Hot Springs National Park

Arkansas


On Bathhouse Row in the 1915 Fordyce bathhouse, the NPS visitor center and museum has exhibits about the park's history, first as a Native American free-trade zone, and later as a turn-of-the-20th-century European spa. Most fascinating are the amenities and standards set forth by an early-20th-century spa: the stained-glass work and Greek statues are opulent, but we could pass on the bare white walls, grout and electroshock therapy.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Arkansas attractions

1. Gangster Museum of America

0.1 MILES

Learn about the sinful glory days of Prohibition, when this small town in the middle of nowhere turned into a hotbed of lavish wealth thanks to Chicago…

2. Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum

0.16 MILES

This wax museum is a throwback to the days when an off brand wax museum was all your town needed to be a tourism attraction. From the moment you enter and…

3. Galaxy Connection

0.2 MILES

And now for something completely different: a museum dedicated to Star Wars. This fantastically geeky temple is the labor of love of one particularly…

5. Hot Springs Mountain Tower

0.5 MILES

On top of Hot Springs Mountain, the 216ft tower has spectacular views of the surrounding mountains covered with dogwood, hickory, oak and pine – lovely in…

6. Garvan Woodland Gardens

5.86 MILES

While these are technically the University of Arkansas' botanical gardens, Garvan feels more like a forest grove caught between the mountains and an…

7. Anthony Chapel

5.89 MILES

Located just across from the Garvan Woodland Gardens, the Anthony Chapel is an architectural masterpiece. This soaring, wood-and-glass complex, built in…

8. Lake Catherine State Park

8.78 MILES

You can easily lose a day poking around the waterfalls and woods of this 2200-acre state park, named for Lake Catherine, itself one of the natural…