Our last National Park of the trip! Hot Springs National Park is located in Hot Springs, Arkansas (and was the hometown of Bill Clinton from 2nd grade through high school!).
Originally known as “The American Spa”, Hot Springs National Park was created to protect the unique geothermal spring water and associated lands. To this day, Hot Springs National Park is the only National Park that is mandated to give away its primary natural resource to the general public. That is, the 143 degree Fahrenheit water that comes from 47 hot springs originating from Hot Springs Mountain. There are several spots around town where you can feel the water, such as at fountains and in the park. There are also several public spigots where locals and tourists fill up empty jugs with the hot spring water, as well as public drinking fountains. You can drink it as is (after you let it cool); straight from the ground, no additional filtering necessary.
The water is so hot! Interestingly, it doesn’t have that typical “sulphur-smell” like most hot springs.
There aren’t any public areas to submerge yourself (it would be way too hot anyway!), so the town is built around Bathhouse Row, which consists of eight separate bathhouses that regulated the temperature of the mineral-rich water so it could be enjoyed. Below are some of the bathhouses, the buildings are so beautiful and each so architecturally different. Today, two of the bathhouses still offer bathing services. We didn’t partake because the minimum age is 10 at one bathhouse and 14 at the other.
When we were reading about Hot Springs National Park, we really didn’t know what to expect. How were we supposed to keep the kiddos entertained here? What was there to do as a family? There really weren’t any answers to these questions in our Park guide book, so we just crossed our fingers and hoped to find something interesting!
We popped into the first bathhouse we came to which had a cute little shop and sold the official National Park patches we are collecting. Score and score, and we definitely had fun in there!
The next bathhouse was the official Park Visitor Center. I wasn’t expecting much, but turns out, we all had a great time exploring the 3 levels of the preserved bathhouse. It was built in 1914-1915 and at the time, was the most elaborate and expensive of the bathhouses. It eventually closed in 1962. Check this place out!
There was so much more, you really have to see it for yourself. I’m sure it was amazing back in the day; now it kind of looks like a bunch of random torture devices.
This video was really kind of weird/old, but the boys were obsessed with watching it. Guess that’s what happens when you deprive them of TV/electronics for 5 weeks, haha!
And my favorite part, the gym! How fun does this look?! Brian and I were dying to play in there!
After the Visitor Center, we wandered around town, looked in shops (there was a really cute toy store), and bought the boys new hats at another store.
We checked to see if the water was still hot… spoiler alert, it was.
We let the boys do a 4-D ride/movie (they’re the two in the back row).
One of the former bathhouses has been turned into a brewery (the only brewery in a National Park), so of course we had to try beer that was made using the local thermal spring water. The Spicy Ride, a jalapeño ale, and The Beez Kneez, a honey basil kolsch, were outstanding!
We finished the night with a little more walking around town, then ice cream for the boys.
Hot Springs National Park is not your typical National Park, but if you happen to be in the area, check it out! It’s fun to imagine what it was like in its heyday and really neat to see how it’s been preserved for current and future generations to enjoy.
