Hot Springs National Park – Top 5 Things to Do

One of Central Arkansas’ crown jewels is Hot Springs National Park. Locals and visitors alike love the natural beauty and history.

I’ve mentioned Hot Springs National Park before in passing in this post, but this WHOLE post is just about Hot Springs.

We recently took a weekend trip with two other couples to visit Hot Springs National Park. One set of friends were local Arkansans, but the other couple was from out of state, so we all decided to play tourists and do some touristy things!

HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK – ORIGINS

Hot Springs National Park was originally formed in 1832 as a reserve but was made a national park in 1921 when the National Park Service was formed.

It was named as a reserve to protect the natural hot springs that run out of the mountain.

Now that our basic history lesson is over, you can check out the details on that bit HERE.

You know…if you walk in downtown Hot Springs for more than 10 minutes, you’ll realize that it was also a HUGE haven for notorious gangsters (read more about that here)! I guess we Arkansans love our gangsters!!! 😉

SIGHTS TO SEE

I know…that was a SUPER BRIEF history, but I’m guessing if you’re here, you already know a little bit about the history of Hot Springs National Park and you’re just looking for stuff to do!

It was rainy and cold when we visited, but we still managed to stay busy the ENTIRE weekend!

The easiest way for me to explain things to do in Hot Springs is to break it down into my favorite top 5 things to do.

TOP 5

THE SPRINGS

The springs that the town of Hot Springs is named after run all through and around the town. If you walk one of the trails, you can see the 143-degree thermal waters rising up from their natural springs.

You can also see them from fountains around town as pictured above. People come from all over to fill their water bottles with the spring water.

The park does NOT allow you to get in them, but there are fountains around town that you can touch the water as well as refill water bottles. Here is a map of the trails around town.

BATHHOUSE ROW

How do you talk about Hot Springs National Park without talking about Bathhouse Row? I don’t know…because I’m talking about it!

If you have a burning desire to get IN the thermal springs but don’t like the idea of being arrested, you can visit one of the bathhouses for that experience.

There are two active bathhouses in the historic downtown area of Hot Springs, Quapaw Baths & Spa and Buckstaff Baths. A word of wisdom for you, if you DO want to get a thermal bath or any other spa services, call ahead and get an appointment. Our friends tried to get in last minute and that apparently doesn’t work well.

If you just want to SEE the history and don’t care about getting IN a bath, you can visit the Fordyce Bathhouse which is free to the public. They offer both guided and self-guided tours, but you should call ahead to make sure they are doing the guided tours on the day you want to visit.

HORSE RACES

If you like exciting events to go to, you should check out the horse races at Oaklawn Racing & Gaming. Horse races run from late January – early May. Admission is free and parking is $2 per car on the grounds, but you better get there early if you hope to park there.

If you’re RVing nearby, or staying in a hotel, and don’t think you’ll get there early enough, call an Uber…it’ll be cheaper than not being able to park on the grounds.

I’m not a great gambler, so I leave that to more experienced people, but I do love to watch the horses run, hear the excitement of the crowd as it swells when the horses reach the finish line, and love to see the jockey’s prep their horses in the paddock. I think it’s something everyone should see at least once in their lives!

HISTORIC DOWNTOWN

If you just have one day to spend in Hot Springs National Park, you need to hike on one of the trails and check out the Fordyce Bathhouse, but you should also stroll around downtown. The buildings are over 100 years old, and it just feels like stepping back in time.

Visit one of the local restaurants and enjoy small town living for a day! We like to eat breakfast in the Pancake Shop. This last visit, we found a cute popcorn shop called Ginger’s Popcorn Shop…I wanna go back over there right now! YUMMY!!!

Glynn also found a great vegan restaurant called In The Raw which served all kinds of vegan treats! He was super excited because he’s usually the odd man out when we go to restaurants.

If you’re not into that, there are literally tons of other restaurants nearby for dining.

Just take an afternoon to leisurely stroll around downtown enjoying all the little shops and museums along the way (there’s a wax museum on the strip…I’ve never been, it has mixed reviews on Trip Advisor).

NATURE SEEKING

This shot was from our hike at Gulpha Gorge.

