Fast Facts
- Population
- ~37,930 (2020 census)
- Typical visiting season
- Spring & Fall
- One Unusual Stat
- ~1 million gallons of 143°F water flow out of the mountain daily
- Miles from Little Rock
- ~55 mi · ~1 hr
What to Know Before You Arrive
Long before Hot Springs was a town, Quapaw and other tribes gathered in this valley to use the hot water, and the Quapaw ceded the land to the United States in 1818. The city itself wasn’t incorporated until January 10, 1851, built around roughly 47 natural springs pouring out of Hot Springs Mountain at about 143°F. That water fell as rain something like 4,000 years ago and has been sinking deep underground, heating up, and slowly rising back to the surface ever since.
The federal government protected these springs in 1832, decades before the idea of a “national park” existed anywhere — it was the first time Washington set aside land specifically to preserve it as a public recreation area. It wasn’t formally renamed Hot Springs National Park until March 4, 1921, and because the original reservation was so small, it stayed the smallest national park in the country by area until 2018, when the Gateway Arch grounds in St. Louis were redesignated as a national park and took the title. Because Bathhouse Row sits right on Central Avenue, the park and downtown share the same sidewalk: storefronts on one side, a national park visitor center on the other.
Locals call it the Spa City or the Valley of the Vapors, and the old motto is “America’s First Resort.” That resort economy had a wild stretch: from 1927 to 1947, Hot Springs ran at least ten illegal casinos in the open, protected by a political machine under Mayor Leo McLaughlin, while Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Bugs Moran and Owney Madden all came through town to gamble. Arkansas didn’t shut the casinos down for good until 1967, when Governor Winthrop Rockefeller ordered it closed. The other thing nobody expects: this is also where major league baseball started holding spring training, beginning with the Chicago White Stockings in 1886, and where Babe Ruth is said to have hit an estimated 573-foot home run on March 17, 1918.
The Road Trip Stop
Bathhouse Row, inside Hot Springs National Park, is the anchor, and it’s completely free to walk. Eight Gilded Age bathhouses — Buckstaff, Fordyce, Hale, Lamar, Maurice, Ozark, Quapaw and Superior — line Central Avenue in neoclassical, Spanish and Italianate styles built between 1892 and 1923. Only two of them, Buckstaff and Quapaw, still operate as working bathhouses, where visitors can fully submerge in the thermal water. The rest have been repurposed: Fordyce is the park visitor center and museum, Lamar is the park store, Ozark is a science museum, Hale is a boutique hotel with a restaurant, Superior is a brewery, and Maurice is closed for renovations.
Budget the time
- Start at the Fordyce Bathhouse, the free National Park Service visitor center and museum, restored and reopened in 1989. Budget 45–60 minutes to walk it properly.
- Actually take a bath. Buckstaff has run continuously since 1912 with the traditional single-tub, robe-and-cooling-room ritual; Quapaw reopened in 2008 as a modern spa with shared thermal pools. The two work differently on booking: Buckstaff says its baths and massages are walk-in only, with no reservations, while Quapaw says reservations are required for spa services and private mineral baths, with walk-ins accepted subject to availability, and it recommends calling 2–3 weeks in advance.
- Go up Hot Springs Mountain Tower for a view of the whole park and part of the Ouachita Mountains — the tower is run as a concession for the park and can be reached by trail or by car. Its hours change seasonally, and the National Park Service points visitors to the tower’s own website for current hours.
- Park on or near Central Avenue and do the whole row on foot. The city lists metered on-street parking along Central Avenue from Whittington Avenue to Olive Street at $4* an hour for up to four hours, and a lower-priced zone, including the Exchange Street parking deck one block west of the visitor center, at $2* an hour with no time limit. Meters are enforced 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and the city also lists open zones with no meters and no time limits.
*Fees subject to change, please check cityhs.net for updated information.
Neighborhoods
Bathhouse Row & Central Avenue
The historic spine of the whole town: eight Gilded Age bathhouses inside the national park boundary, part of a historic district with 77 contributing buildings between Prospect and Park Avenues. Walkable, free, and the reason to come.
Downtown / The Gangster Blocks
The stretch of Central Avenue where the Arlington Hotel, the Gangster Museum of America and Superior Bathhouse Brewery now sit on the same ground Al Capone and Lucky Luciano once walked. Antique shops and restaurants fill in the rest.
