Hot Springs National Park

1. Overview of Hot Springs National Park

• Where is the park’s visitor center located?
  • The park’s visitor center is located in the historic Fordyce Bathhouse, making it a great place to start your trip.
• What is the history of the Fordyce Bathhouse?
  • Used as a bathhouse from 1915 until 1962, this Edwardian Era building features a marble-floored lobby, stained glass transoms over the windows and doors, and a fountain of a boy on a seashell that originally spouted water directly from the springs.
• What exhibits are featured in the Fordyce Bathhouse?
  • Exhibits on the history of the bathhouse occupy what used to be the upstairs men’s dressing rooms and massage rooms, including an electrotherapy table demonstrating early 20th-century spa treatments.
• What can visitors see on the third floor of the Fordyce Bathhouse?
  • The third floor offers a look at an opulent music room with a stained glass ceiling and elaborately tiled flooring, a gymnasium, and staterooms.
• What was in the basement of the Fordyce Bathhouse?
  • The basement once offered a bowling alley and a viewing room where guests could see the spring that fed the treatment rooms.
• What is Bathhouse Row?
  • The Fordyce Bathhouse is one of eight bathhouses lining Bathhouse Row, a National Historic Landmark. Each bathhouse was built between 1892 and 1923.
• Where can visitors take a traditional bath?
  • Guests may take a traditional bath in a clawfoot bathtub at the Buckstaff Bathhouse, a park concessioner since 1912.
• Where can visitors find larger thermal pools?
  • The Quapaw Baths and Spa offers larger spring-fed thermal pools.
• Where is the Bathhouse Row Emporium located?
  • A park store, named the Bathhouse Row Emporium, is located in the historic Lamar Bathhouse.
• What hiking opportunities are available around Bathhouse Row?
  • 26 miles of hiking trails surround Bathhouse Row and the Grand Promenade. These short walks through the forest have been part of the area’s health regimen since the 1800s.

2. Hot Springs National Park History

• What was the area known as before becoming Hot Springs National Park?
  • The area has long been known by indigenous peoples, and by the 1500s, it was referred to by Spanish Conquistadors as the “Valley of the Vapors.”
• How did indigenous tribes use the hot springs?
  • Around the 18th century, tribes settled in the area had a peace agreement to share the healing waters of the hot springs, putting down their weapons to equally enjoy the area.
• When did European settlers arrive?
  • By 1818, European settlers had begun building in the area to take advantage of the spring’s healing waters, leading to the relocation of Native Americans to a reservation south of the site.
• When did the area become a National Reservation?
  • By 1820, Arkansas became a U.S. territory, and the hot springs were deemed a “National Reservation,” granting the area federal protection.
• What is the significance of Hot Springs National Park?
  • Hot Springs National Park is the oldest in the National Parks system. The name was changed from “Hot Springs Reservation” to Hot Springs National Park in 1921.
• What were the original bathhouses like?
  • Originally, the bathhouses were simple wooden and canvas structures designed to provide shelter and privacy around the natural pools or small reservoirs carved into the rocky landscape.
• How did the bathhouses evolve?
  • As an industry grew around the hot springs in the early 20th century, crude structures burned, collapsed, or failed due to damage from humidity.
• What changes allowed for more elaborate bathhouse construction?
  • After the Hot Springs Creek, which once ran through town, was roofed over and enclosed under a sidewalk, flooding was mitigated, making it feasible to build fancier and more elaborate bathhouses, many of which still stand along Bathhouse Row today.
• When did the Fordyce Bathhouse close?
  • The Fordyce Bathhouse closed in 1962 due to a decline in attendance, remaining vacant until 1989 when it reopened as a visitor center for the National Park.
• When was Bathhouse Row designated as a National Historic Landmark?
  • The Bathhouse Row National Historic Landmark was designated in 1987, two years before the reopening of the Fordyce Bathhouse as a visitor center.

3. Plan your Hot Springs National Park visit

• Are tours available at the Fordyce Bathhouse?
  • Yes, tours of the Fordyce Bathhouse are available and may begin with an orientation movie, which offers an overview of the National Park offerings.
• What does the full bath experience at Buckstaff Bathhouse include?
  • The full bath experience at Buckstaff Bathhouse has remained the same since the 1800s and consists of:
  • Soaking in a private tub of 98-100 degree water for 20 minutes.
  • Steaming for two or five minutes in a head-in or head-out steam cabinet.
  • Application of hot packs for specific aches and pains.
  • A soak in a 108-degree sitz bath.
  • A two-minute ice-cold shower.
• Is there an option for a massage after the bath experience?
  • Guests may follow the protocol with a relaxing Swedish massage.
• What outdoor activities are available at the park?
  • Outdoor activities include strolling Bathhouse Row and the Grand Promenade.
  • The area is also surrounded by 26 miles of hiking trails.
• Where can visitors camp in the park?
  • Camping is available at the park’s Gulpha Gorge Campground, located adjacent to the Gulpha Creek.

369 Central Avenue Hot Springs, Arkansas 71901, Phone: 501-620-6715, Map, Video

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