In 2007, Hot Springs National Park celebrated its 175^th anniversary as America’s First Resort. The thermal springs that led President Andrew Jackson to name Hot Springs the first Federal Reservation in 1832 also inspired the grand architecture of world-famous Bathhouse Row. The eight turn-of-the-century structures lie within Hot Springs National Park and are supervised by the National Park Service.

Hot Springs takes its name from the natural thermal water that flows from 47 springs on the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain in the historic downtown district of the city. Approximately 800,000 gallons of 143-degree water flow from the springs each day. The rate of flow is not affected by fluctuations in rainfall. National Park Service scientists have determined through carbon dating that the water that reaches the surface in Hot Springs fell as rainfall in an undiscovered watershed 4,000 years earlier. The water percolates very slowly down through the earth’s surface until it reaches superheated areas deep in the crust and then rushes rapidly to the surface to emerge from the 47 hot springs.

Hot Springs National Park
100 Reserve Street, Hot Springs, AR 71901
501-624-2701