Spring Water
The water at Hot Springs National Park has drawn visitors for thousands of years, from Native American tribes to Spanish explorers, to 20th century bathhouse denizens.
Plan Around Spring Water
A good stop is not just something to read about. Once it belongs on the day, move into a saved trip and build the route around it.
Use this detail page to confirm that the stop is worth it, then carry that decision into a trip draft while the park context is still fresh.
Spring Water Details
The water at Hot Springs National Park has drawn visitors for thousands of years, from Native American tribes, to Spanish explorers, to 20th-century bathhouse denizens. Water that falls as rain sinks about a mile deep, through faults and fractures. As it sinks into the earth's crust, it becomes heated to an average temperature of 143 degrees F, and then rises through a fault at the base of Hot Springs Mountain, on the western slope. The hot springs do not emerge from the ground anywhere else in the park, except in the downtown Hot Springs area. Approximately 700,000 gallons are collected each day in the hot-spring water reservoir. The waters' curative properties have been touted for years, beginning with the Caddo and Quapaw Indians, who, among other tribes, frequented the area up to 8,000 years ago. The water itself contains many minerals -- silica, bicarbonate, and calcium chief among them. The area was protected from development by the federal government in 1832 and was called the Hot Springs Reservation. Shortly thereafter, bathhouses began to pop up to take advantage of the spring water as a treatment for rheumatism as well as other illnesses. Visitors today can experience the hot spring water in either Buckstaff Bathhouse, which offers traditional treatments, or Quapaw Baths & Spa, which offers more modern treatments. Drinking the spring water is allowed and encouraged within the park, where there are a number of "jug fountains," where visitors can take some park water with them. Whittington Spring and Happy Hollow Spring uniquely feature cold-water jug fountains; hot-water fountains can be found at a number of other areas along Bathhouse Row, including on the Court Street side of the Park Administration Building, in front of the Quapaw Bathhouse, in front of and behind the Maurice Bathhouse, and along the Grand Promenade.
Difficulty
Open
Distance
N/A
Estimated time
N/A
Region
N/A
Nearby Parks Around Spring Water
Compare nearby parks around Spring Water when deciding whether to expand the route after this stop.
Nearby Points of Interest Around Spring Water
Use nearby POIs to quickly expand your options beyond Spring Water while the map context is still fresh.
0.0 mi away
Jessie Benton Fremont
An early advocate of the Park, without her work behind the scenes, Yosemite might not exist today.
0.0 mi away
ZERO LANDFILL IN THE PARKS:
THE YOSEMITE, GRAND TETON AND DENALI PROGRAM
0.0 mi away
30-Minute Helicopter Ride
Fly rim-to-rim in a half-hour.
0.0 mi away
50-Minute Airplane Tour
The ultimate Canyon airplane tour.
0.0 mi away
50-Minute Helicopter Tour
Offering aerial tours of the North and South Rims as well as the Grand Canyon's East Rim.
