Hot Springs National Park, Hot Springs, AR

Hot Springs National Park

An in-town park, but lovely to see. Don't forget to do the mountain drive tours.

Check out the slide shows, pictures, videos, and information below.

Hot Springs National Park	Pan View of Hot Springs

Hot Springs National Park is surrounded by the city of Hot Springs. This urban setting has 47 hot springs, which have been the attraction for many years. Although the hot springs were known by the early Indian tribes, the heyday of the hot springs was in the early 20th century when people traveled to the area for the medicinal effects of the minerals in the hot springs. The use of the baths declined in the 1960's and many bathhouses shut down. Today there is a revival of the splendor of these early days.

If you wish to stay in the area while visiting the park, there are a number of hotels in the city of Hot Springs, including the famous Arlington Hotel. If you want to camp, check out the state parks of Lake Catherine or Lake Ouachita.

Click Here for more information about the park.

The downtown part of the Hot Springs National Park is quite beautiful. Take a look at the slide shows below to see what you think.

Mouse over picture to see descriptions. One set of pictures show the walking trails park and the other shows the Bathhouse Row, which made Hot Springs so famous in the early 1900's.

Hot Springs Park Downtown A lovely landscaped park with a hot spring waterfall provides a relaxing visit.
Waterfall close-up The sound of the waterfall is a pleasant experience.
Hot Springs pool Dick looks at the steam coming from the basin pool at the base of the waterfall.
Dick talks with visitors The waterfall fills the basin where Dick visits with tourists.
Dick and Arlene We stand in front of the hot spring basin as it steams.
CENSORED!! The hot springs bring out the romance in us.
Little Girl in Park Even the children enjoy this park with the rocks to climb over.
Dick by rock in park Wow, that is a rock!
State Capitol Grounds 1862 The state capitol stood on these grounds in the mid 1800's.
Plaque with history Plaque tells history of this early experience.
Sign on building The mural adds flavor to the downtown.
Downtown Hot Springs The streets are lined with small shops of all flavors.

Visitor Center The Fordyce bathhouse serve as the Visitor Center.
Bathhouse interior This is in the Visitor Center to show the interior of a bathhouse.
Bathhouse bath facilities This shows some of the bath facilities.
Bathhouse statue The bathhouses often were very ornate.
Bathhouse Mural Window This beautiful widow is on the ceiling above the statue.
One of the bathhouses This is at the south end of Bathhouse Row.
Hills behind Bathhouses The bathhouse are backed up by the hills around the town.
Buckstaff Bathhouse Sign The Buckstaff is one of the most beautiful of the bathhouses.
Buckstaff Bathhouse Lovely bathhouse and it has been restored and is still in use.
Bath House Row This shows some of the other bath houses on Bath House Row. Some are leased for small businesses.
Bathhouses More bathhouses with the famous Arlington Hotel in the background.

There are two driving tours in the Hot Springs Nation Park. The one nearest to the downtown area is the Mountain Tower Drive and the other is on West Mountain.

Mouse over picture to see descriptions. The Mountain Tower Drive is must to do in the National Park. The West Mountain area has beautiful views of the city and a hiking trail as well.

Mountain Tower Drive The sign points to the location of the Mountain Tower Drive.
Mountain Tower Trail The entrance to the driving trail.
Roadway to mountain top The road is rather winding up the mountain, but very scenic.
Mountain Tower Sign The sign points to the tower on top of the mountain.
The Mountain Tower This tower is 216' tall with beautiful views. There is an admission for this elevator trip.
Overlook covered This covered overlook is across from the tower.
Dick taking pictures of valley Near the covered overlook is a walkway where you can get fantastic views.
Valley View of Hot Springs Fantastic view of Hot Springs.
Dick and Arlene with city view Of course we had to take a picture of us at this beautiful place.

Directional Sign This sign directs you where to turn to get to West Mountain.
West mountain sign This is the entrance to the West Mountain area of Hot Springs National Park.
View from West Mountain This is a good view of Hot Springs from West Mountain.
Pan of west mountain view This is a good pan of the city from West Mountain.

While visiting the National Park, you can visit a couple of other attractions. Below are pictures of the Arlington Hotel Downtown, a hotel still in operation. The building maintains the flavor of the days past when the bathhouses were a major tourist attraction. Also, there are some pictures of the Oaklawn Race Track where races take place January to mid April. Although not part of the Hot Springs National Park, Oaklawn is a premier attraction where many of the great horses have raced including American Pharaoh, the most recent triple crown winner. Next door to the tracks is the new entertainment complex of Oaklawn Gaming Casino. See details for these two venues.

Arlington Hotel view

This hotel has the décor that was popular in the early 1900's.

Arlington Hotel

Another view of the hotel from the side.

The Winner

Horse crosses the finish line.

Arlington Hotel view

This hotel has the décor that was popular in the early 1900's.

1/10

This 6 minute video below is professionally done by 58NationalParks and gives the background of Hot Springs National Park and has many pictures of that park.