Hot Springs Mountain
The park land rising directly behind downtown, laced with hiking trails (26 miles in the park, per the National Park Service) and topped by an observation tower that overlooks the surrounding countryside — forest reached by a staircase behind the Fordyce Bathhouse.
Lake Hamilton & Lake Catherine
The lake district south and east of downtown, where Garvan Woodland Gardens sits on 4.5 miles of Lake Hamilton shoreline and marinas and resorts take over from the historic district.
The Food Stop
McClard’s Bar-B-Q started almost by accident in 1928, when a traveler who couldn’t pay his bill at the McClard family’s tourist court handed over a barbecue sauce recipe instead. The family moved the business to its current spot at 505 Albert Pike in 1942, and it’s now run by the fourth generation, still making the sauce, the beans and the tamales from scratch.
For something tied to the springs themselves, Superior Bathhouse Brewery pours beer brewed with the thermal spring water inside one of the historic Bathhouse Row buildings — the brewery says it is the only brewery in the world to brew with thermal spring water.
Been here a while
Places that have been serving a long time. All were still trading when we last checked. Each name links to its source.
- 1928McClard's Bar-B-QBegan selling barbecue at the family's tourist court by 1928; in its Albert Pike building since 1942; Arkansas Food Hall of Fame inductee (2018)
One brewpub within 10 miles of Hot Springs. In a small town that is often the kitchen still serving when everywhere else has stopped.
See all 1
- SQZBX Brewery236 Ouachita Ave, Hot Springs
*Check before you go. This list says what the source records as open and where it is — nothing more. Opening hours, whether a kitchen is serving, and whether anywhere suits your family are not in this data and change without notice. A production site may have no public room at all. Please confirm with the venue.
Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)
The Home Teams
No MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL or MLS team plays in Hot Springs, and no minor-league club calls it home today either — a little surprising for the town that helped invent spring training. The nearest pro and minor-league games are up in Little Rock, about an hour northeast.
Day Trips
| Destination | Time | Distance | How we got it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Rockguide | 1 hr 10 min | 55 mi | routed |
| Arkansas’s capital, about an hour up the highway from Hot Springs. | |||
| Garvan Woodland Gardens | 19 min | 9 mi | routed |
| 210 acres of gardens and 4.5 miles of Lake Hamilton shoreline that one woman, Verna Cook Garvan, personally planted starting in 1956, later donated to the University of Arkansas. | |||
| Lake Ouachita State Park | 32 min | 17 mi | routed |
| The largest lake entirely within Arkansas, with water clear enough for scuba divers chasing rare freshwater jellyfish and sponges found in almost no other lake. | |||
| Mount Ida | 43 min | 36 mi | routed |
| Arkansas’s self-declared Quartz Crystal Capital, where you can dig your own crystals out of the ground at mines around town. | |||
1 of these is a place the Hub has its own guide to — marked guide and linked from the name.
Routed figures are computed over map data at free-flowing speeds, between map points rather than street addresses, so a real drive runs longer.
Distances routed by OSRM and places geocoded by Nominatim, over map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
Worth a Weekend
3 more Highway Heads places lie within about 180 miles of Hot Springs in a straight line — far enough that most are a night away rather than an afternoon.
Lakes Nearby
3 lakes we have checked near here. These are the ones from our research that we could check against an official page — not every lake there is.
Lake Ouachita
- Fishingyes: largemouth, smallmouth & spotted bass, bream, crappie, catfish, walleye, striped bass
- Boatingyes, motorized
- Rentals & marinayes (state park marina rents barges, flat boats, canoes; closed Nov-Feb)
- Swimmingyes: free swim beach at state park
- CampingLake Ouachita State Park: 93 sites + cabins; book at reserve.arkansasstateparks.com
- SeasonPark marina closed Nov-Feb
Lake is surrounded by Ouachita National Forest.
