Hot Springs National Park

Image courtesy of This Here Town

Hot Springs National Park was not the first national park, but it is the oldest. The area around the hot springs was created as a reservation by the federal government in 1832 and was protected before the national park service even existed (August 25, 1916). The bathhouses were built over part of the springs to create a way for the public to come and experience the natural resource. In fact, it is the only national park that is mandated to give away the resource it is protecting.

When I arrived at the Hotel Hot Springs, I was about three days into the flu and had a brief respite from the symptoms on my second day there. Since I was mostly just congested, I decided to do what people have been doing for more than 100 years: take a soak in the healing waters of the natural hot springs. 

I chose the Buckstaff Bathhouse, because it is the longest continuously operating bathhouse on Bathhouse Row and would give me the most authentic experience. Unlike spa experiences, a bathhouse experience that has endured the ages is designed for practicality over luxuriousness. The traditional package starts with leaving your things in a locker and getting wrapped in a sheet by an attendant. When a tub becomes available, you are escorted to the tub which has a massive pump attached to it to help bring up the water and circulate it in the cast iron, clawfoot tub. At this point, at least two strangers had seen me unclothed and I was trying to relax into just being despite my incredibly American issues with public nudity.

The water is naturally about 104 degrees Fahrenheit and so makes for a soothing, warm soak. After the timer goes off, you lay on a metal table that looks a bit like it was designed for autopsies. They apply heat packs (wet towels soaked in boiling water) and then drape a cold washcloth over your face; I was relieved to be allowed to wear a sheet again. In this stage, I tried to just BE in my body and experience all the sensations.

After ten minutes, you get into a small steam cupboard (where I tried to suck in as much steam as possible to break up my congestion) which is limited to three minutes. Then, there was a sitz bath followed by a 20 minute Swedish massage. Altogether, it was like a really regimented hydrothermal spa.

My opinion of this national park was pretty low on the whole. The town/city of Hot Springs is basically the national park. When I think of national parks, I imagine places like the Ouachita National Forest that surround the town, not criss-crossing streets with shops and resturants. I'm grateful that the area has protection from commercialization - except it feels pretty commercial to me.

I wanted to like it. I want to love all of the parks. This one helped me understand more about our history as a country and how far medicine has come in just the last century. I don't know if the water healed me, but I was rejuvenated enough to travel on to my next destination.

My respect for Park Rangers has increased monumentally since the beginning of this journey. While it doesn't surprise me that the first death of a ranger was in Hot Springs (considering the style of the park and the history of the gangsters and celebrities that have visited), I was grateful there was a memorial to help remind us of the sacrifices made by so many to make sure we have these federal lands to enjoy.

For more pauses of rememberance, gratitude, celebration, and historical markers, you'll have to keep coming back.