Hot Springs: Soaking Up Some Arkansas Charm

By John McKinney

2007 is a big year for Hot Springs National Park. It’s the 175th anniversary of the creation of the park’s forerunner, Hot Springs Reservation in the spring of 1832.

During the early years of the Clinton Administration, banners across Central Avenue proclaimed Hot Springs the hometown of Bill Clinton.

175th anniversary logo designed by Hot Springs artist Richard Stephens

Not the President’s birthplace, mind you. That distinction belongs to Hope, Arkansas. Hot Springs, some 55 miles southwest of Little Rock, is where young Bill spent his formative years.

Unlike more isolated Arkansas towns, “The National Spa,” as the resort has long billed itself, has received—and still receives—visitors from across America and around the world. By Arkansas standards, the town is quite cosmopolitan.

Hot Springs is also home to a national park. It’s an unusual one: Most national parks are large natural areas with small resort towns clustered at their borders; Hot Springs is a good-sized town surrounded by a small park.

First to bathe in the hot springs—by some evidence , 10,000 years ago—were American Indians. Tah-ne-co, they called it. Among warring tribes, the springs were considered neutral ground, a place to talk peace.

The gangster set made Hot Springs a hot spot. During Prohibition, Al Capone headquartered his operations there. On one side were speak-easies, gambling dens and brothels; on the other side, elegant bathhouses run by reputable businessmen and physicians, under the supervision of national park rangers.

To really appreciate the park, plan to spend the whole day: Check out the visitor center in the remarkable Fordyce Bathhouse, walk the Grand Promenade and admire the eight historic spas on Bathhouse Row, drive the scenic mountain roads, picnic in the park or hike a few of the park’s 26 miles of trails.

Fordyce Bathhouse is an awesome architectural specimen of stained glass, marble and ceramic fountains. The bathhouse closed in 1962 and, after a long vacancy, reopened as the park visitor center in 1989. For insights into the spa town’s glory days, watch the park movie, “Valley of the Vapors,” and a video that shows the traditional bath routine.

Continue your tour with a look at the second floor, originally the Men’s Dressing Rooms and Men’s Massage Rooms. A lovely Music Room with a grand piano and luxurious State Rooms are highlights of the third floor.

In less hurried times, folks came for a week of soaking. Today’s traveler usually takes one traditional bath of warm and hot soaks, then a brief stay in a steam cabinet, plus an (optional) massage.

Take a traditional bath at the Buckstaff Baths, a park concessionaire since 1912, or at any of the following bathhouses in the city of Hot Springs that have Park Service special permits to offer thermal bathing, including:
Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa
Austin Hotel and Spa

By resort standards (Euro or American), bathhouse prices are very modest. At Buckstaff Baths, for example a “Whirlpool Mineral Bath” package including Tub Bath, Hot Pack, Sitz Bath, Vapor Cabinet & Needle Shower costs $22. A “Traditional Bathing Package including a Thermal Mineral Bath, Whirpool, Loofa mitt, and a Swedish massage, costs $50.

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