Hot Springs - National Park

Front of Fordyce Bath House

Hot Springs National Park

This is the first National Park that we spent extended time (a weekend) and fully explored all the park had to offer.  The drive down to Hot Springs, AR from St Louis was straightforward, but took about 7 hours.  We arrived in Hot Springs on Friday, May 20, 2022.

The National Park Visitor Center and the Museum tour does not open until 9am most days.  So, we got up early and spent the first 4 hours of the day hiking the multitude of trails in the park.  We started at the promenade which was a nice leisurely stroll to get us warmed up.  At the start of Promenade walk, was a Hot Springs filling station.  People lined up to fill bottles, jugs, and other containers with the hot water routed to the station from the spring.  Along the way was an open pool with the hot steaming water.

At the end of the Promenade walk, we hiked a few minor and shorter trails (including the Gulph Gorge Trail) to connect up with the Goat Rock Trail.  The Goat Rock Trail was strenuous mainly from the grade of the trail.  Obviously, we were going up to the top of the mountain and it felt like it.  The weather that day was overcast so we did not have a lot of direct sun on us, but it was super humid.  The view from Goat Rock was well worth the uphill hike and I took some good pictures.  We spent a few minutes just admiring the valley and adjacent mountains.

The trails in general were well marked and easy to walk across.   In some spots there were bits of erosion and larger rocks, but that was the exception.  While we did meet a few other hikers, the trails were mostly empty in the early morning.  For a couple of the sites, like Goat Rock, you could drive up the mountain, park and then take a short hike to Goat Rock.  So, as we approached Goat Rock we did see more folks. 

Next stop was a hike over to the Rix Tower observation deck.  Of course, on the way up we took the stairs.  This was after we hiked about 6 miles, mostly uphill.  The Rix Tower was re-built in 1983 and stands 216 feet tall.  From the top you have views of the city, the park and both Sugarloaf Mountain and Music Mountain (which is the highest point in the park).  There is a gift shop with cold drinks at the bottom of the tower and we did take the elevator down to the bottom. 

After we hiked back down to the mountain from Rix Tower, we visited Bath House Row as well as the National Park Visitor Center which is itself a bath house.  There is a museum in the visitor center as you can get a good understanding of how these bath houses operated nearly 100 years ago.  The visitor center has a nice movie theater with a short 15-minute documentary on the history of the City of Hot Springs and the National Park.

The city itself blends right into the National Park and there is no real park entrance, so we could just enter on any trail we wanted which was nice.  There were all kinds of shops and restaurants in the adjacent city side of Bath House Row.  We had a great time, especially hiking.  While Hot Springs is a small National Park it was packed with a lot things to do and see. 

As a separate note we drove over to the Garvan Woodlands Gardens (Gardens), which was 5-mile drive from the National Park Visitor Center.  We spent nearly 3 hours at the Gardens.  I will post pictures from the Gardens as well, but well worth the time.  There was so much to see and do, it was awesome.  No real hiking as the paths were all concrete or packed gravel.   On our way back from Gardens we also stopped to see Carpenter Dam.  Will post pictures of that as well.