Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

June 2nd - 4th, 2021

Arkansas is a state that was never on our radar, but after spending two nights just outside Hot Springs National Park last week, I have to say we really enjoyed our time there. We chose to stop at this park to break up our long drive from Nashville, TN to Mancos, CO, and arrived on Wednesday, June 2nd.

We only planned for one day in the park (Thursday, June 3rd), but since it is mainly geared towards touring around the historical town of Hot Springs and their ancient thermal springs and bathhouses (as opposed to hiking), we felt as if that was enough time.
After grabbing our annual park pass and driving down the Main Street of the town, we decided to hit the trails and return to venture around town after. We hiked part of the Sunset Trail, which loops around the mountain ridge that encapsulates the town. While not a technically challenging hike, it was a pretty, forested trail, that featured an old growth forest of pine and oak trees (some 300 years old), as well as lots of wildflowers, including Ouachita Blazing Stars, which are unique as they are endemic only to this forest.

We also saw some wildlife, including lots of small lizards, toads, and even a large black snake that must have been 5 ft. long on the summit of West Mountain (eek!). We ate lunch on Balanced Rock, which offered some of the best views in the park, and met a nice young man named Landon (shout out if you’re reading this!) who is local to Hot Springs. He gave us some tips on where we could sample the spring waters that the town is famous for, and the best lakes to visit in the area.

After 7.5 miles in the forest, we were ready to check out downtown Hot Springs. The grand, turn-of-the-century style architecture of the town was quite beautiful, as were the huge magnolia trees that lined the Main Street. Today, you’ll find lots of eateries and little shops, but in its hay day, this town was full of bathhouses, casinos, and bars that famous baseball players, socialites and gangsters visited. We decided to grab a growler to go from Superior Bathhouse Brewery (the only brewery within a National Park AND the only brewery that uses thermal spring waters to brew its beers with), and head to Ouachita Lake State Park to lounge in our hammocks and enjoy a swim and some rock skipping. This lake used to attract people for its “healing waters” so I was intrigued. The state park was serene and beautiful, and was the perfect way to end our day in Hot Springs.

The following day (Friday, June 4th), we departed Hot Springs early with the goal of making it to Amarillo, TX, about 9 straight hours of driving away. The drive out of Arkansas was very pretty, and took us through much of the Ouachita State Forest. Once we got into Oklahoma, the roads became flatter and straighter, as we passed through lots of red dirt roads and farm land. We took our lunch break at a state park in Checotah, OK, the hometown of Carrie Underwood. This would be the only notable thing we did in Oklahoma, lol. As we made our way into Texas, we began to see miles upon miles of wind farms, which makes sense as these flat plains are incredibly windy! We made it just past Amarillo to the town of Vega, TX, where we slept at a truck stop for the night.

On Saturday, June 5th, we hit the road again early, with the goal of making it to Colorado by dinner time. Another full day of driving! Life on the road isn’t always glamorous, but we’re getting more used to driving Phoenix and hauling Destiny, and the hours seem to go by pretty quickly, often doing work in our “mobile office”, or researching campgrounds and upcoming destinations.

As we crossed into New Mexico, the landscape began to change, and we started to see plateaus, canyons and mountains appear in the distance. Neither Ian nor myself have ever been to the desert in the United States, so we were excited to start to drive through this beautiful and unique part of our country. I hadn’t researched New Mexico much, since we were not planning to stay a night there, but the drive through Albuquerque and then north towards Colorado really blew my mind. It was stunning to say the least, and a place I’d love to return to and spend more time one day.