Hot Springs, Arkansas: The Water Really Is Hot!

Arrived in Hot Springs, Arkansas late yesterday. Should have arrived a little earlier however had some challenges with the directions from Red Bay, AL to Hot Springs, specifically the portion through Little Rock, AR. That said, we simply had a chance to see more of Arkansas than originally planned. Oh, except for the turn I made onto a long frontage road. What could go wrong with that? Except this frontage road eventually veered from the highway and several miles later came to a dead end. Fortunately I was able to get turned around by disconnecting the toad, pulling a three way (turn) with the RV and reconnecting everything. Getting pretty good/quick at disconnecting/reconnecting.

We are at Cloud Nine RV Park, which is on top of a small mountain. Beautiful view from some of the sites. Not very crowded however I expect that to change as we get closer to the 4th of July holiday.

MLA & I spent time at the Hot Springs National Park. Supposedly this was the first time property was set aside by the Federal government to protect a natural resource. Initially it was established as a reservation and later changed to a National Park.

The historic district is a row of bath houses that have been mostly restored. Before the turn of the century (not this century silly, the late 1800's) people travelled far distances to locations like Hot Springs, AR where the waters were believed to have special healing properties.

Hard to say if the waters have healing powers or not. Most people coming here for medical purposes found themselves drinking the water and partaking in hot baths; in addition they were breathing healthier air, away from everyday work/living stress, and encouraged to exercise a lot more than they usually exercised. All good things. Did the water regimen help? Who knows? It certainly did not hurt.

There are many fountains/springs throughout the historical district, including the one pictured with MLA. And yes, the water coming from the fountains is hot; consistently around 134 degrees hot to be exact. Very strange to touch the water coming out of a fountain and have it be hot. Bet this is a fun place to see when it's cold outside.

All of the bath houses had to add cool water to the hot springs water for bathing purposes. They also had steam baths and used the hot vapors directly from the springs.

All in all, it looks like a good place to spend a week or so. There are several lakes here with lots of water activities. And MLA is excited by the quartz & diamond mines throughout the region.Of course, as MLA points out, we can't really draw any conclusions about the Hot Springs area until we try out some of the bath houses and their spa programs.

It's a tough job but somebody has to do it -- See Ya!