Hot Springs National Park



Hot Springs National Park is adjacent to, and encompasses part of the town of Hot Springs. Known only to indigenous people for thousands of years, the hot springs were discovered and appropriated by European Americans around the turn of the 19th century. The springs were believed to be therapeutic in the treatment of rheumatism and other ailments, and attracted people from all over the world. I personally had no desire to soak in any of them but that's just me. The hot springs became a national park on March 4, 1921.

Stephanie and I visited the park in 1995 and spent the night at campsite #23 in Gulpha Gorge Campground. It was hot and muggy, it rained, then it rained some more. Soggy, soggy, soggy. Occupational hazard when you're tent camping.



Central Ave adjacent to the Park


National Park Duck Tours


Park Sign

Campsite #23
My beloved Northface VE-24


The Grand Promenade


The Grand Promenade

Hot springs along the
Grand Promenade


Bathhouse Row consists of eight bathhouses constructed between 1892 and 1923. They are in order from south to north, Lamar, Buckstaff, Ozark, Quapaw, Fordyce, Maurice, Hale, and Superior. The bathhouses along with the Grand Promenade were designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1987.



Lamar Bathhouse


Buckstaff Bathhouse


Ozark Bathhouse


Quapaw Baths


Quapaw Facade


Fordyce Bathhouse


Stained glass skylight in Fordyce Bathhouse


My thanks to the National Park Service for most of the background material presented here.
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