Update
Inaugural Cohort of Inclusive Storytelling Grantees Announced
Hot Springs National Park
There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them.
The Legend Flows On
Nicknamed “The American Spa,” Hot Springs National Park has cultivated quite a reputation as a natural
destination of healing and relaxation. Come for the tranquility, stay for the hiking and history.
Enjoy over 40 hot springs, a wilderness area with 20+ miles of trails, and historic Bathhouse Row—a
stunning showcase of Gilded Age architecture.
The oldest park managed by the National Park System, Hot Springs National Park features ample hiking and sight-seeing opportunities as well as the famous springs themselves, grouped about the base of the Hot Springs Mountain with a flow of well over a half million gallons a day.
For centuries, the natural hot water was used in medicinal capacities by the neighboring Native American tribes. The first bathhouses to take advantage of the hot water supply were essentially brush huts and log cabins placed over excavations cut in the rocks. Soon, more elaborate facilities were developed, many of which are open today.
Visitors can currently still bathe in the spring water at approved facilities. They can also visit Bathhouse Row, which is designed as a National Historic Landmark District and boasts the most extensive bathhouse collection in North America.