We left Mount Magazine by lunchtime on Friday and arrived at Lake Catherine State Park south of Hot Springs a few hours later. This camping location put us in a more ideal position for departure Sunday morning. When our trip was originally routed to start in Arkansas first, I had looked at Lake Ouachita State Park to the north of town for the same reason. Ideally, you could try for a campsite IN Hot Springs National Park, but there are only 30 some odd campsites and they are on a first come, first serve basis and I didn’t want to try my luck on a weekend that kicked off spring break for many.

Lake Catherine turned out wonderful regardless! Our site was positioned 75 yards to the bathhouse and about 100 yards to a playground at the top of a hill. And it was HUGE! The kids helped me with the essential parts of set up and burned off to the playground. Once camp was set and I looked over the trails map, I found out the park has a waterfall! I collected the kids and we drove to the trail head of the one mile loop to check out The Falls Creek Waterfall. It was beautiful! It wasn’t crowded and there was so much to explore we stayed til dusk.

After dinner, we turned in early as more and more campers rolled in for the weekend. Rest was tolerable that night, but there was this island just off the coastline where the campsites were and geese flocked there for the night and were HONKING ALL NIGHT! Do these things not sleep?? Because I had been going to bed with the kids every night by 7:30-8, I was waking up by 4 or 5 each morning. Which, worked out pretty good for beating crowds to showers especially when in a booked full campground. And, Dad, you wouldn’t survive here. I’ve never seen this in my life, but the shower has a single push button activation just labeled “H” for hot. Whatever the park deems as hot that is. Which is definitely NOT HOT ENOUGH. And it’s shuts off every 20 seconds. Completely insane. Camping ain’t glamorous, but those sites weren’t all that cheap either.

But I digress, haha. After breakfast, the four of us along with Sally loaded up for a day in Hot Springs National Park. Getting to downtown and parking in a free parking garage was easy enough. At 10 am only the top of the garage was left open, so I figured we were in for a busy day. We started at a visitor center where we picked up a map of the downtown area and hit Bath House Row first. Immediately we found one of many hot fountains scattered around the houses. We were thrilled to see the steam and feel the actually very hot water squirting out!

From there we strolled the sidewalk in front of each bath house that were all serving a different purpose except one that still allowed bathing. When we came to the 5th one, my favorite for outside appearance, we learned it served as a museum with all the original equipment preserved. With no dogs allowed inside, but with ample seating available on a large porch, I went with my gut and left 2 kids outside at a time with Sally while I escorted the other rather quickly through the building. That went rather well and all were very impressed with what folks in 1880s through mid 1900s considered a “luxury spa.”

Next we found yet another fountain tucked back in between 2 houses and all partook in a straight from the tap sip.

At the end of the row was Superior Bathhouse that had been converted into a brewery and restaurant. While we’re reading their sign, the hostess poked her head out and reassured us they were dog friendly inside! Hallelujah! Momma had a beer and the kids each had a pint of root beer made with none other than the spring water! I was even able to get a half growler of stout for Daddy!

After our refreshments, we found what I guess would considered the main spring? That area was putting off some heat as it cascaded down the hill side! Then, on our way to the promenade that takes you behind the bathhouses, we saw the wild sight of all these people loading their jugs up at a more modern fountain! They were quick to encourage us to cut in with some of our emptied water bottle and fill up on the “best, most pure water you will ever drink.” It was a hoot! Maybe it’s their secret to longevity.

Our walk along the promenade was peaceful and we encounter a few more spring areas.

We filled up one more bottle “for the road” and called it a day. By the time we’re leaving, the Buckstaff House had a line to the sidewalk for baths and the garage was jam packed with cars looking for a spot. I guess we faired well! On our way out, we drove the mountain road up and down taking in views of the town along the way. There’s a watch tower at the top that looked neat but it was going to cost $32 for us go up to the top and we just weren’t that interested.

We were thrilled with our experience at Hot Springs! I had been wanting to see what it was all about since we moved to ETX and it’s a beautiful place. Even though it was busy, everything felt safe and clean. People were courteous and the area was well organized and easy to navigate. I want to go back with Nathan for a weekend! Ideally, I would book something in downtown and walk everything. You could give yourself a day for the history part, which we did and then another day to hike all of the beautiful trails that branch off the area.

That evening back at Lake Catherine, the kids found a little more energy to hit the playground one last time and I made one more attempt to get a good campfire going to no avail. I’m not having much luck with park bought wood, but I refuse to gather firewood like so many do which is prohibited. Maybe I start bringing my own dried out stuff? We slept much better that night, though! Seems all the extra campers in the area helped absorb geese noise haha.

Sunday morning we would be on way to Crater of Diamonds State Park to dig for diamonds and then into Texas for our final night in another unvisited state park.

-Lindsay