Scenic mountain drives, fascinating history, and ancient thermal springs await you in this one-of-a-kind national park. Unlike the remote seclusion of some National Parks, this one lies in the historic heart of the city of Hot Springs.
The city has been many things to many people: A resort for the wealthy and elite, a miracle of hope and healing for the infirm, spring training fields for some of Major League Baseball’s greatest legends, and even a playground for the country’s most notorious criminals.
On Shaka Guide's tour of Hot Springs National Park, we'll take you on two scenic mountain drives, and on a walking tour of historic Bathhouse Row, in downtown Hot Springs.
Itinerary
1. City of Hot Springs Visitor Center
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 10 minutes
Do not confuse this with the National Park Visitor Center located further up Bathhouse Row. If the City Visitor Center is open, you can step inside and get a map of historic downtown Hot Springs.
There are also restrooms inside, as well as brochures on area activities, and helpful staff on hand to answer your questions.
2. Hill Wheatley Plaza Jug Fountain
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
The Hill Wheatley Plaza consists of the City of Hot Springs Visitor Center, the water jug fountain, and Bill Clinton Park, which has two display fountains.
Hill Wheatley, a local Hot Springs businessman, donated the land for this plaza. His statue stands above a fountain in Bill Clinton Park.
3. Bill Clinton Park
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 6 minutes
People named Bill Clinton Park after Bill Clinton, a famous Hot Springs resident and former US President.
Take a rest in the shade of the trees, and admire the peaceful fountains.
4. National Park Administration Building
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
The National Park built the Administration Building in 1936 at Central Avenue and Reserve Street, so it’s not one of the original bathhouses.
There are two fountains in front of the building along Reserve Street: a decorative fountain, and a water jug fountain, the latter of which you are welcome to drink from.
5. Lamar Bathhouse
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 15 minutes
Workers built the current Lamar Bathhouse in 1923, and it now serves as the National Park Emporium gift shop.
Inside, you can sample the spring water, take your picture in an old bathtub, and shop for souvenirs.
What you might not see, is that the building also houses offices for the park's Resource Management employees, the park archives, museum collection storage spaces, and a small research library.
6. Buckstaff Bathhouse
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
Workers built the Buckstaff in 1911, and it has operated continuously ever since.
Today, you can step inside and make reservations for a hot mineral water soak, a relaxing massage, and other spa treatments.
Services inside the Buckstaff haven't really changed since the heyday of Bathhouse Row, a hundred years ago.
7. Ozark Bathhouse
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5-30 minutes
Today, the Ozark houses the Hot Springs National Park Cultural Center. It has limited hours, pretty much only Saturdays and Sundays during the summer.
It’s free to enter when open, and inside, you can find gallery spaces for the National Park’s Artist in Residency, as well as other temporary exhibits.
8. Quapaw Bathhouse
Shutterstock Image
- Duration: 5 minutes
People named the Quapaw Bathhouse after the Native Quapaw Tribe. Along with the Buckstaff, it is one of two bathhouses still operating.
While the Buckstaff operated continuously, the Quapaw sat empty for over 20 years, from 1984 until its purchase for renovations in 2007.
It has a gift shop, and a simple cafe with light fare if you’re hungry.
9. Fordyce Visitor Center & Museum
daveynin
- Duration: 1 hour
The Fordyce Bathhouse opened in 1915. It was actually the first bathhouse to close in the 1960s after advances in modern medicine caused the bathhouse business to decline.
Railroad tycoon Samuel Fordyce built the Fordyce and moved his family to Hot Springs in 1876.
He was an early and influential investor in the town, helping to build hotels, an opera house, infrastructure, and utilities.
10. The Shell Thermal Water Fountain & Display Spring
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
Between the Fordyce and Maurice Bathhouses, you can find the Grand Staircase of the Hot Springs Grand Promenade.
And at the base of the stairs, you can find the Stevens Balustrade Shell Fountain.
The water’s hot, because it comes from the Maurice thermal spring. And to the left of the shell fountain, behind the Maurice Bathhouse, is the Display Spring.
There, you can sit and watch the water bubble right out of the mountain.
11. Maurice Bathhouse
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
Workers built the current Maurice Bathhouse in 1911 in Mediterranean style, setting the standard for the bathhouses that followed.
As of 2024, the Maurice Bathhouse is the only building on Bathhouse Row that remains empty.
