| State: | AR |
| Type: | AR |
| Route: | 46 |
| Established: | 1926 |
| Map Custom: | yes |
| Length Mi: | 39.07 |
| Length Ref: | [1] |
| Direction A: | West |
| Terminus A: | near Leola |
| Junction: | |
| Direction B: | East |
| Terminus B: | White Bluff Road near Redfield |
| Counties: | Dallas, Grant, Jefferson |
| Previous Type: | AR |
| Previous Route: | 45 |
| Next Type: | AR |
| Next Route: | 47 |
Highway 46 (AR 46, Ark. 46, and Hwy. 46) is a state highway in South Arkansas. The route begins at AR 9 and runs east 39.07miles to White Bluff Road near Redfield. The highway was created during the 1926 Arkansas highway numbering and extended throughout the 1970s. The route is maintained by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT). A portion of the route is designated as an Arkansas Heritage Trail for its use by both armies during the Camden Expedition of the Civil War.
AR 46 was one of the original state highways, designated in 1926.[2] State Road 46 ran from State Road 9 to US Highway 167 (US 167) in Sheridan (now [U.S. Route 167B). The route was extended east to the Jefferson County line during a period of highway system expansion after Act 9 of 1973 was passed by the [[Arkansas General Assembly]].[3] The act directed county judges and legislators to designate up to 12miles of county roads as state highways in each county.[4] The following year, the route was extended east to Redfield.[5] The final extension came in 1976, adding 1.2miles to the Arkansas Power and Light Company's White Bluff Steam Electric Plant as an industrial access road.[6]
The segment of AR 46 between AR 9 and Sheridan is an Arkansas Heritage Trail, used during the Camden Expedition of the Civil War by both armies. Union General Frederick Steele used the route to approach the Confederate States of America army in Camden.[7] Confederate Major General Thomas J. Churchill, Mosby M. Parsons, John G. Walker and Jo Shelby's units also traveled between AR 9 and Leola to the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, and at other points during the campaign.
Mile markers reset at some concurrencies.