Hot Springs National Park: 100th Anniversary History and Guide

Overview

Where there are mineral-rich thermal waters, industry, commerce, and development will follow. This is how the official story of Hot Springs National Park begins, and it is still playing out today, as the park marks its 100th birthday on March 4, 2021. Hot Springs is perhaps the only national park that is in part one and the same with a bustling downtown area, and the dialogue between nature and prosperity is ongoing, with a host of new enterprises in revitalized turn-of-the-century bathhouses. The springs average 143°F, and have in part laid the foundation for our modern spa and wellness industry. Hot Springs National Park is located in the Ouachita Mountains of central Arkansas, and was the 18th most visited national park in 2019. Its interpretation team meets varied missions of the NPS, in merging an understanding of natural and geologic phenomena with an examination of cultural change and history.

Origin Story

The Hunter-Dunbar expedition was dispatched by Thomas Jefferson to survey part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, beginning along the Mississippi River in Natchez, then continuing along the Red River, the Ouachita River, and then “overland to the hot springs on the Washita," as Jefferson wrote. As word of the springs spread, so did the arrival of seasonal bathers and tourists. (The two ailments that most frequently brought visitors to the area in pursuit of curative effects were “rheumatism,” or rheumatoid arthritis, and syphilis.) Park rangers today explain that whether or not the waters were miraculous, or had healing properties, the water itself was “a curiosity,” given its high temperature. Federal documentation of the area is lacking before the expedition, but two centuries earlier, the Caddo and Quapaw began making their way from central Arkansas to what is now northeast Texas and Oklahoma; these nations ceded their lands in Arkansas to the U.S. government in 1820. Both the thermal waters and the local stone, Arkansas Novaculite, were of value to these groups, the latter a mineral-rich, high-quality stone for crafting tools and weapons as well as for other practical tasks.

As the number of land claims, encampments, and settlements grew, a local representative of the territory, Ambrose H. Sevier, urged Congress protect the region’s natural resources. The designation of Hot Springs Reservation in 1832 was the first designation the government ever made to protect a natural resource, and predates any major park designation, including Yellowstone. The government settled claims and counterclaims to the land, including one in which the U.S. military needed to intervene to dislodge occupants.

Now, the parks is 5,550 acres and protects an area where the waters replenish called the “recharge zone” as well as a deep thermal water component on Indian Mountain, on the east end of the park. There are 26 miles of hiking trails, as well as winding scenic drives with expansive views of the Ouachita Mountains and National Forest, picnic areas, and though there is no dispersed camping in the park, nearby campsites at Gulpha Gorge.

Spa City

The Hot Springs Commission didn’t arrive in the area to plot the reservation until 1877—by then, a town had sprung up, with an array of wooden bathhouses that couldn’t withstand the constant exposure to heat and steam, and burned or degraded in time. After settling the area of the reservation, the town, and a more wilded region considered unusable for its rocky, mountainous topography, the government leased land to entrepreneurs wanting to construct durable, sanitary bathhouses, and opened a free, government-run bathhouse. Segregation meant that access was not, in actuality, equitable, and some African-Americans, including those who worked in the bathhouses and performed therapeutic treatments, opened separate bathhouses in 1905, per the NPS. An industry grew, with bathhouses marketed with different themes, services, and specialties, the bathhouses themselves ranging from opulent to practical. Combined with walks along the Grand Promenade (still a delightful walk, and parallel with Central Avenue in downtown Hot Springs), and rest, baths would have a restorative effect, whether or not the minerals were curative.

At the turn of the century, average wages in the U.S. were between $.50 and a dollar a day, and a bath cost $.55. The expense of individual treatments, much like at a modern spa now, could add up, in addition to the expense of travel and lodging. The first thing to do upon arrival, park rangers explain, would be to bathe and steam, and then have hot packs applied to the body, once a day for three weeks.

Midcentury, with the development of new medicines and with bathtubs in the home more commonplace, bathhouses began to shutter. Many were revitalized in the 1980s, as National Park Service facilities. In 2013 the NPS hosted an open call for proposals to create new enterprises in storied bathhouses, in a storied downtown. It is still possible to take the waters today at the Quapaw Bathhouse, which offers four pools of varying temperature and optional spa treatments, and Buckstaff Baths, which has run without interruption since 1912.