12. Maurice Historical Springs
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
Between the Maurice and Hale Bathhouses, you can find the Maurice Historical Display Springs. Set into the natural tufa rock is the Dripping Spring. Up the stairs to the left of the Dripping Spring, you can find the Tunnel Spring.
These were the first two display springs in the National Park. Workers completed all of this stonework, designed to display the springs to visitors, in 1903.
13. Hale Bathhouse
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
Today's Hale Bathhouse is at least the fourth building to go by that name on this site.
People built it in 1892, and it survived the devastating fires of 1905 and 1913, making it the oldest structure on Bathhouse Row.
Today, it serves as the luxurious Hotel Hale. It also contains a restaurant called Eden, which serves up delicious food in a garden-style environment.
14. Superior Bathhouse
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
Made of brick, the Superior Bathhouse really stands out from the other bathhouses. The Superior Bathhouse is also a bold name, especially considering that it was the smallest bathhouse in the row.
The Superior also offered limited services, only basic hydrotherapy and massages. Ya might say that the only thing superior about this bathhouse was the name.
15. Arlington Lawn Hot Water Cascade
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
The Arlington Lawn Hot Water Cascade is the largest spring visible in the park. Hot water emanates from the hillside near the Grand Promenade and flows under the path, down a steep cliff into two pools.
Even though the hot springs water comes out of the ground hot enough to scald you, it cools down enough to touch by the time it reaches these pools.
16. Grand Promenade North Entrance
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
Technically, this is a shortcut up to the Grand Promenade. If you'd prefer to avoid stairs, the true north end of the Hot Springs Grand Promenade is about 500 feet further up Fountain Street, past the Arlington Hotel.
17. Top of the Hot Water Cascade
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
This is the source of the water for the Arlington Lawn Hot Water Cascade Pools. You can watch the water as it trickles down the hill toward the lawn.
You can also see some of the specialized plants that grow near the mountain's hot springs.
18. Tufa Terrance Trail
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
This is one of the access points to the Tufa Terrace Trail. The northern end of the trail begins on the Arlington Lawn, near the hot water cascade pools.
Feel free to wander the trail and observe the natural tufa rock.
19. Grand Staircase & Bandstand
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
At the top of the Grand Staircase, there used to be a Bandstand. The bandstand is long gone, but you can imagine what it might have looked like. Imagine a big band playing music, and crowds gathered below.
This is also the opposite or southern end of the Tufa Terrace Trail. At the bottom of the Grand Staircase, you can access the Fordyce Visitor Center.
20. The Army Navy Hospital
Rennett Stowe
- Duration: 5 minutes
The former Army Navy Hospital of Hot Springs is a truly impressive structure. People constructed the original building in 1887, but they replaced it in 1933 with the one you see today.
That means this hospital served as another witness to Hot Spring's decline, as modern medical treatments replaced thermal water.
When the military abandoned the building in 1955, the state took it over and turned it into a rehabilitation center for people with physical disabilities.
Then it transitioned into more of a career training institute. In 2019, the facility was closed and abandoned.
21. Grand Promenade South Entrance
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
The South Entrance of the Grand Promenade features benches, tables, and chairs for playing chess, a great view of the former Army Navy Hospital, and the Noble Fountain.
People installed the fountain in 1896, but it originally sat much closer to Central Avenue, at the southern end of the Magnolia Promenade.
As vehicle traffic on Central Avenue increased, people moved the fountain in front of the NPS admin building.
When they built the Grand Promenade, they moved the fountain here.
22. Hot Springs Mountain Picnic Area & Pagoda
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
The first stop on Hot Springs Mountain includes a peaceful little picnic area with restrooms and a trailhead.
The trailhead provides access to the Shortcut Trail, which takes you down the mountain to the Oertal Trail and the Grand Promenade.
From the same trailhead, you can also hop on the one-and-a-half-mile Hot Springs Mountain Trail.
It’s a fairly easy walk around the top of the mountain with several scenic overlooks. And then, there’s the Hot Springs Mountain Pagoda.
People originally built the pagoda in 1910 to house a fountain, but getting water this high up proved too difficult.
Now, it’s just an interesting place to take in the views.
23. Hot Springs Mountain Tower
Larry D. Moore
- Duration: 20 minutes
The Hot Springs Observation Tower, a 216-foot tall structure, opened to the public in 1983 and is actually the third observation tower in that location.
