Hot Springs: 2 Days of Bathhouses, Springs and Ouachita Overlooks

Just behind the Maurice Bathhouse, a spring fissures out of the hillside into a shallow pool, ringed with moss and blue-green algae. It is one of the few places where you can see the water surface instead of piped plumbing. The 'Hidden Hot Springs' self-guided walk (about a 1-mile loop, 1-2 hours) strings together Display Spring, Hot Springs Creek, Magnesia, Big Iron and Arsenic springs, and Happy Hollow if you want the full history lesson; today, take just the first few stops.

The largest visible spring in the park pours out of the hillside beside the Grand Promenade, slides under the path and drops down a rock face into two pools. The water emerges around 143 degrees F but has cooled enough to touch by the time it reaches the pools, so this is where you meet the thermal water with your own fingertips. Bring a camera for the pools.

A brick-paved, 8-foot-wide terrace runs behind Bathhouse Row, tucked into the hillside with the bathhouse rears on one side and the wooded slope on the other. It is 0.5 miles one way with a gentle grade; it is also the junction where the Peak, Oertel and Tufa Terrace trails branch off, which sets you up for the afternoon. Walk it south to north to end near Arlington Lawn or vice versa, and peek at the Shell Fountain on the Stevens Balustrade on the way.

The 1916 Superior Bathhouse now houses a brewery that uses the park's thermal spring water to make its beer; it is the only brewery in a U.S. national park and the only one in the world to use thermal spring water. It is a dinner-and-a-pint ending to a day of walking the Row, right on Central Avenue. Hours and menu change, so confirm before you go; its website lists Tuesday as closed.

From the overlook at the end of North Mountain Loop, the trail leaves south of the parking area and drops through novaculite rubble and flowery glades with views toward Indian Mountain and east Hot Springs. The rock bars across the path are a trip hazard and the tread turns uneven and rocky further along; below huge novaculite boulders a signed stairway climbs about forty feet to the Goat Rock viewpoint. Sturdy shoes recommended. Turn around when you have had enough; the round trip is roughly double the one-way distance.

Eden occupies the Hale Bathhouse, which dates to 1892 and is the oldest visible structure on Bathhouse Row. Options are listed for brunch, lunch and dinner there. The hotel says reservations are recommended and lists no lunch hours, so call ahead to confirm lunch service; if it is not offered that day, Superior or the Arlington are nearby fallbacks.

Where Buckstaff is old-school, Quapaw under its big dome is the modern spa: thermal pools, private baths and a steam cave (the operator's site says it is currently closed). Book ahead; the operator lists a roughly 2-hour package at $150 | $275 (confirm what each price covers when booking) and no services for under-14s. Its website lists Tuesday as closed.

The park store, run by Eastern National, sits on the first floor of the Lamar Bathhouse at the south end of the Row, just past Buckstaff; it is open daily 9 to 5. Afterward, fill a bottle at one of the free thermal spring fountains: drinking the water is encouraged, and the Noble Fountain sits at the south end of the Grand Promenade on Reserve Street. Bring a bottle, or a jug for the road.