I’m not that good at writing, so I’ll keep it to bulleted points with ratings and short notes where applicable.
Background: I’m trying to visit every National Park in the USA. This was a short one-day trip in September 2019 to see Hot Springs National Park.
Flights:• LGA to DFW on Spirit
• DFW to HOT on Southern Airways Express
- This was a paid ticket
- This one was rather scary. Originally, when booking the flight one of the mandatory fields I had to fill out was my weight. Didn’t think much of it until I got to see the plane. It was one of those tiny 8-seater Cessna jump planes. The airline provided great service-they picked me up from the main terminal and chauffeured me to their tiny corporate terminal. It was a cool experience to sit behind the pilot and see the happenings. His iPad was on some GPS app that showed his route and had all the nearby planes circled on it. This ticket cost all of $39- and to think that I ended up paying $55 for an Uber to get from HOT to LIT for my return. Would’ve been so much easier and cheaper if they had routes like this for this price from all the small airports…
• LIT to STL
- This was a paid ticket
- See my St. Louis, Missouri (Gateway Arch National Park #6) trip report for the continuation of this trip.
Hotel:• The Waters- 4/5
- The Waters is a Choice Hotel brand. It’s by far the nicest hotel in the area (there is an Embassy Suites, but from I heard its nothing to talk about). The rooms were modern and clean, while the hotel itself retains that jazz age feel (that’s the era Hot Springs was most popular).
Method of Transport:• Mostly walking, Uber to/from airports.
Food:• Brought my own
Activities:• Hot Springs National Park
- Entry into the park is free. I think the park is underrated. It’s not as exotically beautiful as many of the others, but it has a certain charm and history to it that other parks don’t have. There are hot water fountains that come up straight from the springs all along Bathhouse Row (the main street fronting the park) as well as on the Grand Promenade. I started by walking the Grand Promenade, which is a peaceful, quiet walkway that has most of the trails branching from it. There a few Hot Springs along the path which are cool (and hot. Really hot. 150° hot.) After that I took a one-hour tour of the geology of the park, which was fascinating, followed by a one-hour tour of the historical bathhouses. The historical tour wasn’t as interesting, but it was nice to learn about the treatments they offered (most of them ridiculous in today’s day and age). I then hiked up Peak Trail to the Mountain Tower, a tall elevator that let’s you see the surrounding area. I got some discount here for being an America the Beautiful Park Pass holder. The view from the top was nice. I then headed back to Bathhouse Row for a mineral bath at Quapaw Baths. Most people come here for the spa services, but if you don’t have reservations chances are you won’t be able to get in that day unless you settle for a mineral bath. If you decide to do this trip, I suggest waiting until the weather cools down a bit. It was close to 100° all day, which made hiking hard, and the pictures less impressive as the steam rising from the springs is less visible on a hot day.