By the Way—Why is the Water so Hot Anyway?

Contrary to what might seem like the logical explanation, there is no hotspot under the earth in central Arkansas. The spring water originates as rain, snow, and ice, and heats as it seeps into the earth’s crust, due to a geothermal gradient. As it falls to a depth of 6,000-8,000 feet, the water is heated an average of 4°F for every 300 feet it drops.

As the water moves through the earth, it also picks up minerals like calcium, silica, and magnesium and becomes pressurized, due to gravitational compression. (It moves so slowly that the water flowing through the park’s 47 springs right now is more than 4,000 years old.) The hot water absorbs minerals from the rock, and eventually meets a fault line on the lower west slope of Hot Spring Mountain, where it has no choice but to surface, again flowing through local, mineral-rich rock like Bigfork Chert and Arkansas Novaculite. In addition to silica, calcium and bicarbonate, there are trace amounts of magnesium, potassium sulfate, chloride, iron, and zinc.

There are cold springs in the park as well, Happy Hollow, on the southeast slope of North Mountain, and Whittington Spring at the base of West Mountain.

Bathhouse Row Now

Eight historic bathhouses are in use by the park service or have been re-imagined, with many original design and architectural elements intact, by private owners. These eight were established as a National Historic District in 1987.

Superior Bathhouse Brewery

Rose Schweikhart, owner of Superior Bathhouse Brewery, runs the only microbrewery that draws from the park’s thermal springs to craft beer. The Superior, once the least expensive and smallest bathhouse on the row, was the first to racially integrate; it opened on February 1, 1916 and closed in 1983. There is some speculation that Superior Baths was so named for Lake Superior, to appeal to visitors from the Upper Midwest. The historic sun porch is recalled now in outdoor patio seating, and Superior is a festive local event space.

Hale Bathhouse

Next door to Superior is the oldest bathhouse on the row, built in 1892 as a Classical Revival by George and Fremont Orff and now owned and operated as the Hotel Hale by the mayor of Hot Springs, Pat McCabe, and his wife Ellen. Nine boutique rooms (each named after historic bathhouses) are outfitted with charming architectural elements like Juliet balconies, exposed brick, and original 1940s light fixtures. Each also has a Jacuzzi-size soaking tub with thermal water piped in. Eden restaurant serves lunch, brunch, and dinner, and there is a daily happy hour. Within Eden, on the lower level of the property, is a remnant of a thermal cave, no longer in use but carved out of the mountainside and used as a “hot room” in the 1890s.” The building was redesigned in 1939 in the Mission Revival style, and the brick was covered in stucco to look as it does today. The Hale closed on October 31, 1978. Mayor McCabe has participated in a Congressional Subcommittee on Natural Resources, attesting to the success of public-private partnership in Hot Springs.  

The Maurice

Opened on New Year’s Day in 1912, as a three-story bathhouse with a gymnasium and roof garden and the only bathhouse on the Row to have a pool. Prior to that, post-Reconstruction, it was The Independent, and known for permitting interracial bathing, before local bathhouse owners pressured the owner of The Independent to sell. It closed in 1974 and remains available for commercial leasing.

The Fordyce

Opened in 1915, The Fordyce is now the park Visitors Center and museum. It was the largest and most expensive on the row, built and furnished at a cost of over $200,000, and totaling roughly 28,000 square feet. Lavish design elements include hand-laid tile, Italian marble, stained glass windows, brass lockers, Romanesque fountains on each end of the lobby and a stunning stained glass piece on the ceiling of the men’s bath, Neptune’s Daughters, created by Condie-Neal Glass company in St. Louis. The second floor was once used as a gymnasium for physical therapy, and is now a museum (currently closed due to COVID).     

Quapaw

This is one of the two early bathhouses still in operation, though it offers a modern spa experience, including four pools for a hot (or cool) soak. A visit for just the baths is $20. Quapaw spa services include Swedish, targeted deep tissue, hot stone, and Thai massage, as well as packages with microsilk baths and herbal body wraps, mudslide facials, and private and couples bathing packages.  

