Spring 2018 we were planning to see the Rebel stakes at Oakland but because of car problems (aka shuddering chevy blues), we did not go. This year we wanted to take a small vacation for a few days. We decided to take a scouting trip to Hot Springs in preparation for a future trip to the Rebel stakes plus see the sights. We had not been there before.
If you have not been there we recommend going. The bathhouses and the sighs are worth the trip.
There is a free parking garage downtown built into the hillside. You need to get there early on a holiday weekend otherwise you won’t get free parking and you may have to walk a while to get to where you want to go from where you find a parking spot.
There are a couple of active bathhouses. The others are visitors centers and restaurants.
The National Park visitors center has a museum with several exhibits from its days as a bathhouse.
The primary objective of our trip was the visit to the Oaklawn Race track. There is no racing there in July but they do have the off-track betting facility which if you are into that kind of thing was a nicer place. We loved the Statue of American Pharoh at the entrance.
The best part about Hot springs is the Hot springs themselves. Most of the springs are capped on the hillside as you can see in the picture below. A benefit to the people living there is that the water coming up out of the ground is fresh clean water. The springs themselves directly are very hot as you can see from my Vimeo video linked here. But there are three taps around town where you can walk up and fill jugs with water that has been partially cooled before getting to the tap. If you go to Hot Springs national park bring some empty water jugs to fill with fresh hot springs water.
Another attraction at Hot Springs is the Observation town. You can take the elevator to the top but we decided to take the stairs to the top. Feed the fit-bit. Nice view of the area. Be sure to bring your National Park pass so you get the discounted price.
Here are some other views around Hot Springs that we hope you enjoy. As we said before, it’s worth the trip. We walked around town, rode the Duck and visited some of the restaurants and shops including the Ohio club. We are looking forward to going back for the Oaklawn racing season and visiting some of the places we didn’t get to see before.
New Heitz 