Lake Catherine State Park is near Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is about a 5 hour drive north east of our home. At this point in the year Arkansas is much more ”Fall like” than north Texas. The trees have begun to change to their fall colors there and the nights are in the low 40’s. We left for Lake Catherine knowing that there was a high likelihood of rain for two of the five days we would be there. It was also apparent that at least two of the nights would be in the mid thirties, and one day would be in the high forties. I left with two full propane tanks and I knew during the day I could rely on the fireplace to provide the heat we would need.
The campground is located about 10 miles off highway 30, on Hwy 171. I have to say that Hwy 171 is a very slow drive with a winding road that has many 30 MPH curves. So when you get on this road don’t expect that you will be there in anything under 20 minutes, maybe longer.
Hwy 171 takes you right into the park. We had reservations in camping Area B, site 20. The composition of our site was a narrow pad of asphalt; and the remainder of the area was made up of small dark gravel. Behind our site the ground was dirt and leaves with a lot of pine needles. I have to say I am not very impressed with our site. Making site 20 even more undesirable is the fact that it sits on a very tight loop which makes it very difficult to exit when hooked up to your trailer. Since the Bath/Shower house is next to our site there are four parking stalls that take up a large part of the loop. If there are any cars parked there when you want to leave, you won’t be able to exit your site; so just beware.
However, there are many other sites at this park that are very nice so don’t let site 20 dissuade you from coming. To be fair if you have a travel trailer that is small, this site would probably be ok, even with the precarious loop.
I also must mention that our site had electricity on one side of the trailer and water on the other. I found that to be strange. We did have a bit of southern sky available for our dish so we were able to pick up some of our Dish channels. Only one of the three satellites actually connected, but that was fine.
The Campground has many trails but the cool and rainy weather kept us from that kind of activity. As a matter of fact Eva and I didn’t really get many walks in as a result of the weather. She’s usually game for anything but even she made a beeline for the camper door a couple of times.
So what is there to do outside of the campground? Well Hot Springs is only 10 miles away from the campground and there is a lot to do there. You can also find a free parking ramp just one block off BathHouse Row.
We spent one day at the Hot Springs Fordyce Bath House Museum. This is a Bath House that is 95% of its original condition and is managed by the Federal Park Service. It also serves as the National Parks Visitor Center. The Fordyce BathHouse is three stories tall and 28000 square feet. It cost 212,000 to build back in 1915, and was designed to be the most upscale bathhouse in Hot Springs. It closed in 1962 due to declining business and was vacant for 27 years until it reopened in 1989 as the Visitor Center. The self guided tour also includes the basement where you can see the old holding tanks and pumps that ran the hot spring water to the different floors.
When you navigate the three floors of the Fordyce, you will be impressed with how beautiful it is. From the courtyards to the stain glass ceilings, it really is impressive.
If you are worried about navigating the stairs at the Fordyce, don’t be. There is the original working elevator. When you reach the third floor you will notice that the roof was also designed as a courtyard. It is a very impressive structure.
Aside from the structure itself are all of the inner workings of the bath house; the hot tubs, showers, steam boxes, massage rooms etc. The cost to spend the day here back in 1915 was sixty cents. In 1915 this would have been an average days pay and about 12 times higher than the other bathhouses in town.
And one other interesting part of the Fordyce BathHouse was their gymnasium.
I could probably attach another twenty photos but none would be as nice as actually going there and seeing this place for yourself.
Now, while you are in Hot Springs, there is one other museum you might want to add to your list; The Gangster Museum of America. It is located right across from BathHouse Row at 510 Central Avenue.
I will warn you that their website is misleading. They list their business hours but do not talk at all about it being a guided tour or about tour times. We were surprised to find out that this is a guided tour and they run about every hour and forty five minutes. So unfortunately we couldn’t do the tour the same day that we toured the Fordyce; the wait would have been too long. So we returned the next day at 10:00 AM.
The tour itself really is centered on the illegal activities that took place throughout Hot Springs history. Not just Gangsters but crooked politicians and police are also covered. It was a hot bed of illegal gambling, and prostitution, frequented by many big name gangsters.
The tour takes you through many different rooms. Each room centers on a particular person or group in Hot Springs History, such as Owen Madden, Al Capone, the Power Brokers, the New York Connection, the Outlaw Gallery, and the Casino Gallery. In every room visitors will see memorabilia and a short film. My only complaint is that there is not enough seating present for folks to sit down in each room. There is plenty of room to have more seating (in some cases only 5 chairs are available) yet for some reason they neglected to add any – no idea why. As a result I would say if you have a problem standing for over an hour this tour may not be for you.
While I would say that the tour itself could be more polished, it is still entertaining and worth the visit. The tour cost is $15.00 and $14.00 for seniors. The price for Children 8-12 is $6.00. The Museum opens at 10:00 AM and the first tour starts at 10:30.
Meanwhile back at Lake Catherine State Park the temperatures continued to drop and our last night was 34 degrees. Even Eva enjoyed the fireplace as the temperatures dropped.
I would highly recommend Hot Springs as a place to visit. I would also recommend Lake Catherine’s State Park. I’m looking forward to going back in the warmer weather to take part in more activities and once again visit Hot Springs.
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