Hot Springs National Park

The Quapaw Baths, the bathhouse that we soaked in, which is only 1 of 2 remaining bathhouses still in operation

October 14th - October 19th, 2024

Historic bathhouses and unique history

Arkansas National Park is an unorthodox national park in the sense that it is primarily centered around historic places instead of the land’s natural beauty. The center piece of the park are the bathhouses that were built here which are fed from natural hot springs below ground.

At the time, it was believed that the hot spring water contained medicinal properties, which resulted in many people visiting the spa town in hopes of curing their ailments. The bathhouses that remain today were built in between 1892 and 1923. It became designated as a national park in 1921.

The city also has a unique history of being the vacation destination for many prominent mobsters throughout the 20th century.

While it doesn't rank super high in our list of top national parks due to it primarily centering around manmade bathhouses, we still had an absolute blast visiting here, which felt more like a vacation rather than an outdoor adventure. We soaked in the Quapaw Bathhouse, which is one of two bathhouses that are still in operation today. We also hiked a few trails and visited some interesting museums.

The Quapaw Baths, the bathhouse that we soaked in, which is only 1 of 2 remaining bathhouses still in operation

Buckstaff Bathhouse, the other remaining bathhouse in operation today

The Ozark bathhouse, which houses the Hot Springs National Park Cultural Center today

Inside the Fordyce Bathhouse there is now a collection of exhibits that demonstrate what the bath houses would have looked like back in the day.

This is one of the fountains where the underground hot springs water is surfaced, which is free to take and healthy to drink.

The Quapaw Bath house

Inside the Fordyce Bathhouse there is now a collection of exhibits that demonstrate what the bath houses would have looked like back in the day.

Hot Water Cascade, one of the only places where the hot springs surface in the park

This is one of the hikes that we went on inside the national park, the Gulpha Gorge Trail

This is known as "Stonebridge", a really pretty dam in Hot Springs NP.

We went on a Duck Boat ride to the Ouachita River, which was really fun and beautiful!

Duck Boat ride on the Ouachita River

There was a forest directly behind our Airbnb where we would see deer roaming around almost every night

The Hot Springs Mountain Tower, a great lookout spot on the top of a mountain overlooking the town

The view from the top of the Hot Springs Mountain Tower

We went to Deluca's Pizza in Hot Springs, which is a pretty famous pizza joint.

There is an amazing restaurant inside one of the historic bath houses, Superior Bathhouse Brewery. They make root beer from the hot springs water.

Highpoints

While we were in Arkansas, Trevor made a trip down to Louisiana to visit the highest point in Louisiana, Driskill Mountain. Then, on our way from Arkansas to Arizona, we stopped at the Arkansas highpoint, Mount Magazine, which is nested inside the beautiful Ozark mountains.