Hot Springs National Park

Did you know that Hot Springs, Arkansas is home to the first national park in the country? Well, not technically. Officially, Yellowstone became the first U.S. National Park in 1872. But, Hot Springs Reservation was established in 1832, and that was the first time that any land had been set aside by federal government as a place worth preserving for the enjoyment of future generations. Hot Springs Reservation did not become Hot Springs National Park until 1921.

I’ve been to Hot Springs many times, and the girls went once as toddlers, but this was Ray’s first visit. I had told him all about the famous bathhouses along historical Bathhouse Row, including one where patrons can still enjoy the same experience people who visited in the early 1900s did.

I have been to Buckstaff Bathhouse a couple of times. The visit begins with undressing, stepping into a robe, and following an attendant to a private stall that houses a bathtub. Once in the tub  (about 100 degree water), the bather relaxes, as the hot water (straight from the springs and through the pipes and faucet into the bath) fills up. Upon my first visit, I thought, ‘Nice. I could spend some time here.’ I began my peaceful soak, closed my eyes, listened to the water pouring in, and prepared for a very tranquil experience. Aahhh.

I was startled to open my eyes and find a woman standing there, loofah in hand, prepared to scrub me down. And, though awkward for me, that’s exactly what she did. Scrubbed. Arms. Legs. Feet. Back.

Once the soak and scrub down were over, there were several other parts to the visit. I was given glasses of hot water to sip and led over to the  hot packs area, where I was wrapped in hot towels (aside from the ice cold one to the face), and then lay on a table for about 20 minutes. Then came a 10-minute sitz bath (involving sitting in a sort of butt tub), followed by a few minutes in a vapor cabinet (seated, the whole body is in a compartment of steam, with head out through a hole in the top – not for the claustrophobic). Then came the needle shower, before ending with a nice Swedish massage to really relax those muscles. Though the sitz bath wasn’t my fave, I actually enjoyed the rest of the experience (minus the whole having a stranger bathe me part) both visits.

But, when I told Ray about the baths, he immediately said he’d have no part in any of that. He pretty much stated that right after I mentioned the bathtub scrub down part. He was more and more sure of his decision the further I went with my story.

Anyway, there was none of that this time. We went to the Fordyce Bathhouse (now the Visitors Center), where we took a park ranger guided tour through the old bathhouse and learned the history of the healing waters and the bathhouses.

The hot springs that flow from Hot Springs Mountain have been completely uncontaminated. Native Americans used the springs for thousands of years, before the area was “settled” and became a place where people traveled from near and far to visit the therapeutic waters.

Believed to have healing powers, the springs were used for “treatments,” and after a short history of make-shift bathhouses (a few boards around a spring or a tent covering one, so that people could pay a nickel and soak in privacy), more formal houses were established.

Used to treat everything from war injuries and rheumatism to syphilis and severe fatigue, patients had to be prescribed treatments by their physicians, and that’s how they got a ticket to a bathhouse back during the heyday. And a treatment would involve all the things I did at Buckstaff Bathhouse, but it would be done daily for 21 days. Of course, as medicine progressed (surgeries developed, penicillin discovered, and other more modern forms of treatment invented), the bathhouses became less popular.

I love the history of it, and I thought it was fun experiencing the baths in the past. Hot Springs is nicknamed Spa City, and as a lover of all things spa, I’m a fan of a place that’s been into the spa experience for hundreds of years.

Aside from the bathhouses, Hot Springs is full of historical buildings, its got the Ouachita Mountains as a backdrop, and it’s just a cool, little town. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the Pancake House, a walk along the Promenade (where the rich people in town for their treatments walked in the early 1900s), a steep hike up to the side of Hot Springs Mountain to the tower, a ride up the tower to check out some gorgeous views, and many stops along the way to feel the natural springs coming out of the ground. There are also fountains where people can fill up jugs of the water to take home with them.

I’m pretty happy to be spending another three weeks in this neck of the woods! And who knows? Maybe I’ll make another visit to Buckstaff for a soak before we leave. Ray will happily watch the kids.