Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

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Hot Springs National Park is located in Central Arkansas. It is the oldest protected area in the US, established in 1832. The Park protects its natural thermal springs, which are believed to have therapeutic and healing properties. 

This National park won't impress like Yellowstone, but it has a great history and charm. We spent half a day here.

How to Reach?

We drove from Austin, Tx. Hot Springs is 4.5 hrs away from Dallas and 1 hr away from Little Rock. 

You can check flight options here.

Check accommodations:

Rental car options here. 

There is no entrance fee to visit this National Park!

Things to do in Hot Springs National Park

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1. Visit Fordyce Bathhouse Museum

Bathhouse Row is a line-up of several bathhouses, spas, and a visitor center with some natural hot springs. We parked in a parking lot in the opposite lane of the Quapaw bathhouse. (Free parking at 128 Exchange Street)

It is an easy walk across the street from there. We started our walk from the Fordyce Bathhouse Museum. The museum has displays on the history of the bathhouse, geology, and how these thermal springs helped many people to heal. We saw the exhibits like the spa, bathhouses in the old days, their attire, the sculptures, the architecture of the building etc.,

This is a nice place for the introduction of the park. We also got to know the different minerals present in Hot springs.  

2. Taste the Hotsprings

We visited this place in Winter. The fountain is at the corner when you turn left from the Park administration building. It's called Hot water cascade. We filled our bottle with water.

The water is very hot, but the taste is great. I was expecting a strong smell of minerals. 

This is the only public place where you can taste the natural springs. Also, visit the Display Spring near Maurice Bathhouse. You can touch the water.

3. Walk along the bathhouse row

There are 8 bathhouses with a spa and a bathhouse inside. To visit, you need to reserve, or you can visit as per availability. 

We didn't go to every bathhouse, but we took pictures from outside. I love the colorful Buckstaff Bathhouse. The architecture of a few other bathhouses is also great. 

4. Hike the easy Grand Promenade trail

Grand Promenade trail is a short, easy walk of 0.7 miles that goes behind the historic bathhouse row and continues to the front of these buildings. 

At the end of the bathhouse row, you can check the beautiful historic 'Arlington Hotel'. 

5. Drive to Hotsprings Mountain Tower

Hot Springs Mountain Tower has 2 decks - the top deck gives panoramic views, whereas, lower deck has some exhibits on the national park history. A short drive takes us to the tower.

Hot springs mountain tower Photo by Yash Mannepalli on Unsplash

6. Scenic drive to West Mountain

The West Mountain scenic drive is a quick 5-mile drive from Hot Springs and offers a couple of viewpoints of the surroundings. 

Check this page for the map. 

Other places to see near Hotsprings National Park:

Garvan Woodland Gardens is 15 mins away, and I heard it's worth a trip. Especially the lighting during Christmas is great.

Lake Ouachita State Park is 20 minutes away, which is the largest lake in Arkansas. It offers swimming, scuba diving, boating, kayaking, and fishing.

Magic Springs Water Park is 3 minutes away for family fun.

Garvan Woodland Gardens Photo by Yash Mannepalli on Unsplash

I hope you enjoyed this travelogue.

Until next time,

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025

J for Jackson Hole #BlogchatterA2Z

 Jackson Hole

This popular town in Wyoming is a valley and wilderness with a view of the jagged Teton Mountains.

This is also a gateway to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

Majestic Teton mountain range, lush green landscape, and alpine lakes attract many visitors to this place. This is also home to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and is a good skiing destination. 

Here is our travelogue.

That's Teton Pass!

Until next time,

I'm participating in #BlogchatterA2Z

Other A2Z Posts:

A for Arches National Park

B for Bigbend National park

C for Capitol Reef National Park

D for Disney

E for Escalante National Monument

F for Fort Davis

G for Great Smoky Mountains National Park

H for Hot Springs National Park

I for Idaho Springs

J for Jackson Hole

K for Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

L for Las Vegas

M for Monument Valley

N for Niagara Falls

O for Orlando

P for Pikes Peak

Q for Quiet and Secluded

R for Rocky Mountain National Park

S for Santa Fe

T for Talimena Scenic Drive

U for Utah

V for Vermont

W for White Sands National Park

X for Xtreme Weather

Y for Yellowstone National Park

Z for Zion National Park

I give you one travel recommendation for each letter of the alphabet. So, follow my blog every day in April for travel recommendations.

I might post these on social media as well, here are the links if you want to follow me there..