Not only are the views of Hot Springs and the Zig-Zag mountains incredible from the top of the tower, but this is also an excellent place to learn a lot of fun facts and trivia about Hot Springs! Y’see, there are actually two levels at the tower’s peak.
The lower level is fully enclosed, with signs and displays about the city’s fascinating history.
From there, you can move up a level for some outdoor activities, and depending on the weather, you can enjoy some very windy views of the surrounding area.
There’s a small per-person fee to ride the elevator to the top. And the ground floor has a decent little gift shop if you wanna do some souvenir shopping.
24. North Mountain Scenic Viewpoint
NPS Photo/Calvin Smith
- Duration: 5 minutes
From the North Mountain Scenic Viewpoint, you can see out over the Ouachita Mountains. It's also where you'll find the trailhead for Goat Rock Trail.
Goat Rock Trail is a little over two miles round trip and descends the mountain to a viewpoint on top of Goat Rock.
Supposedly, a large goat lived on the rock many years ago, which is where the rock gets its name.
It’s a lovely view, but if we're honest, the views are just a little better from the parking area.
25. Happy Hollow Jug Fountain
NPS
- Duration: 5 minutes
The Happy Hollow Jug Fountain is one of the few cool water springs in the park.
From the late 1800s, until the 1940s, the Happy Hollow Spring was actually part of McLeod’s Amusement Park.
At its height, it included a photography studio, shooting gallery, zoo, and souvenir shop. Today, all that’s left of Happy Hollow is the jug fountain.
Back then, people called it the Magnesia Spring, and a pitcher of water cost a nickel.
Today, you’re welcome to fill your water bottles for free with cool, refreshing spring water.
26. Babe Ruth Homeplate
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
On this spot, on March 17th, 1918, Babe Ruth hit a record-setting home run that changed his career, and the sport of baseball, forever. The ball landed more than 500 feet away in an alligator farm that still stands to this day.
27. Whittington Spring Fountain
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
The 2nd of two cold water fountains in the National Park, the Whittington Park fountain is located near the entrance to the West Mountain Scenic Drive.
Just like at Happy Hollow, you're welcome to fill your water bottles for free.
28. West Mountain Lower Overlook
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
From the West Mountain Lower Overlook, you can see downtown Hot Springs, the Army Navy Hospital, and the Hot Springs Mountain Tower.
29. West Mountain Trail & Shelter
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 5 minutes
This is where you can stop on the West Mountain Trail. If you take the trail across the street, it leads uphills, north of the Loop Overlook.
Or, you can take the trail southwest, where it also goes uphill, and end south of the Loop Overlook.
You can turn this trail into a loop by connecting both ends via the Mountain Top Trail. The total roundtrip if taking the loop is about 2 miles.
30. West Mountain Loop Overlook
C. Rayne Warne
- Duration: 10 minutes
At the Loop Overlook, you can see over the southwestern part of Hot Springs, out toward the Ouachita River Valley.
And just behind the Loop Overlook, there’s a large outcropping of Arkansas Novaculite where you can see just how fractured and angled the rock is that makes up the mountain.
These fractures, and the steep angle of the rock layers, are due to all the tectonic activity that created these mountains.
And they’re also what allows water to seep down into the mountain so that it can come out later as spring water.
The Loop Overlook is also where you’ll find the Trailhead for the longest trail in the park. The Sunset Trail is 10 miles long, one-way.
But just half a mile up the trail, you can reach the forested peak of West Mountain.
Explore Hot Springs with Shaka Guide
Hot Springs National Park is a unique historical destination.
This park offers abundant nature and hiking trails but focuses on the water's journey through Hot Springs Mountain.
For centuries, people have harnessed this natural resource, blending its history with the beauty of the landscape.
Walking along Bathhouse Row and the Grand Promenade, you can imagine yourself walking those same paths a hundred years ago, shoulder to shoulder with legends like Al Capone or Babe Ruth.
To this day, you can still 'take the waters' and 'quaff the elixir,' just as millions have done before.
Hot Springs isn't just a city or a National Park, it's a time capsule of a bygone era when water was medicine, and everyone who was anyone made their way to 'America's First Resort.'
Ready to take the tour? Check out Shaka Guide's Hot Springs National Park Tour!
We hope that we’ve given you all the information you need to make the most of your day. Your vacation is extremely important to us so if you have any questions feel free to reach out at aloha@shakaguide.com.
For more detailed information to help you plan, check out our Hot Springs National Park Know Before You Go article.
Like this article? Share it on Pinterest!
