Hot Springs National Park is located in Arkansas. There are a variety of Hot Springs locations around the United States, but only one is a National Park. We visited the Hot Springs National Park this past weekend. We visited Bathhouse Row where eight of the historic bathhouses are preserved and restored. Only two bathhouses are still in business here. The others, which began around the early 1900’s time period are closed. Fordyce bathhouse is open for tours and is a National Park museum. Here is some info on it, in case you want to stop in for a tour while in the Hot Springs area: https://www.nps.gov/hosp/planyourvisit/fordyce.htm

Photos from our tour of the Fordyce bathhouse:

Here is more information from the National Park Service website about Hot Springs and it’s purpose: 

We did not go into any hot springs. They do not have public natural hot springs for soaking like other hot springs in other areas of the country. The water is actually too hot to do this. It comes out at 143 degrees in Hot Springs. There are two bath houses still in operation, so you can experience the water from the hot springs (they obviously regulate the temperature as it comes into the bath house). They don’t allow children, only adults, so it was something Justin and I opted out of doing.

Here are some photos from bathhouse row:

There is a scenic drive up to a private tower that overlooks the Hot Springs valley and mountains. It is a beautiful area to visit. I recommend the scenic drive.

We took a duck boat tour. That I can also recommend. We learned a lot about the history of the area and got a tour of the town at the same time. Hot Springs has a lovely little down town that is great for a weekend visit. The area around historic bathhouse row is especially nice.

We stayed at Lake Catherine State Park located in Hot Springs, AR. This is one of the best State Parks we have visited. It is very well cared for, the spaces for campers are wide and spread out, and you can reserve a private dock and lakefront space for camping! It is a beautiful place! We enjoyed our time camped at the lakefront, swimming in the lake, and hiking the beautiful trails in Lake Catherine State Park. We would come back to Hot Springs just to stay at this state park!