Need to get out of town with the family for a few days - is this a good place to visit? Good hiking?

It's been a long time since I was there but the historic Arlington Hotel was The place to stay back in the day.

I like it, fun town

I was there with a 3 yo and very pregnant wife so we didn't tackle any difficult hiking. There are some decent trails around town that are easy and not too long.

What stands out the most is the number of ticks that we saw, including crawling on us. Bring spray with deet, you'll need it.

My family is currently at Lake Catherine State Park which is just outside of Hot Springs. They have great hikes here and some nice swimming holes. Hit the trails early though. It's hotter than two rabbits you know whating in a wool sock. That thumbs up from the wife is a sarcastic one.

Was there last year. The Arlington was pretty dated. We moved down the street to Hotel Hale that was much nicer and had a decent restaurant.

That said, I'd stay on the lake outside of town. I just didn't like HS (or the park) that much.

We had one of those kid backpack things when my kids were little. I think my wife wore it once, for about 2 minutes. No wonder you got the sarcastic one.

Just got back from hot springs and have visited a few other times. Plenty to do there with the National park, bathhouse row, lakes and state parks nearby. Hiking is good but very hot and humid.

Someone above mentioned the Arlington hotel which I would avoid at all costs. The bar and lobby areas are in decent shape but when we stayed there a few years ago the rooms were awful. We used Vrbo this time and found a good place not too far out of town.

Went twice this summer. Plenty to do. Nice hiking in the park in the middle of town. The new Town Place suites is nice. Definitely eat at the purple cow if you like diner burgers and ice cream. Highly recommend the horse trail ride at lake degray.

Is the community spring still available to fill your own bottles?

jgh85Ag said:

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Is the community spring still available to fill your own bottles?

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Im not quite sure if this is exactly what you are talking about..... we went about 3 weeks ago and there was a fountain of sorts that people were refilling multiple bottles at

jgh85Ag said:

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Is the community spring still available to fill your own bottles?

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As of last summer there were several. Can't imagine that has changed.

Garvan Gardens and Anthony Chapel

https://www.garvangardens.org/

Yes we filled bottles a few weeks ago. Had a blast!

We stayed at Crystal Springs COE campground and thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so we already booked a spot at Lake Ouachita SP next Easter. Did some hiking with the kiddos and bummed around Hot Springs.

One of the coolest things we happened on was the old Whittington Park area which was one of the birthplaces of Spring Training ball. It is now a parking lot but there's a cool plaque stamped in the middle of the lot and the original concrete stands from the early 1900s are still molded into the hill side. Babe Ruth famously hit a 570+ home run into the alligator farm across the street.

ratfacemcdougal said:

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Garvan Gardens and Anthony Chapel

https://www.garvangardens.org/

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+1 on this. Just got back today from a week there. We vrbo house on the lake. Rented a boat and they brought it and picked it up at our dock. Good hiking and lake activities. Has enough shopping for the wife and did some zip lining for the kids.

Vegas before there was Vegas.
https://www.hotsprings.org/pages/history/

Arkadelphia is a little closer and has become annual long weekend trip. We tube on Saturday below the dam and then drive upstream to Glenwood to canoe the Caddo river. Lake Degray state park is a great place to stay - we have also stayed at Hampton Inn located right at river on I30

ldg397 said:

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+1 on this. Just got back today from a week there. We vrbo house on the lake. Rented a boat and they brought it and picked it up at our dock. Good hiking and lake activities. Has enough shopping for the wife and did some zip lining for the kids.

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Care to post links for your vrbo and boat rental. thanks

City of Hot Springs is now licensing and limiting the number of Short Term Rental (VRBO) properties in Residential Zoned areas to 700 across the city. Should not impact you, just find it interesting

https://www.hotsr.com/news/2021/jun/01/citywide-str-regulations-take-effect-today/

https://www.cityhs.net/1265/Short-term-Rental-Information

We tried to visit Hot Springs Village but it is gated off to non-residents unless you have restaurant or hotel reservations.

My grandparents live in HSV. We drove up there for a long weekend 2 weeks ago. The village is very strict on security... seems kinda goofy to me though.

The Hot Springs region of Arkansas is overlooked by a lot of people. Not a terrible drive, little more hilly, very pretty, and nice area.

ratfacemcdougal said:

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ldg397 said:

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+1 on this. Just got back today from a week there. We vrbo house on the lake. Rented a boat and they brought it and picked it up at our dock. Good hiking and lake activities. Has enough shopping for the wife and did some zip lining for the kids.

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Care to post links for your vrbo and boat rental. thanks

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https://www.vrbo.com/712907?_branch_match_id=950839088630164490&adultsCount=9&childrenCount=3&haExternalSourceId=96b70fb1-48bb-4419-a133-561aa95888ec_08375e93-64da-4185-bd2b-d52443187be5_GGI_stayx_email&unitId=1260845&utm_campaign=traveler_guestofguest_invite&utm_content=listing-img-321.712907.1260845&utm_medium=email&utm_source=SYS&utm_term=20210610


It has some quirks to it but overall was very nice the pool looks better in the pictures but was functional. We had 12 people so worked great for us.

Yesterday said:

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My family is currently at Lake Catherine State Park which is just outside of Hot Springs. They have great hikes here and some nice swimming holes. Hit the trails early though. It's hotter than two rabbits you know whating in a wool sock. That thumbs up from the wife is a sarcastic one.

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Been to Hot Springs several times and always enjoyed Catherine State Park. 1, 3, and 5 mile hikes with a water fall where all the trails meet. Our kids did the 5 miles with us at ages 5,8, & 10. Also check out the Greatful Head Pizza (so good), purple cow for a 50's style burger and shake and Superior Bathhouse Brewery.