Hot Springs is a popular resort city located in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas. The springs popularly believed for centuries to possess healing properties are preserved today as Hot Springs National Park. Following federal protection in 1832, the city developed into a successful spa town. Incorporated January 10, 1851, the city has been home to Major League Baseball spring training, illegal gambling, speakeasies and gangsters such as Al Capone, horse racing at Oaklawn Park, the Army and Navy Hospital, and 42nd President Bill Clinton.

The Bathhouse Row you see today consists of eight bathhouse buildings that were constructed between 1892 and 1923. This area along with the Grand Promenade was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1987. Of the original eight only three are open today for spa treatments – Quapaw, Buckstaff and Arlington. Fordyce is now the visitor center and another is the gift shop. The others are used as other commercial ventures with one being a brewery.

Park Review – Catherine’s Landing

Catherine’s landing is a well-known and popular RV park located five minutes south east of historic Hot Springs. This is a large park on 400 acres surrounded by one mile of water frontage on beautiful Lake Catherine. In addition to the lake, the park is built for family fun including a zip-line, pool with splash pad, playground, disc golf, and hiking trails. It’s also pet friendly.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location:  Hot Springs, AR
Site Quality / Amenities: Concrete pads and asphalt roads. Fire pits and picnic tables at each site. Hiking trails, Swimming pool and Zip Line in the park. Pontoon Boat, Kayak, Canoe, Bike, and Golf Cart rentals are available in season.
Type: Commercial Park
Access: Don’t take the direct route!
Staff: The park had a self-service setup for check in and we really didn’t have any interaction with staff. It’s efficient and COVID friendly but not necessarily the best customer service.
Cellular/WiFi: WiFi was available but we did not use it.
Restaurants: Mr. Whiskers – Made-to-order catfish, shrimp & chicken with fries in a Southern eatery with a lake-fishing theme had pretty good catfish. Bubbalu’s – Serves good burgers, hot dogs, fries and malts across the street from Bath House Row.
Nearby parks: We didn’t look at any other parks in the area.
What we liked: Clean, well run park. The eastern sites backing up to the lake (101 through 124) have a better view of the water but the western sites (276 to 294) had more room. Their wooded sites (270-275) had a lot of privacy.
What we didn’t like: Little to no interaction with staff.
Verdict: This is a nice park for a week or a month. In the summer it is likely very crowded with families but the off season can be much less so.