HOT SPRINGS
At only 5,500 acres, this is one of the smaller national parks that our country has chosen to protect. The park essentially surrounds the northern portion of the city of Hot Springs (approx. population 37,000). Things to do include touring an historic bathhouse, taking a dip in one of the operating baths, hiking or driving through the forested mountains in the park, or simply doing some shopping along Bathhouse Row. If you want to get up close and personal with the 143-degree water heated from beneath the earth’s crust, there are three locations to dip a toe in…but not too far! Safety first. But there is a little something for everyone in this lesser-known park hidden away in the Arkansas mountains about 55 miles west of Little Rock.