If you’re a nature lover and have your day downtown marked off of your to-do list, you’ll want to check out one of the many hiking trails near Hot Springs National Park. We hiked Gulpha Gorge and really enjoyed the hike. If you’re willing to spend a few extra dollars and want a BREATHTAKING view, check out the Hot Springs Mountain Tower too!

You can also visit one of the nearby state parks for other hiking and biking trails. Here’s a great link from AllTrails.com for local hiking trails.

Fishermen, bring your tackle because Hot Springs is also home to 3 lakes. Rent a boat for a day or bring your own and enjoy the natural beauty of Lake Hamilton, Lake Cathrine, or Lake Ouachita (pronounced wash-it-ah).

MAGIC SPRINGS

I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about Magic Springs Theme and Water Park. If you’re RVing and staying at the Hot Springs KOA, you are practically in the backyard of Magic Springs. This is the ONLY theme park in central Arkansas and the most expansive water park.

The Arkansas summer heat can be soul-crushing…I’m not joking. When the kids were young, we used to buy season passes to Magic Springs and come down every weekend for the FREE concerts that are included with admission.

It’s fun to play in the water park during the heat of the day, shower off and play in the theme park as the sun gets lower, then round the day off with a relaxing evening enjoying some music.

HONORABLE MENTION

There are a few other things we like to do in or around Hot Springs National Park.

GARVAN GARDENS

Anthony Chapel inside of Garvan Gardens.

I went here in the fall of last year and boy, was I delighted! As a local (more or less), I had been to one wedding there, and always heard about how beautiful the gardens were, but never really went in and experienced it. If you are a nature lover, I would DEFINITELY say it’s worth the entry fee! Check out their website here.

ANTIQUES

This is a GREAT place for junkin’. If you’re into antique shopping, there are plenty of stores to check out both in the downtown area and around town.

EATS

If you simply can’t find great food downtown, you MUST go to McClard’s BBQ! It’s basically legend status BBQ in Arkansas and is a must-do kind of thing (as long as you like BBQ!). Although, it’s hard to imagine not being able to find food downtown!

SHOPPING

So you like to shop? There’s a pretty decent shopping center just a hop, skip, and a jump from the races. There have been times that I didn’t feel up to the sizable crowd at the races, so I dropped Glynn off there (and saved the parking fee), then headed up the hill to enjoy some shopping.

Check out Cornerstone Marketplace Shopping Center (sorry, their website is sad…just…sad).

There are other places to shop, but if you have someone going to the races and you don’t want to go, this is a great option.

THE PERFECT WEEKEND

So, here’s what our weekend looked like:

Friday night, we set up camp and chilled at the campgrounds with friends. After a finger food dinner, we chatted for a while and turned in early.

Saturday was race day! We all met at the races about an hour before the first post time. We bought box seats to have a place to park our rear ends for the day. After the races, we ate out for dinner at Diablo’s Tacos & Mezcal.

Sunday morning, everyone slept in then went for a hike around noon at Gulpha Gorge (oh, we got lost looking for Gulpha Gorge Trail…I wish I had taken pics…I LOVE old architecture). *If you want to see what we saw when we got lost, put “Gulpha Gorge Trail” into Google Maps…this may happen again soon just so I can go take pics!!!

After that, my girlfriends wanted to go relax in a bath, so they went to town in pursuit of that while Glynn and I sought out the vegan restaurant. The other guys stayed behind to start supper. As mentioned earlier, book your spa day early…my friends were unsuccessful in getting their baths.

Glynn and I walked around town getting pics for this post for about an hour after lunch.

Later that evening, we went back to camp for dinner around a campfire and just enjoyed our company. It was super cold outside, so the fire was nice! We experimented with frying an egg on a hot rock…free entertainment! 🙂

Monday, everyone headed back home…it was a GREAT weekend!!!

I’d LOVE to go back and spend a couple more days downtown! We drove around and looked at old houses for a little while, too! It just looks like someone plucked that town out of a history book. It’s so pretty!

ARE YOU GOING?

If you’re visiting Hot Springs National Park anytime soon, leave me a comment and tell me what your plans are. If you’ve been, tell me about your experiences, would you recommend something else? Tell me in the comments!

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