Free & Cheap Things to Do in Hot Springs

Parks & Nature

The only major US city set inside a national park — Hot Springs NP wraps the downtown bathhouses, the elevated Grand Promenade walkway, 26 miles of forested hiking trails, and the country's only federally protected thermal hot springs. Entry to the park is free; you can soak in the actual thermal water at one of the operating bathhouses (paid) or drink it for free from the public fountains along Central Avenue.

Address: 101 Reserve St, Hot Springs, AR 71901

Tip: Start at the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center (free) for orientation and exhibits. The free Grand Promenade walkway runs behind Bathhouse Row and is the easiest way to see the park on foot. Public drinking fountains along Central Avenue dispense the actual park thermal water — fill a water bottle for free. 26 miles of hiking trails fan out from the central historic district.

History & Architecture

The largest remaining collection of early-twentieth-century bathhouses in the United States — eight grand brick-and-stucco buildings built between 1912 and 1923 along Central Avenue, all preserved as part of Hot Springs National Park and a National Historic Landmark. Free to walk past and admire from the outside. Most buildings have been adapted to alternative uses (visitor center, brewery, gallery, hotel), and the original Buckstaff still operates as a working bathhouse.

Address: Central Ave, Hot Springs, AR 71901

Tip: Walk the block-long row in 20 minutes; pop into the Fordyce (now the free visitor center) and the Superior (now a brewery) without paying anything. The Buckstaff is the only original operating bathhouse with traditional services (~$40 — over our budget cap but a real piece of living history). Free orientation pamphlets at the Fordyce front desk.

History & Culture

The original 1915 Fordyce Bathhouse — once the most opulent on Bathhouse Row, with marble walls, stained glass ceilings, and the only bathhouse bowling alley — is now Hot Springs National Park's free visitor center and museum. Three floors plus a basement of restored period furnishings and exhibits trace the rise and fall of America's spa-tourism era. Free self-guided tour of the entire building.

Address: 369 Central Ave, Hot Springs, AR 71901

Tip: Start here for any Hot Springs NP visit — free park orientation, restrooms, water, and exhibits that explain everything you'll see on Bathhouse Row. The basement still holds the original Fordyce Spring and the antique Otis elevator mechanism. Allow 45–60 minutes. Open daily (closed major holidays).

Parks & Views

A 216-foot observation tower on top of Hot Springs Mountain, with two enclosed observation decks at 1,256 feet above sea level offering panoramic views over the Ouachita Mountains, the city of Hot Springs, and the Diamond Lakes region. The tower is privately operated inside the national park, reachable by a scenic drive or by hiking the free Hot Springs Mountain Trail from downtown.

Address: 401 Hot Springs Mountain Dr, Hot Springs, AR 71901

Tip: Open daily 9am–8pm. Skip the elevator fare entirely by hiking the free Hot Springs Mountain Trail up to the base of the tower for the views from outside (same panorama, just one level lower). Drive up Hot Springs Mountain Drive from the Promenade for the easy version. Gift shop at the base.

Arts & Culture

A surprisingly large hands-on science museum on the west edge of Hot Springs, with exhibits on Arkansas geology and ecology, a dinosaur exhibit, the world's most powerful conical Tesla coil (live demonstrations), a digital-dome planetarium, and an elevated forest skywalk through the pines. One of the best rainy-day budget picks in town for families.

Address: 500 Mid America Blvd, Hot Springs, AR 71913

Tip: Open Tue–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 1pm–5pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. The Tesla coil shows run on a posted schedule — check the front desk on arrival. Tickets are good for a one-time visit valid up to 7 days from purchase. The Bob Wheeler Science Skywalk through the forest canopy is included with admission.

Quirky Landmarks

A 1910 Classic Revival building on the National Register of Historic Places, right on Central Avenue across from Bathhouse Row, now serving as the visitor center and museum for America's oldest continually operating bottled water company (founded 1871). Free exhibits trace the brand's connections to Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, and Secretariat. Free water samples from the spring.

Address: 150 Central Ave, Hot Springs, AR 71901

Tip: Open Mon–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 9am–4pm. Free samples of the spring water — try one cold from the glass bottle. The third-floor 'Japanese Ballroom' was a Roaring-'20s big-band hot spot (now offices, but the original ceiling and period fixtures are restored). Free, low-key, and easy to pair with the Bathhouse Row walk.

Parks & Nature

A 1,940-acre state park 10 miles southeast of Hot Springs, created in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps along the western shore of Lake Catherine. Multiple hiking trails (the popular Falls Branch Trail leads to a small waterfall), free swimming beach, fishing, kayak rentals, and CCC-built picnic shelters. All Arkansas state parks are free for day use.

Address: 1200 Catherine Park Rd, Hot Springs, AR 71913

Tip: Falls Branch Trail is the must-do — 2 miles roundtrip to a small waterfall, family-friendly. The swimming beach with a bathhouse is free. Park interpreters offer guided hikes and boat tours in summer; book ahead at the visitor center. Pair with a Hot Springs morning for an easy one-day combination.

History & Culture

An entertaining seven-gallery museum on Central Avenue that walks visitors through Hot Springs' decades as the largest illegal-gambling operation in the country during the 1920s, '30s, and '40s — when Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Alvin Karpis, and other notorious figures used the town as a hideout. Open since 2008. The audiovisual storytelling, antique slot machines, and theater presentations justify the admission for any true-crime or Prohibition-era history fan.

Address: 510 Central Ave, Hot Springs, AR 71901

Tip: Open Sun–Thu 10am–5pm, Fri–Sat 10am–6pm. Allow 60–90 minutes. The theater presentation runs on a schedule — ask the front desk when you arrive. Pair with the Arlington Hotel across the street (where Capone famously kept a 4th-floor suite) — free to walk into the historic lobby.

Parks & Nature

The 210-acre botanical garden of the University of Arkansas, draped over a wooded peninsula with 4.5 miles of Lake Hamilton shoreline. Highlights include the soaring all-glass Anthony Chapel rising into the pines, a Garden of the Pine Wind with waterfalls and bridges, and a children's adventure garden.

Address: 550 Arkridge Rd, Hot Springs, AR 71913

Tip: Open daily 9am–6pm. At $22 it's the priciest pick in town, but the Anthony Chapel and lakeside trails make it worth a half-day. The holiday lights display (mid-Nov–Dec) is spectacular.

Family & Kids

A delightfully old-school roadside attraction operating since 1902, home to dozens of American alligators plus a petting zoo of goats, pygmy goats, and other friendly animals. Daily feedings and a small museum of Ozark oddities make it a fun, cheap stop for families.

Address: 847 Whittington Ave, Hot Springs, AR 71901

Tip: Open daily 10am–5pm. Check the feeding schedule for the best alligator action. Walkable from downtown Bathhouse Row, about a mile west along Whittington Avenue.