Hot springs national park4/29/2023 Thousands of visitors highly endorse the excellent quality of the hot springs water and fill vessels to take home. The water is naturally potable (good to drink) when it arrives at the surface of Hot Springs Mountain. Hot Springs National Park is the only unit of the national park system that is mandated to give away its primary natural resource to the general public in an unending and unaltered state. The fact that most of the flow path of the thermal springs is hidden from human eye beneath the mountains and valleys of the Ouachita Mountains makes gaining knowledge of the springs a challenging task. The National Park Service, USGS, and other collaborating science agencies work to understand the nature and characteristics of these thermal springs-including plumbing framework, mechanism of flow, source of water and heat, and potential impacts on thermal water quality and quantity-so that this resource can be protected and sustained. Hot Springs National Park is best known for the 47 hot springs that emerge from Hot Springs Mountain at an average temperature 143° Fahrenheit. If you’re looking for a weekend getaway that combines city comforts (hotels, food) with natural scenery and a touch of history, definitely add this to your list.Spring Tulips at Hot Springs National Park All in all, we found a surprising bit of nature in the area. The Hot Springs Mountain area also offers some short hiking and scenic views. You can make a nice 4-5 mile loop up there that is easily accessed by car. If a long hike isn’t in your future, check out the West Mountain and Mountaintop Trails. And then you’re done! Find some ice cream to celebrate. You’ll come across the Grand Promenade and then Bathhouse Row proper. The walk back in to town heads downhill quite steeply and is partially paved. Before the campground, you’ll pick up a lovely pond and scenic area. After you reach the end of Sunset, you’ll pick up the Oertal Trail (it was still marked as Dead Chief in the Hiking Project app that we use) back to downtown Hot Springs. The walking is so easy that a little extra distance didn’t hurt at all. There is a spur trail to Balanced Rock, which we took and enjoyed. Anyway, once you’re on Sunset Trail, just keep following it until you reach Sunset Loop, which connects you to the park’s only campground. You might be surprised to be gaining any elevation in the Arkansas foothills, but hopefully you’ll be prepared to realize that even though these are foothills, there’s still ground to gain and lose. The total elevation gains on this hike are really quit modest. It drops elevation off of West Mountain and subtly undulates throughout the rest of the loop. You’ll be on the Sunset Trail for the bulk of the hike. You’ll traverse some of West Mountain and Mountaintop Trails until you summit West Mountain at the intersection with the Sunset Trail. We used this map (provided by a Park Ranger when we went through town) to keep track of our location. To do this hike from town, head to the Canyon Trail access point and start climbing. The other advantage of starting in town is that your biggest climb is behind you right away. In doing so, we actually looped all the way around the town of Hot Springs! Although we started at the West Mountain parking lot, you can easily start in town, and won’t need to worry about finding your car or moving it. We did a 14 mile loop to cover a lot of ground. Save some room for a root beer float for dessert-delish.įor your second day in Hot Springs, consider starting off early with a big hike. The brewery is pet friendly so you might even to make some new friends. The sandwiches and spinach & artichoke dip were yummy and the people viewing was top notch. We enjoyed a dinner at Superior Bathhouse Brewery. Access can be confusing so ask a ranger working at the bathhouses how to get to trail access. The Promenade behind Bathhouse Row is easy and there are plenty of other hikes on the hill across the street. Take a tour through the bathhouses and enjoy all the bizarre people watching. If you’re making two days out of your trip, we’d recommend you arrive and get your bearings on Day 1. Our room rate came with a breakfast option and we enjoyed splurging on omelettes and other treats. The hotel is huge and surprisingly popular. When we visited, we stayed at the historic Arlington Hotel. Since we visited in July and only had one full day and a morning there, we couldn’t quite pull it off. There are only about 26 miles of hiking trails in Hot Springs National Park, making it the kind of place you can actually consider hiking in its entirety.
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