The Ozark

A Spanish Colonial Revival, this is the National Park Service Cultural Center and run by the conservancy group Friends of Hot Springs National Park. Within are gallery spaces for the park's Artist-in-Residence Program and other temporary rotating exhibitions; admission is free.  

Buckstaff Bathhouse

Named for two shareholders, George and Milo Buckstaff, this is the only bathhouse on the row still operating exactly as it did in 1912. When first built, it replaced a brick Victorian bathhouse called The Rammelsberg, which had replaced the A. B. Gaines bathhouse, destroyed in a fire in 1878.  

The Lamar

This is a fun stop, as it is Eastern National’s National Park Store, aka, the Bathhouse Row Emporium. The Lamar Bathhouse opened in the spring of 1923 and was named for former U. S. Supreme Court Justice Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, who was Secretary of the Interior in 1888, when an early version of the Lamar was built. It is also reminiscent of Spanish Colonial motifs architecturally, and was known in it day for offering tubs of varying lengths, as well as for having a small co-ed gymnasium.   

The Grand Promenade and other downtown trails

When arriving from Little Rock, the first glimpses of the park are of the sweeping Arlington Lawn, on the left.  Hot Spring Cascade is a tiered hot spring gentle waterfall and a very pretty, ethereal reconstruction, as sunlight filters through slowly rising steam.

Four entrances to the Grand Promenade, an elevated thoroughfare just above Central Avenue, are accessible from the avenue. The Promenade accesses several park trails. A .2 mile steep uphill via the historic Oertel Trail will lead to Hot Springs Mountain Observation Tower. The Peak Trail here is .06 miles long and ascends Hot Springs Mountain gradually to reach the park’s scenic drive and the Hot Spring Mountain Tower. (It is $8 to climb the 320 steps or take the elevator to the observation deck, for a really sprawling and beautiful look of the Ouachita Mountains and National Forest, as well as downtown Hot Springs).

Further along Central Avenue, on the left side of the Fordyce, is an access point for the Grand Promenade, as well as a few places to note the early construction of the park, in the early 1920s. Shell Fountain is one of four hot spring drinking fountains within the park; two others are on the Promenade. Remnants of the park’s original bandstand are there, as is Stevens Balustrade, a historic stairwell entry point to the Promenade. Travel Tip: Turn left before ascending the stairs behind the Fordyce to the Promenade to check out Display Spring, which has one of the only intact tufa cones (also known as travertine, these are an accumulation of mineral deposits around the edge of the spring) left in the park. Most tufa formations were removed during the park area’s early development.

On the other side of Central Avenue are the shopping, hotels, and restaurants that might occupy the post-park exploration hours, including three antique shops, Ginger‘s Popcorn, Granny’s Kitchen, All About Arkansas, Fat Bottom Cupcakes, Historic District Antiques, Red Surf Lower Boutique—there are many places to buy locally-made soap and pottery.

Other park trails are accessible from downtown, including the lower loop of the Dogwood Trail, and the Fountain Trail.

Exploring Beyond Downtown: The Park Interior and Surroundings

More local trails

Locals enjoy hiking in the West Mountains, exploring 44 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails (rated by IMBA, the International Mountain Biking Association) within the Northwoods Trail network, five minutes from downtown. The oldest dam in Arkansas is there, and three beautiful local lakes, Lake Hamilton, Lake Ouachita, and Lake Catherine, sprawl through the region. Learn more about cycling trails in Hot Spring here.

By automobile, drive the West Mountain Drive and the connected West Mountain Summit Drive, as well as the North Mountain Loop and Hot Springs Mountain Drive. Either via car or on foot, be sure to access the North Mountain trails and Indian Mountain to the east, and West Mountain and Music Mountain, where the highest point in the park at 1,405 feet, to the west. Great hiking trails on the east side of the park include Goat Rock Trail, the Dogwood Trail (it has an upper and lower loop) and shorter trails branching from Hot Springs Mountain Tower, including the Honeysuckle Trail, the Floral Trail, Springs Mountain trail (which intersects with the North Mountain Loop, and the Gulpha Gorge Trail.

The Sunset Trail Loop wraps around the entirety of the park and, depending on the route, can be traversed in 13-17 miles—one ranger shared that she completed it with her dog in less than six hours, as it moves into and out of elevation change seamlessly.

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