Run by USACE; Arkansas State Parks (Lake Ouachita SP)
DeGray Lake
- Fishingyes - hybrid stripers, crappie, catfish
- Boatingyes; 11 boat ramps; $5 launch fee
- Rentals & marinayes - marina and rental boats at DeGray Lake Resort State Park
- Swimmingyes - 5 designated beaches; $5 per vehicle
- CampingUSACE campgrounds (724 campsites listed); DeGray Lake Resort State Park
- Entry$5 boat launch; $5 per vehicle swim beach; Class A camping $10-20 a night
- SeasonArlie Moore is the only Corps campground open Dec 1 to Feb 28
No lifeguards at swim beaches; swimming banned on the Lower Lake
Run by USACE Vicksburg District
Lake Dardanelle
- Fishingyes - bass, catfish, white bass, bream, crappie
- BoatingBoat launching ramps at Corps parks
- SwimmingDesignated beaches with life jacket loans
- CampingCamping areas at Corps parks
- SeasonFishing open year-round; no closed season
Life jacket loaner stations at the lake
Run by USACE Little Rock District
*Check before you go. Every lake here links to the official page we checked it against. 1 of these states a price we read off that page on the date we checked. Fees, seasons, water levels, algal advisories and ramp closures change without notice and belong to the agency that runs the water. A blank is something we did not confirm, not something the lake lacks. Never assume a lifeguard. Whether a beach is staffed turns on the season, the day, and which agency runs that particular beach — two beaches on one lake can differ. If that matters to your family, confirm it with the agency before you set out.
Zoos Nearby
Within 60 miles of Hot Springs, nearest first.
Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting ZooHot Springs
- Hours
- Winter hours: Thu-Mon 10-4:30; closed Tue-Wed. Warm-season hours not posted when checked
- Admission
- Adult $14 · Child $10
This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. None of these carry an accreditation we were able to confirm, which is not the same as none being accredited — we check against one register, and plenty of good municipal, state and university places are in no register at all. Opening times, prices and seasons change without notice, so check the operator’s own site — every name above links to it.
Water Parks and Amusement Parks Nearby
Within 60 miles of Hot Springs, nearest first.
Magic Springs and Crystal FallsSeasonalamusement park and water parkHot Springs
Seasonal; site says 2026 season opened May 2 and Halloween event runs through Oct 31.
Arkadelphia Aquatic ParkSeasonalwater parkArkadelphia
City-run; city announced May 23 opening for 2026 season.
This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. Every one of these runs a season rather than opening year round. Opening and closing dates move every year and we hold none of them, so check the park’s own calendar before you build a day around it. Prices, hours and ride closures change without notice — every name above links to the park’s own site.
Practical Road Trip Info
Budget a full day for Bathhouse Row, the Fordyce museum and an actual soak; add a second day if you want Garvan Woodland Gardens or a day trip without rushing.
Best season is spring or fall. Summers run hot and humid — July’s average high is 93.1°F, and the record is 115°F — while spring and fall bring heavier rain but far more comfortable walking weather.
The park itself is free. There’s no entrance fee for Hot Springs National Park and no extra charge for the visitor center, ranger-led tours or the junior ranger program — the only thing you pay for is an actual bath.
Check each bathhouse’s booking rule before arriving. Buckstaff says its baths and massages are walk-in only with no reservations, while Quapaw says reservations are required for spa services and private mineral baths. Parking along most major downtown streets, Central Avenue included, is metered, with free parking along several side streets and a city garage at 128 Exchange Street.
3 public campgrounds within 25 miles of Hot Springs, all bookable ahead. Public campgrounds run by federal agencies. State-park and private campgrounds are not included.
The Local Debate
Family-Friendly
Mid-America Science Museum
More than 100 hands-on exhibits, a Tesla coil that Guinness World Records recognizes as the most powerful conical coil, and a digital dome theater, about 6.5 miles west of downtown.
Magic Springs Theme & Water Park
Arkansas’s only combined theme and water park, with roller coasters on one side and the Crystal Falls water park on the other.
Junior Ranger booklet at the Fordyce
Free, and one of the only ways to turn a historic bathhouse tour into something children want to do rather than sit through.
Garvan Woodland Gardens
Trails and shoreline calm enough for a family walk, with the whole edge of Lake Hamilton to explore.
Plan Your Visit
Bathhouse Row / Hot Springs National Park
- Address
- 369 Central Avenue, Hot Springs, AR 71901 (Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center)
- Hours
- Grounds open daily; individual bathhouse and visitor center hours vary by season
- Price
- Free — no park entrance fee
- Link
- nps.gov/hosp
We checked fees, operating status, reservations, seasonal opening and opening hours on 2026-09-21. These change without notice — confirm with nps.gov, cityhs.net, superiorbathhouse.com, buckstaffbaths.com, quapawbaths.com and hotspringstower.com the week you travel.
