Hot Springs National Park guide · 1 min read
Where Downtown Hot Springs Meets the Park
Hot Springs National Park wraps around the north end of the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Bathhouse Row sits on the far side of Central Avenue from the city, and its historic bathhouses drew visitors from around the world in the 1800s and early 1900s. Many closed once modern medicine changed how people sought treatment, but the buildings were preserved, and many still welcome visitors on tours.
The springs cluster around the foot of Hot Springs Mountain and send well over half a million gallons of hot water out each day. Both hot and cool mineral water still come out of the local springs. Visitors often carry jugs to the public fountains on Bathhouse Row and at Happy Hollow Spring, where they fill them with the mineral water.
Most major downtown streets have metered parking, and several side streets have free spaces. The city's large garage at 128 Exchange Street sits one block west of the park's visitor center, which occupies the former Fordyce Bathhouse on Central Avenue. The city's parking website has the latest details.
Inside the park, you can spend the night at the Hotel Hale or at Gulpha Gorge Campground. For more on lodging and sights around town, the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau can point you in the right direction.
Past the bathhouses, the park's mountains are laced with miles of roads and trails, Hot Springs Mountain among them. On the trails, you move through woodland and past creeks, catching mountain views along the way. Right in the middle of town, the park holds thermal springs, wooded hillsides and creeks.
