Hot Springs, Arkansas - Top Free Things To Do

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1.  Visit the Fordyce Bathhouse Museum & Hot Springs National Park Visitor Center then stroll down bathhouse row and the Grand Promenade.  Tour through the visitor's center in the restored Fordyce Bathhouse, the only bathhouse that had a bowling alley.  After your tour is complete stroll past the other bathhouses on Bathhouse Row then up to the Grand Promenade where you can see a natural hot spring but be careful it comes out at 143º F.  Also make sure to see the hot spring water cascade down to the Arlington lawn area.  Take a look at the blue-green algae.  One of these hot water varieties is so rare it is only found in 5 other places on earth.

2.  Take a scenic drive up Hot Springs Mountain (North Mountain) and West Mountain.  This is a must do sharp hairpin curve drive!  You are so close you have to see the views of the national park forest and the city.  To see North Mountain from the visitor's center take a right just before the Arlington Hotel (Fountain Street) then follow the signs for Hot Springs Mountain.  This is also the location of the Hot Springs Mountain Tower.  Stop and take in the views at the top.  After you come back down take a right on Central Ave.  At the fountain take a left on Whittington.  After a short drive you will see the West Mountain Drive sign on the left.  You can go to the summit and back down the way you came or if you keep going you will end up on the other end of town.

3.  Have a picnic on the Grand Promenade, Hot Springs Mountain, West Mountain, or at Gulpha Gorge.  Can you think of a better way to enjoy the outdoors than to have a picnic and enjoy the scenery at any of these sites?

4.  Take a drive on the Arkansas Scenic 7 Byway (Central Ave).  This was Arkansas' first state-designated scenic byway.  It goes in both directions but I recommend driving north to pass through the Ouachita National Forest and all the way to Russellville if you have the time.

5.  Go on a hike through the national park forest.
Dead Chief Trail - The Dead Chief Trail is approximately 1.4 miles in length. It intersects the Gulpha Gorge Trail.  It goes from Bathhouse Row to the campground at Gulpha Gorge.

Gulpha Gorge Trail -The Gulpha Gorge Trail is approximately 0.8 miles in length. This trail starts either at Gulpha Gorge campground or at the shelter on Hot Springs Mountain.

More hiking trail information at: http://www.nps.gov/hosp/planyourvisit/hiking-trails-list.htm

6.  Browse Downtown Art Galleries
More and more art galleries are opening in downtown Hot Springs bringing a vast variety of paintings, glass, and other forms of art.  Be careful, while browsing is free you might find something you want to take home.

7.  Fill up your water jugs with hot spring water for free!
These water filling stations are located near the corner of Central Avenue and Reserve Street.  I used to go with my grandmother to fill up hundreds of jugs at a time back before people ever considered paying for bottled water.