Sources — 36 claims, 35 checked against the source on 2026-09-21
| Claim | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporated Jan 10, 1851; population 37,930 (2020 census); distance ~55 mi southwest of Little Rock | Hot Springs, Arkansas — Wikipedia | Checked |
| About 47 natural hot springs at ~143°F; roughly 1 million gallons a day | Hot Springs, Arkansas — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Quapaw and other tribes gathered at the springs for generations; the Quapaw ceded the land to the U.S. in 1818 | Hot Springs, Arkansas — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Climate: July avg. high 93.1°F; record high 115°F (1936, 1986); record low −11°F (1930); 57.96 in. annual precipitation, heavier in spring and fall | Hot Springs, Arkansas — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Nicknames Valley of the Vapors and Spa City; motto “America’s First Resort&rdquo | Hot Springs, Arkansas — Wikipedia | Checked |
| 1927–1947 illegal-casino era, “no fewer than ten major casinos”; Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Bugs Moran and Owney Madden visited; Mayor Leo McLaughlin’s machine; gambling shut down for good in 1967 under Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller | Hot Springs, Arkansas — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Chicago White Stockings trained here starting in 1886; Babe Ruth’s estimated 573-foot home run on March 17, 1918; 134 documented Hall of Famers trained in Hot Springs | Hot Springs, Arkansas — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Hot Springs Reservation created April 20, 1832, the first time land was set aside by the federal government to preserve it for recreational use; renamed Hot Springs National Park on March 4, 1921 | Hot Springs National Park — Wikipedia | Checked |
| 5,550 acres; was the smallest U.S. national park by area until Gateway Arch was redesignated in 2018; springs average ~143°F; water takes roughly 4,000 years and reaches 4,500–7,500 ft depth before resurfacing; 2022 visitation 2,646,133 | Hot Springs National Park — Wikipedia | Checked |
| As of 2015, only Buckstaff and Quapaw still function as active bathhouses; Fordyce serves as the visitor center | Hot Springs National Park — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Bathhouse Row’s eight bathhouses — Buckstaff, Fordyce, Hale, Lamar, Maurice, Ozark, Quapaw, Superior — built 1892–1923 in neoclassical, Spanish Colonial Revival and Italianate styles | Bathhouse Row — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Buckstaff continuously operating since 1912; Quapaw reopened as a modern spa in 2008; Superior now a brewery and restaurant; Fordyce has been the visitor center since 1989; Ozark now houses the park’s Cultural Center (2014); Lamar is the gift shop | Bathhouse Row — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Oaklawn opened Feb 24, 1904; hosts the Arkansas Derby (Grade I) as part of the Racing Festival of the South; casino addition 2008; became a full casino under Amendment 100 on April 1, 2019; a $100 million expansion in 2021 added a hotel | Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Garvan Woodland Gardens: 210 acres and 4.5 miles of Lake Hamilton shoreline, developed by Verna Cook Garvan starting in 1956 and given to the University of Arkansas upon her death in 1993; about 6 miles from Hot Springs National Park | Garvan Woodland Gardens — Wikipedia | Checked |
| No entrance fee for Hot Springs National Park; no additional charge for the visitor center, ranger-led tours or the junior ranger program | Hot Springs National Park — Fees (NPS.gov) | Checked monitored · 2026-09-21 |
| Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center address: 369 Central Avenue, Hot Springs, AR 71901 | Hot Springs National Park — Basic Information (NPS.gov) | Checked |
| Gangster Museum of America founded 2008 by Robert Raines at 510 Central Avenue; galleries cover the McLaughlin era, Owney Madden, Al Capone (including an interview with Deirdre Marie Capone), and the tunnels said to run beneath Central Avenue | Gangster Museum of America — Encyclopedia of Arkansas | Checked |
| McClard’s Bar-B-Q began in 1928 when a traveler traded a barbecue sauce recipe for an unpaid bill at the McClards’ tourist court; the family moved to 505 Albert Pike in 1942 and it is now run by the fourth generation | McClard’s Bar-B-Q — official history | Checked |
