Arkansas has 7 hot springs, and all 7 flow within Hot Springs National Park, the only US National Park established specifically to protect a hot springs system. Arkansas is the state where every naturally occurring hot spring is federally protected and channeled through historic 1900s-era bathhouses on Bathhouse Row rather than open primitive soaking pools. The 47 protected thermal springs on Hot Springs Mountain feed the operational Buckstaff and Quapaw bathhouses and the free public fountains where visitors can fill jugs. Flagship sites: the Buckstaff Bathhouse, the Quapaw Baths & Spa, and the Fordyce Bathhouse (now the park visitor center). Arkansas's thermal water is meteoric rainwater that descends through the Ouachita anticline over roughly 4,000 years, is heated by geothermal gradient, and rises rapidly through fault zones to surface at 143°F, hot enough to require cooling before soaking. All springs are on National Park Service land, so there are no free primitive pools - soaking is exclusively at licensed bathhouses. Best season is year-round; the park is fully open in winter. Gateway city is Hot Springs, AR, roughly one hour from Little Rock. Clothing-optional is not permitted. Reviewed and updated July 2026. See individual bathhouse listings for pricing, hours, and reservations.
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