So you want to visit Hot Springs with kids?
Hot Springs is a truly unique National Park because it was created to protect a resource: The region’s natural thermal waters. The land was set aside as the Hot Springs Reservation in 1832, decades before Yellowstone became a National Park. (Though reserving the land didn’t mean administering the land, which didn’t come until Hot Springs became the 18th National Park in 1921.)
People flocked to the region to “take the waters” and see and be seen on the Grand Promenade. The hot mineral water and mountain air was believed to provide a variety of health and medical benefits. (And really, when is clean water and fresh air ever not good for you?) Notorious gangster Al Capone frequented the area. Babe Ruth and Helen Keller visited too.
As the area fell disrepair by the 1960s with the decline of the bathing industry, campaigns to save the bathhouses began and Hot Springs National Park started its transformation into what you see today.
First, a note about visiting Hot Springs with kids
I’m going to preface this list of things to do with kids by saying: Hot Springs can be a tricky national park to visit with kids.
I know, I know. All National Parks are for all ages. That said … some parks are inherently more kid-friendly than others. Of course, if you’re in the area or this is your one chance to visit, then do! (We visited as part of our 2026 Appalachia National Parks roadtrip.)
But the city allows smoking in public places. The area has several casinos; other buildings are vacant or have seen better days. The historic bathhouse that lets you actually get into the water doesn’t allow visitors under the age of 10. (The other bathhouse, a spa, doesn’t admit children under the age of 14 or anyone who is menstruating.)
I’ve visited Hot Springs National Park twice. Once for a conference when I was pregnant and once with my kids. So I’ve never actually been *in* the thermal waters at Hot Springs.
That said, we found several ways to make visiting Hot Springs with kids a total blast. Here are our favorite activities.
1. Walk Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs with kids
Hot Springs National Park is unlike most other NPS sites you’ll visit, because the cornerstone of the park is buildings, especially Bathhouse Row.
Bathhouse Row is a charming stretch of historical bathhouses built between 1890s and 1920s.
Two of the bathhouses still offer opportunities to take the waters. One is a brewery. One is the park visitor center. Another is a hotel. Another is a store. Two are currently vacant.
Signs outside each bathhouse describe it’s history. They’re beautiful, quirky, unique buildings.
2. Tour the Fordyce Bathhouse & Become a Junior Ranger
The elegant Fordyce Bathhouse was once considered the most luxurious on Bathhouse Row. Now, it is the park Visitor Center. Attend a tour of the bathhouse or explore on your own to get a glimpse into what a bathhouse looked like in Hot Springs’ heyday.
Pick up (and turn in) your Junior Ranger books here too!
3. Drink the water in Hot Springs with kids
Several places through the park allow you to drink the mineral water! Yes, drink! There are hot and cold water fountains throughout the park.
Before beginning your walk down the promenade and Bathhouse Row, stop at the Happy Hollow Jug Fountain up the street from The Arlington to fill your water bottles with cold water.
Meander down Bathhouse Row, then turn left at Lamar Bathhouse, the park store. Just around the corner is the Reserve Street Jug Fountain. Now here is where you really make the magic!
Make sure you pack reusable coffee mugs and hot chocolate packets. Fill your mugs at the Reserve Street Jug Fountain, add the hot cocoa mix, and continue your walk down the promenade!
Another way to drink the water is in the Superior Bathhouse Brewery beer and rooter. (Read more below!)
4. Walk the promenade and touch the Water
The Grand Promenade was once the place to see and be seen in Hot Springs. Today, it’s a large shaded brick path behind the bathhouses with plaques about the history of the area — and places to touch the water!
Tucked behind the Maurice Bathhouse is the Display Spring, one of the openings in the rock where the water flows to the surface. My kids loved touching the water here.
Head back up the steps to the Grand Promenade and continue your walk.