| Magic Springs opened July 22, 1978; closed in 1995; reopened May 27, 2000; the X-Coaster (added 2006) is the only SkyLoop XT-150 in North America; the water park is called Crystal Falls | Magic Springs — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Mid-America Science Museum founded 1979; more than 100 hands-on exhibits; its Tesla coil is recognized by Guinness World Records as the most powerful conical coil; reopened after a major renovation in 2015 | Mid-America Science Museum — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Lake Ouachita is the largest lake entirely within Arkansas; more than 40,000 acres and 690+ miles of shoreline; home to rare non-stinging freshwater jellyfish and sponges | Lake Ouachita — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Mount Ida population 996 (2020 census); known as the Quartz Crystal Capital; U.S. Route 270 runs 36 miles east to Hot Springs | Mount Ida, Arkansas — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Hot Springs Mountain Tower hours and seasonal access; Superior Bathhouse Brewery’s “only brewery in a national park” claim; downtown parking specifics; bathhouse reservation policy | No source accepted yet | Not confirmed |
| Prices shown in this guide from cityhs.net: $2, $4 | cityhs.net — the page the prices are taken from | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Only Buckstaff and Quapaw offer soaking on Bathhouse Row (2 facilities, thermal water piped in); addresses 509 and 413 Central Avenue | Hot Springs National Park — Soak in the Springs (NPS.gov) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Current use of Bathhouse Row buildings: Lamar park store, Ozark science museum (Mystic Ozark), Hale boutique hotel with restaurant, Superior restaurant and brewery, Maurice closed for renovations; bathhouses set their own hours | Hot Springs National Park — Operating Hours & Seasons (NPS.gov) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Fordyce houses the park visitor center; eight bathhouse buildings built 1892 to 1923 | Hot Springs National Park — Bathhouse Row Today (NPS.gov) | Checked |
| Buckstaff Bathhouse takes walk-ins only, no reservations, first-come first-served (spa services such as facials by appointment) | Buckstaff Bathhouse — Appointments & Hours | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Quapaw Baths & Spa requires reservations for spa services and private mineral baths, accepts walk-ins subject to availability, recommends calling 2-3 weeks ahead | Quapaw Baths & Spa — FAQs | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Hot Springs Mountain Tower hours change seasonally; the NPS refers visitors to the concessionaire for current hours | Hot Springs National Park — Operating Hours & Seasons (NPS.gov) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Hot Springs Mountain Tower: operated as a concession for the park; upper deck open-air at 1,256 feet; lower deck enclosed and air conditioned with park and local history exhibits; view covers the entire park and part of the Ouachita Mountains | Hot Springs National Park — Hot Springs Mountain Tower (NPS.gov) | Checked |
| Hot Springs Mountain Tower current hours and admission (re-check against the operator) | Hot Springs Mountain Tower — official site | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Downtown paid-parking zones: $4 an hour (four-hour maximum) on Central Avenue from Whittington Ave. to Olive St.; $2 an hour with no limit in the secondary zone including the Exchange Street parking deck; enforced 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday; open zones with no meters | City of Hot Springs — Parking | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| Since 2025 the city runs paid parking on major downtown thoroughfares and garages; free parking along several side streets; garage at 128 Exchange Street one block west of the visitor center | Hot Springs National Park — Getting Around (NPS.gov) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
| 26 miles of hiking trails in the park; Hot Springs and North Mountain trails reached via the Grand Staircase behind the Fordyce Bathhouse, Hot Springs Mountain Drive and Gulpha Gorge Campground | Hot Springs National Park — Trails (NPS.gov) | Checked |
| Superior Bathhouse Brewery brews with Hot Springs' thermal spring water; the brewery describes itself as the only brewery in a U.S. national park (self-description; the NPS confirms only that the Superior Bathhouse is a restaurant and brewery) | Superior Bathhouse Brewery — History | Checked monitored · 2026-10-13 |
Road Trippin’ with the Harts
The Highway Heads books turn the miles between stops into a game the whole car can play.
See the booksLive Conditions
Wildlife Spotted Nearby
Nearest Airports
Straight-line distance from Hot Springs, not drive time.
- Memorial Field (HOT) — 3 miles
- Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field (LIT) — 50 miles
- Pine Bluff Regional Airport, Grider Field (PBF) — 68 miles
Also in
A stop on this page turns up in other Highway Heads collections.
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Return to the Highway Heads map and discover the next family-ready stop.
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