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Best Family friendly trails in Zion - Day #2 itinerary

 Read Day 1 itinerary of Zion National Park trip below:

Zion National Park adventure for families - Day #1 Itinerary

On Day #1, we reached Hurricane from Las Vegas, hiked the Canyon Overlook trail, drove the Mt.Carmel Zion Scenic drive on east side of the park, entered the park through Zion Canyon Visitor center, took the shuttle to Weeping rock, headed back to Springdale for dinner before returning to our hotel in Hurricane.

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Today is an exciting day for us as we are planning to hike the Riverside walk trail which is the gateway to the famous 'Narrows'. Unfortunately, the Narrows is closed due to high water level. So, we had to adjust with riverside walk trail.

Riverside walk Trail:

Riverside walk trail is the last stop of the Zion scenic drive through shuttle. It's the The temple of Sinawava stop. 

The trail is 2.2 miles round trip easy trail along the river. It is so refreshing to do this hike in the morning. The river was flowing full and there are multiple access points to dip our feet in the river and relax. 

Gushing water

The Virgin River

Natural Rock Formation in Riverside walk trail
 with hanging gardens

The Starting point to Narrows

We could also see hanging gardens on the way. Many small plants are thriving on the rock with the seeping water from above. This trail took us around 2 hrs.

After the trail, we had lunch at Zion lodge. It was early june, but the wait was too long and they were short staffed. We had to waste more than 2 hrs for waiting and having lunch. But, lunch was tasty though with a great view.

The Narrows via Riverside walk:

This is a strenuous hike up to 9.4 miles. Most of the trail is wading under water, walking and swimming. Please check for flash floods before entering the trailhead. Water boots and walking sticks are necessary for this hike. Good point about this hike is you can go as far as you can and return. Completing this part with little kids might not be possible. 

Unfortunately, this trail is closed when we went. 

Emerald Pools Trail:

Emerald pools trail starts at stop 5 on the scenic drive at Zion lodge. Lower Emerald pools trail is 1.2 mile round trip easy trail. Upper emerald pools is 1 mile round trip moderate hike.

Lower Emerald pools trail was on our list but we couldn't do it due to the bridge closure. Please don't skip it when you go, as it's a good family friendly hike. 

 Other easy and important trails are Pa'rus trail (3.5 mile round trip), Watchman trail (3.3 miles round trip) and the Grotto trail (1 mile round trip). 

Angel's Landing:

We didn't do this challenging and the most popular trail. This needs a permit and please check your capability before attempting this trail. 

You can check here for hiking permits. The hike is 5.4 miles roundtrip with an elevation of 1488 ft. The trailhead is at Stop #6 Grotto. This trail can be accessed via west rim trail.

This is not a family friendly trail and it is only for people with good fitness levels.

Court of Patriarchs Trail:

This 0.3 mile hike is not a real trail, just the incline to reach a view point of 3 peaks - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob peaks.

Court of Patriarchs View point

Please read about the other trails here. 

Kolob Canyons:

In the evening, we drove to Kolob canyons. Kolob canyon area is 40 miles north of the Zion national park and is remote. 

Kolob Canyon scenic drive:

From Kolob canyon visitor center, we can drive 5 miles to reach the Kolob view point. This road takes us to an elevation of 1000ft. It was partially open when we went. The views here are beautiful. This part of the park is a great place if you want to enjoy the scenery with less crowds.

Kolob terrace road is another scenic drive to Lava point reaching 8000 ft from sea level. This needs a high clearance vehicle and it is the least travelled road. 

Kolob Canyon Scenic drive

Kolob Canyon Scenic drive

In this area, we can find the longest natural arch in the world - Kolob Arch. It is a strenuous 14 mile hike to reach this arch.

Zion to Bryce scenic drive:

In the evening around 6pm, we started our drive to Bryce Canyon national park. On the way, we saw an unique rock with checked patterns called 'Checkerboard mesa'.

Kids loved taking photos and trying to climb the steep rock with checked patterns. A fun little stop that you shouldn't miss.

Scenic Drive

Scenic Drive

Scenic Drive

Checkerboard Mesa

Zion to Bryce scenic drive is so beautiful that we wanted to stop and explore more places around. Red hollow slot canyons and Orderville slot canyons are worth a mention if you have time. 

There are 2 more fun little but unique stops from Mount Carmel Junction. 

Originally constructed as water drainage,  Belly of dragon is a fun spot. No hike is required. We missed this.

Sand caves on highway 89 are around 11 miles from Mount Carmel Junction. But, to reach there, it's a challenging hike of 0.5 mile round trip. 

Just before reaching Bryce canyon, you will be welcomed by the red rock tunnel which is beautiful. You can see a sign 'Red canyon'. This looked like a beautiful place, we might visit some day. 

Scenic Drive near Red Canyon

In the next post, I will share the details about our Bryce canyon itinerary and hikes. 

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Until next time,