As you wander down the path, you’ll notice several large green boxes set into the hillside. Be sure to read the signs that explain the Spring Boxes (which cover the springs or plumbing) and check out the photo of people soaking their feet in the dugout spring pools! The fancy bathhouses on the row below were not open to everyone. Impoverished visitors frequented the dug-out pools, some seeking cures for syphilis.
And Hot Springs wouldn’t be a National Park without the enslaved Black laborers crucial to the founding and running of Hot Springs bathhouses. After the Civil War, Jim Crow laws and racial segregation meant Black citizens worked as bathhouse attendants but couldn’t use the bathing facilities themselves until the passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act.
With this history in mind, finish your walk back at Arlington Lawn at the Hot Water Cascade, the largest visible spring in the park. It’s another place you can safely touch the water.
Bonus: Soak in the water in Hot Springs
Three historic bathhouses in Hot Springs currently offer guests the opportunity to get in the thermal waters.
Buckstaff Bathhouse provides a historical bathhouse experience with a whirlpool mineral bath, steam cabinet, sitz bath, and Swedish massage. You’re welcome to wear a swimsuit or go without. Services are separated into a men’s floor and women’s floor, and a bath attendant guises you through the stations. Children must be 10 or older to visit Buckstaff.
Quapaw Baths & Spa is a more traditional spa, with massages, facials, and a thermal water pool. If you want to do a couples treatment, this is where you would go. Children must be 14 years old or older to visit, and people who are menstruating will not be permitted In the thermal water mineral pool. (Menstruating poele can partake in private baths.)
The Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa is the largest hotel on Bathhouse Row, perched at the end of the row across from the lawn. The hotel offers thermal mineral waters, massages, facials, and more.
The Arlington also has Mineral Water Rooms, where hot springs mineral water is piped into the private room’s bathtub. My parents stayed in one so my kids could take a bath in the waters. The rooms were very rundown when we visited though (more on this below), so the baths were quick.
Where to stay with kids in Hot Springs National Park
Both times I’ve visited Hot Springs, I stayed at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa. The historic hotel has sat at the end of Bathhouse Row since 1924. Al Capone stayed here and frequently visited during the 1930s to take the waters.
The architecture is stunning and the hotel has truly amazing bones. From the old elevators and mail chute to the large tiled porch to the chandeliers in the lobby, it’s truly beautiful. You even get a real metal key for your room.
But … The Arlington has seen better days.
When I stayed at the hotel for a conference in 2017, it was fine. The Crystal Ballroom was a charming host for our dinners. It wasn’t a fancy hotel, but it was quaint.
The hotel took a turn for the worse by the time I returned in 2026. Paint peeled off the walls and doors. The carpets had a soggy feel, like there had been a flood. The mattresses and couch were lumpy. The whole hotel had an air of neglect. The gloomy Starbucks inside the hotel had only coffee despite the website advertising food options.
That said, extensive renovations started in 2023. The outside of the hotel is now more brilliant than I remember from 2017. The tiles shine. The new steps gleam. Half of the floor we stayed on was undergoing renovations. I’m optimistic the hotel will return to it’s former glory soon, and I’d love to go back and see it when it is.
Where to eat with kids in Hot Springs National Park
Inside what was once a historic bathhouse is Superior Bathhouse Brewery. It’s claims to fame: It serves the world’s only beer brewed with thermal water and is the only brewery in a U.S. National Park!
The brewery’s patio abuts the Arlington Lawn with great views of Bathhouse Row. The adults in our group got beer flights with four 4-ounce tasters. (My favorite was the Beez Knees.) The kids got root bear made with thermal spring water and real honey. I had a great fried chicken sandwich and we split root beer caramel brownies for dessert! The patio is dog-friendly too, and the restaurant even has a menu for “four-legged kids”! Our dog loved the turkey.
(Yes, Hot Springs is one of the National Parks that allows dogs!)
We also at at The Pancake Shop across the street from the hotel. The no-frills diner serves up epically giant pancakes and other breakfast favorites.
I hope you enjoy your visit to Hot Springs with kids!
