
Oklahoma City to Nashville covers about 678 miles and nearly 10 hours, running east on I-40 the entire way through Fort Smith and Little Rock, Arkansas, then Memphis, Tennessee, before continuing on to Nashville.
It's a single-highway drive, but a long one — long enough that many drivers split it into two days rather than push through in one. The real chokepoint is Memphis, where I-40 crosses the Mississippi River on the Hernando de Soto Bridge; that crossing sees recurring lane closures for maintenance and backs up hard during evening rush.
Memphis is the stretch to plan around — I-40 crosses the Mississippi on the Hernando de Soto Bridge, which has had recurring lane closures for maintenance and backs up hardest on weekday evenings between 4 and 6:30pm. If you're timing the crossing, aim to hit Memphis outside that window. Given the total length, plenty of drivers break this trip up with an overnight in Little Rock or Memphis rather than doing it in a single day.
Plan This Route with Rovo →No. The entire route runs on I-40 through Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee, and none of those states toll this stretch of interstate.
It's doable at under 10 hours, but it's a long single day. Many drivers split it into two, stopping overnight around Little Rock or Memphis.
Aim to cross the Hernando de Soto Bridge before 4pm or after 7pm. The bridge has had recurring maintenance-related lane closures, and any incident there also backs up the parallel I-55 bridge, so bad timing can cost you far more than the usual delay.