Your Hot Springs National Park CME conference.

Hot Springs after your study day

Study days finish at 2:00 PM Central time. For an easy afternoon, choose one outing near where you stay: a walk along Bathhouse Row, a look at the Display Spring and the Hot Water Cascade, or the drive or hike up to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower. Leave time for parking, since the park says metered street parking is available throughout downtown, with a parking garage on Exchange Street, and for the summer heat and humidity.

Travel, lodging and any bathhouse or attraction admission are arranged separately. Your conference is built around your specialty and interests; the park and the town around it are simply the setting you choose for it.

Bathhouse Row

The National Park Service describes eight bathhouse buildings along the row, built between 1892 and 1923. The Lamar Bathhouse opened in 1923 and completed the row, and bathing declined from the 1960s, with the Fordyce the first to close, in 1962. The row and the Grand Promenade were designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1987. Nearly all the buildings have since been adapted for modern uses, so a walk along the row shows both the architecture and what the buildings are now.

The Fordyce Bathhouse houses the park visitor center at 369 Central Avenue, and many of its rooms have been restored to their original state. The park’s half-day suggestions also include joining a ranger for a guided tour, becoming a Junior Ranger and stopping at the park store. Compare the visitor center’s schedule with your 2:00 PM finish.

The Grand Promenade and the springs

Grading for the Grand Promenade began in 1933 on the land behind Bathhouse Row, and the project was not finished until 1958, when it was extended to Fountain Street. The Display Spring is behind the Maurice Bathhouse, where water seeps from a hillside into a shallow pool. The Hot Water Cascade, at Arlington Lawn, is a prominent visible spring in the park, with water passing under the path and dropping down a steep cliff into two pools.

The park says the water comes out of the ground at 143 degrees Fahrenheit. It lists thermal fountains on Reserve Street, and one at Hill Wheatley Plaza on Central Avenue outside the park boundary, where visitors can fill their own containers.

Trails and mountain views

The park has 26 miles of hiking trails through forested terrain. Thermal-water channels run along trails on Hot Springs Mountain, and the tower and pagoda there offer views of the Ouachita Mountains. The Hot Springs and North Mountain trails are popular because they are easy to reach and have scenic views, and the Gulpha Gorge Campground is one of their access points. The Sunset Trail overlooks Balanced Rock.

The Sunset Trail is long. The park gives it as about 10 miles one way, or a loop of 15 to 17 miles, and calls the full loop strenuous, with sections of 2.8, 2.6 and 3.8 miles. Choose a section rather than the whole trail for an afternoon.

History of the reservation

On April 20, 1832, President Andrew Jackson signed legislation setting aside four sections of land that took in the springs. The park says this makes Hot Springs the oldest unit in the National Park System, about forty years older than Yellowstone. Congress never passed legislation to administer the site, so people settled there and built businesses around and over the springs. Bathhouse Row was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The park combines urban and natural settings, with springs, forests, creeks and geology all in the middle of town.

Lakes and neighborhoods beyond the park

The Hot Springs tourism site describes Downtown restaurants, nightclubs and museums in buildings dating to 1886, and a Lake District around Lake Hamilton with nearly 200 miles of shoreline, hotels, condos, restaurants and marinas. The West district’s main roads lead toward Lake Ouachita. Garvan Woodland Gardens is also on that site’s list, so check its current events and days.

When to visit Hot Springs

The park gives spring highs of 65 to 82°F and lows of 43 to 61°F, and says spring is one of the wetter seasons with the highest chance of tornadoes. Summer highs are 90 to 93°F, with humidity of 70 to 90 percent in July and August, heat index values that can exceed 110°F, and frequent heavy rain and lightning.

Fall highs run from 63 to 86°F, and the park says spring and fall typically bring the most rain. Winter highs are about 52 to 56°F, with lows near freezing, wind chills that can feel like 15°F and some ice or snow. Shift’s milder travel months here are May–June and September–October.

Getting to Hot Springs and your study setting

The park names Hot Springs Memorial Field as the local airport and Little Rock’s airport, about 60 miles away, which offers shuttle service and rental cars. Driving from Little Rock is 54 miles and about an hour by the park’s directions, taking I-30 West and then US 70 West at Exit 111. Texarkana is 112 miles away, about two hours.

The map shows straight-line distances from Shift’s designated center. These are orientation distances, not driving distances or travel-time estimates. Check your exact address against the conference’s check-in area before booking.