Hot Springs Fast Facts
How big is Hot Springs National Park?
Hot Springs covers a total area of 5,550 acres or 9 square miles.
How many people visit Hot Springs National Park?
2,162,884 people visited Hot Springs in 2021. A table showing all years can be found at Hot Springs Visitation Stats.
When was Hot Springs National Park created?
Hot Springs was made a national park on March 4, 1921.
What are the highest and lowest elevations in Hot Springs National Park?
Hot Springs’ lowest point is 415 feet at Bull Bayou. The highest point in Hot Springs is 1,405 feet on Music Mountain.
What time zone is Hot Springs National Park located in?
Hot Springs is in the Central Time Zone.
How much does it cost to enter Hot Springs National Park?
There is no entrance fee for Hot Springs National Park.
Five Random Facts About Hot Springs
The area was first protected in 1832 as Hot Springs Reservation. For this reason, some argue that it, not Yellowstone, was the first national park. However, Hot Springs was not designated a national park until 1921, nearly 50 years after Yellowstone.
The spring water flowing from Hot Springs Mountain is quite safe to drink. The National Park Service has several places where visitors can fill their own bottles with the water.
It is estimated that the water emanating from the hot springs is first heated a mile below the Earth’s surface, and slowly rises through a fault.
The part of the park not within the city is mostly covered with forested hills and valleys. It is primarily made up of oak, hickory, and pine, with many other species as well. Wildflowers and flowering trees put on a beautiful show in the spring.
Hot Springs was a common place for baseball spring training in the late 1800s through around 1940. The players used the many bathhouses and the water’s reported curative powers to get ready for the season.
Where is Hot Springs National Park?
Hot Springs National Park is located within and around the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas. In this sense, it is not a typical national park. The famous Bathhouse Row is basically downtown Hot Springs, so there is a huge variety of services available all around the park. Further directions and maps can be found at Getting to Hot Springs.