US-70 West – Hot Springs National Park
/Once we finally escaped Memphis’s no-exit conundrum and crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas, we headed to Hot Springs National Park conveniently situated along our route. Hot Springs National Park is an urban park located smack dab on Central Avenue in the middle of the city of Hot Springs, so-named because… well, there are lots of hot springs there.
From the National Park Archives
Hot Springs was designated the US’s 18th National Park in 1921 though Congress had already established it as ‘the first federal conservation reservation in 1832 … which removed the lands from privatization under existing land disposal and mineral laws.’
Health experts at the time “believed that soaking in these famous waters benefited diseases of the skin and blood, nervous affections, rheumatism and kindred diseases, lung diseases, acute and inflammatory diseases and so much more. The first bathhouses were crude structures of canvas and lumber, little more than tents perched over individual springs or reservoirs carved out of the rock.” It wasn’t until 1896 that these primitive structures began being replaced with the huge, lavish, ostentatious bathhouses that line what it called ‘Bathhouse Row’ today.
On a cold, gray day, we walked along the magnolia-lined ‘Row’ checking out the grandiose structures that once primarily served the wealthy. Known as America’s Spa City, Hot Springs has traditionally been a playground for the rich and famous including US Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as celebrities such as Babe Ruth, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Yoko Ono and the notorious gangsters Al Capone and Lucky Luciano who regularly frequented the Hot Springs’ baths.
The bathhouses were built directly over the natural hot springs. Buckstaff Bathhouse, opened in 1912, is one of eight remaining bathhouses and one of only two that still allow hot springs bathing. Other bathhouses are now boutique hotels, shops, a craft brewery, and the National Park Visitor Center and Admin Building. Though all unique, the bathhouses share a Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style.
We visited the Fordyce Bathhouse, home of the NPS Visitor Center and Museum. Visitors like us can climb four flights of stairs (or take the elevator… bah!) and check out the original opulent facilities enjoyed by hot spring bathing guests from 1915 to 1962. Everything was grand and luxurious for its time. Beautiful stained glass, marble staircases, statuary… quite the place.
The Spanish explorer, Hernando De Soto really got around. He visited the area in ~1541. This statue in the men’s bath depicts de Soto and an Indian maiden. According to some accounts, Ponce de Leon also visited the area in his search for the fountain of Youth.
Interestingly, the water at Hot Springs doesn’t have that strong sulfur smell that’s usually associated with geothermal springs. In fact, it doesn’t have any smell at all. You can even drink it right out of the fountains that are found located around town. They used to call it ‘quaffing the elixir’ and people still fill bottles and jugs to take home with them. Why doesn’t it smell? We learned that the thermal waters here do not contain any sulfur compounds which cause the acrid smell and taste. Apparently, the spring water plunges 7000-8000’ below the earth’s surface and heats as it rises again. The average temperature of the hot springs here is a fairly constant 140F (61C). Cooled as needed, it makes for a pretty enjoyable bath and a refreshing ‘quaff’. We each quaffed… tasted just like water.
Quaffing the elixir
On such a cold day, we watched steam rising from the bubbling fountains.
After a few hours of exploring and wandering, we hit the road, picking up nearby US-70 once again. Next time, the final leg of the trip through snow-littered Texas cottonfields, a drive through Earth and a visit to out-of-this-world Roswell, New Mexico. A giant muleshoe, a ginormous pistachio and white sand dunes lay in our path before reaching the end of the road in Globe, Arizona. Join us!