The mountains cradle pockets of rising mist as the clouds on the horizon turn purple, pink, and then golden at the spark of the sun. With no one else on the trail, we feel like we stumbled upon a little-known secret of the park.
May 15–16, 2024
Our trip lands us in the quaint town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, mid-afternoon. With only 24 hours to fully explore the park, our first item of business is to stop by the visitor center in historic Fordyce Bathhouse. A free parking garage is located only a short walk west of Central Avenue, the main boulevard of Bathhouse Row. Decked in early twentieth-century architecture, Fordyce Bathhouse doubles as a self-guided museum for the park. We travel back in time to the heyday of Hot Springs with four floors of displays and dioramas, including an historic gynamsium on the top level.
The conclusion of this tour drops us out on Bathhouse Row where we then stroll along the Grand Promenade, a short quarter-mile walkway featuring the many springs feeding the bathhouses. Our saunter ends at Hot Water Cascade, perhaps the most dramatic and beautiful of the springs. We dip ort hands in the water for only a few seconds as the 140ºF water soon begins to sting.
With the end of the day drawing close, we grab dinner in town and make our way to Hot Springs Mountain Tower for sweeping 360º views of the surrounding land. From here we can make out the whereabouts of Bathhouse Row and map the geography of the waterways feeding the springs. As the sun set, a warm light filters through the green hills bathing everything in a golden glow. A clear sunset is always a perfect end to a good day.
The next morning, we rise before sunrise hoping to catch some steam on the springs in the chill morning air. Unfortunately for us, the morning is not cool enough for this phenomenon, so we adopt Plan B and book it back to our campsite in Gulpha Gorge Campground to hike the nearby Goat Rock Trail. Our goal is to catch sunrise from the top. Thankfully, after some brisk hiking and a little running we arrive at the lookout just minutes before a perfect sunrise. The mountains cradle pockets of rising mist as the clouds on the horizon turn purple, pink, and then golden at the spark of the sun. With no one else on the trail, we feel like we stumbled upon a little-known secret of the park. Grateful for what we just witnessed, we casually make our way back down to Gulpha Gorge Campground and explore the nearby Gulpha Creek at a leisurely pace.
A quick home-packed breakfast fuels us up and we drive over to Ricks Pond hoping to catch some wildlife, and boy, are our expectations met. At first sight the pond seems lifeless, but as we approach on foot we notice a nest of 28 turtles perched on the far side of the pond. Since we have the place to ourselves, we spend the rest of the morning photographing the turtles as they skitter away from us, slowing reappearing one by one. But we welcome the patience as a nice change of pace—the gentle ripples in the pond, the soft croaking of frogs, the slow breeze in the air. Of the previous 24 hours, these are the moments that linger in our minds as we wrap up our time in Hot Springs National Park.
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