Winter 24: Hot Springs National Park

 Where History and Nature Meet

Hot Springs NP sign on the edge of downtown

During our Winter 2024 travels we picked up our RV just south of Kansas City, MO, and we decided to make our way straight south from there, and the route allowed us to sneak in a visit to Hot Springs, Arkansas.  We found a nice quiet spot at the Hot Springs KOA.

Hot Springs has been protected as a reservation since 1832 and was only deemed an official national park in 1921, making it the oldest protected area in the national park system but not the oldest park.  Yellowstone NP takes that title, as it was established in 1872.

At 5,550 acres, Hot Springs National Park is the smallest in the national park system.  Hot Springs NP had 2.6 million visitors in 2022, ranking it 39/63 for visitation (I still question how they get this figure since there is no official entrance nor fee).

The video below highlights the development in the area.  Only two of the original eight bathhouses, the Buckstaff and the Quapaw are still in operation today. The visitor center is the Fordyce, which originally opened in 1915; now a museum.   The facilities seem kind of creepy, with the old tubs, metal tanks where only your head sticks out and other strange looking devices meant to heal your body.  Here is more on the History of Bathhouse Row.

After taking a hike along one of the many trails installed by the area doctors in the 20's and 30's to encourage exercise and assist with healing, we stopped in at Superior Bathhouse Brewing.

The next day, it started raining early in the morning, then stopped after about 20 minutes.  That was because it changed to SNOW.  It did finally stop and then melted by about 2pm.  We salvaged the day by stopping in at Bubba Brew's and SQZBX.  How far south do we have to go to escape the snow?  

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Have you ever been to Hot Springs National Park?  Did you use the facilities?  Leave your comments below!  Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.