Hot Springs National Park Bathhouse Row
369 Central Ave, Hot Springs, AR
Hot Springs, AR
A stately parade of early-1900s bathhouses lined up over natural hot springs, the elegant core of a place people came to soak long before it was a park.
Bathhouse Row is the elegant heart of Hot Springs, a lineup of eight grand bathhouses built mostly in the early 1900s over the natural thermal springs that gave the city its name. For generations, people traveled from across the country to soak in the mineral-rich water, which emerges from the base of Hot Springs Mountain at a steaming warmth after a journey of thousands of years underground.
What makes the place remarkable is how long it has been protected. Congress set aside the springs as a federal reservation in 1832, decades before the national park idea even existed, making this one of the oldest protected natural areas in the country. Today Hot Springs National Park is unusual for wrapping around a working city, with the historic bathhouses, the promenade, and the wooded mountains all part of the park.
What Guests Love
- Strolling the row of ornate, early-twentieth-century bathhouses along Central Avenue
- Touring the restored Fordyce Bathhouse, now the park visitor center
- Filling a bottle at the public thermal fountains where the spring water runs warm
- Two bathhouses still operating, so you can actually take the waters
Worth Knowing
- The park welcomes visitors and the Fordyce Bathhouse serves as the visitor center
- Bathing at the working bathhouses is a paid service, but the springs and grand promenade cost nothing to enjoy
- The thermal water is genuinely hot, so handle it carefully at the public fountains
- Downtown parking fills up on busy weekends, so arrive early or plan to walk
Details
Hot Springs, AR
Learn about Hot Springs National Park Bathhouse Row
A reserve older than the national parks
Long before Congress created Yellowstone or the National Park Service, it acted to protect the springs at Hot Springs. In 1832, the federal government set aside the area as a reservation, recognizing that the thermal waters were a resource worth keeping in public hands. This makes Hot Springs one of the earliest pieces of land the United States ever protected for its natural value.
Native peoples had known and used the springs for a very long time before that, and the region lies within the ancestral homelands of tribes including the Quapaw and Caddo, who were later forced west, their descendant nations continuing today largely in Oklahoma. The waters drew people across cultures and centuries, and that long history of seeking out the springs is part of what the park now preserves.
The golden age of the bathhouses
The grand bathhouses that line Central Avenue today rose mostly in the early twentieth century, when Hot Springs was at its height as a spa destination. Ornate buildings faced in brick, stucco, and stained glass replaced earlier wooden structures, and inside they offered elaborate marble tubs, cooling rooms, gymnasiums, and every comfort of the era. Visitors came to soak away ailments real and imagined, following a prescribed regimen of baths.
The most celebrated of the row is the Fordyce, a lavish bathhouse whose interior of fountains, statuary, and stained-glass ceilings has been fully restored. It now serves as the park's visitor center, letting anyone walk through the opulent rooms and see exactly how the bathing ritual worked in its heyday.
Taking the waters today
Of the eight bathhouses, two still operate as working bathing facilities, so a visitor can genuinely take the waters much as travelers did a century ago, choosing a traditional thermal bath or a more modern spa experience. The others have found new life as a museum, a brewery that uses the spring water, shops, and cultural spaces, keeping the whole row alive.
You do not have to bathe to enjoy the springs, though. Public fountains along the row and around the city let anyone fill a bottle with the warm mineral water, and the exposed display springs behind the row show the water emerging from the ground. The grand promenade behind the bathhouses offers a shaded walk with the mountain rising on one side and the elegant buildings on the other.
The park beyond the row
Although the bathhouses are the icon, Hot Springs National Park extends well beyond them, protecting the forested slopes of Hot Springs Mountain and neighboring ridges. A network of trails climbs through hardwood forest to the summit, where the Hot Springs Mountain Tower offers a long view over the Ouachitas, and a scenic drive winds up the mountain by car.
This blending of city and park is the place's defining trait. Step off Central Avenue and you are in a national park; step back and you are on a lively downtown street of restaurants, galleries, and the old Arlington Hotel. Few parks are so intertwined with the life of a working town, and that mix is a large part of the charm.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Hot Springs
Hot Springs Mountain Tower
About a mile up the mountain
An observation tower atop Hot Springs Mountain with long views over the city and the Ouachita ranges.
The Gangster Museum of America
About a 5 minute walk
A downtown museum on the decades when Hot Springs was a wide-open gambling town frequented by famous mobsters.
Garvan Woodland Gardens
About 6 miles, roughly 15 minutes
A botanical garden on a Lake Hamilton peninsula with a striking glass chapel and forest trails.
Mid-America Science Museum
About 6 miles, roughly 15 minutes
A hands-on science museum in the woods with a lightning show and elevated walkways among the trees.