On Bathhouse Row in the 1915 Fordyce bathhouse, the NPS visitor center and museum has exhibits about the park's history, first as a Native American free-trade zone, and later as a turn-of-the-20th-century European spa. Most fascinating are the amenities and standards set forth by an early-20th-century spa: the stained-glass work and Greek statues are opulent, but we could pass on the bare white walls, grout and electroshock therapy.
Hot Springs National Park
Arkansas
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
5.89 MILES
Located just across from the Garvan Woodland Gardens, the Anthony Chapel is an architectural masterpiece. This soaring, wood-and-glass complex, built in…
0.5 MILES
On top of Hot Springs Mountain, the 216ft tower has spectacular views of the surrounding mountains covered with dogwood, hickory, oak and pine – lovely in…
0.16 MILES
This wax museum is a throwback to the days when an off brand wax museum was all your town needed to be a tourism attraction. From the moment you enter and…
5.86 MILES
While these are technically the University of Arkansas' botanical gardens, Garvan feels more like a forest grove caught between the mountains and an…
8.78 MILES
You can easily lose a day poking around the waterfalls and woods of this 2200-acre state park, named for Lake Catherine, itself one of the natural…
12.99 MILES
This wild and pretty forest is studded with lakes and draws hunters, fishers, mountain-bike riders and boaters. The small roads through the mountains…
0.2 MILES
And now for something completely different: a museum dedicated to Star Wars. This fantastically geeky temple is the labor of love of one particularly…
Maxwell Blade's Odditorium & Curiosity Museum
0.33 MILES
The 'museum' attached to Maxwell Blade's stage show is a collection of horror-movie props, weird toys, creepy dolls, freak-show paraphernalia and, as the…
Nearby Arkansas attractions
0.1 MILES
Learn about the sinful glory days of Prohibition, when this small town in the middle of nowhere turned into a hotbed of lavish wealth thanks to Chicago…
2. Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum
0.16 MILES
This wax museum is a throwback to the days when an off brand wax museum was all your town needed to be a tourism attraction. From the moment you enter and…
0.2 MILES
And now for something completely different: a museum dedicated to Star Wars. This fantastically geeky temple is the labor of love of one particularly…
4. Maxwell Blade's Odditorium & Curiosity Museum
0.33 MILES
The 'museum' attached to Maxwell Blade's stage show is a collection of horror-movie props, weird toys, creepy dolls, freak-show paraphernalia and, as the…
0.5 MILES
On top of Hot Springs Mountain, the 216ft tower has spectacular views of the surrounding mountains covered with dogwood, hickory, oak and pine – lovely in…
5.86 MILES
While these are technically the University of Arkansas' botanical gardens, Garvan feels more like a forest grove caught between the mountains and an…
5.89 MILES
Located just across from the Garvan Woodland Gardens, the Anthony Chapel is an architectural masterpiece. This soaring, wood-and-glass complex, built in…
8.78 MILES
You can easily lose a day poking around the waterfalls and woods of this 2200-acre state park, named for Lake Catherine, itself one of the natural…