![]() ![]() Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort is Arkansas’s #1 tourist attraction and was designed by the same architect who built the famed Wrigley Field in Chicago. Play the PoniesĪs gambling was once commonplace, it should come as no surprise that Hot Springs also has one of the nicest racetracks in America. Hot Springs is extremely pet-friendly, and dogs are allowed almost everywhere (including the gardens and many hotels). Don’t worry there are plenty of sweet treats for humans too from fudge shops to ice cream parlors. Visit Stella Mae’s for retro pin-up dresses, photograph the colorful street art, and treat your four-legged friend to a treat from Fat Bottomed Girl’s Puppy Bakery, the doggie cupcake bakery. Shop ‘til You DropĪcross the street from Bathhouse Row for about eight blocks, downtown is lined with fun and funky boutiques. Snap a selfie with the statue out front and marvel at a true “if walls could talk” destination. Learn all about age-old debauchery at the Gangster Museum and visit their stomping grounds at the Ohio Club, Arkansas’s oldest bar, and a former speakeasy. If you need any more evidence that Hot Springs is off the grid, it was once a popular hideout for infamous mobsters like Al Capone, Frank Costello, Bugs Moran, Lucky Luciano, and friends. If you’d prefer to stay on dry land, there are a number of well-marked and color-coded hiking trails, the most popular being Falls Branch, which skirts the lake and forest streams for 2-miles to a scenic waterfall and swimming hole. You can rent kayaks, SUP boards, water bikes, and boats year-round by the hour or day for super cheap (fishing boats are just $60 for the day). Lake Catherine State Park is a gorgeous and massive natural area just 20-minutes from city limits. ![]() Their beer cheese isn’t half bad, either. tasting flights, which they call a beer bath because you’ll definitely be bubby on the way out. Superior Bathhouse Brewery is the first brewery to reside inside a national park and the only one to have beers (and their famous root beer) made from thermal water. There are trails and greenery behind Bathhouse Row, which looks like an elevated labyrinth of greenery popping in and out of the developed city. It’s one of the last remaining free national parks, and unique in that it’s in the middle of downtown with the visitor’s center a bathhouse. Explore the Smallest (and First!) National Parkĭeclared a national wonder by President Jackson in 1832, Hot Springs National Park predates Yellowstone by a good 40 years. ![]() Quapaw Baths has indoor thermal pools and a natural steam cave plus other spa services, while Buckstaff Bathhouse offers private reserved mineral tubs and massage combos. While not the typical outdoor hot springs you may expect, historic bathhouse row features breathtaking European-inspired buildings with incredible architecture and tilework that’ll have you muttering “they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.” While many of the bathhouses have been converted into gift shops and museums, two are still welcoming guests to soak. You could spend all day exploring their architectural marvels, hidden wonders, landscaped koi ponds, and waterfalls features, or opt for a golf cart tour around the sprawling property. ![]() Follow George the Peacock and his friends (there are three peacocks in total, including the ladies he shows off for) through the perfectly manicured flora and fauna. Where else could you see a crazy church, a 1.8-million-dollar treehouse, and a fairy garden (and that’s without even mentioning the breathtaking flower displays)? Garvan Woodland Gardens is the crown jewel of botany. Whether you’re looking for a long weekend with your boo, a fun and flirty girlfriend getaway, or a family retreat, head to the Midwest because there’s plenty for everyone to do in the Valley of the Vapors. In a town of just 35 square miles, there’s mobster accounts, sports significance, and political relevance as the hometown of Bill Clinton with surprises at every turn.įrom duck boats and carriage rides to gambling and gardens, Hot Springs is part old, part new, the best and kitschiest of American attractions under one roof in a place that somehow still manages to fly somewhat under the radar. What I assumed I would be a straightforward and relaxing getaway at America’s first spa resort, Hot Springs unveiled a bit more of a colorful and checkered past than first meets the eye. ![]()
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