Hot Springs: The Trip There

Hot Springs National Park
Distance: 403 miles
Drive Time: 7 hours, 15 minutes.


Hot Springs National Park lays claim to being the oldest of all the National Parks. Formed in 1832, it predates the National Park System by 30 years. From 1832 to 1921 it was listed as Hot Springs Reservation. Officially it became the 17th National Park on March 4, 1921. At only 5,550 acres, Hot Springs is the smallest of all the National Parks. It is located in the city of Hot Springs, AR and is a mixture of urban areas and forest. As National Parks go, this is one of the most unusual.

The Official Hot Springs Website gives a good introduction to the park. The two main things that the park offers are short hikes and spas. One activity that I am interested in and one activity that Stacy is interested in. After that, Hot Springs National Park is located within the city of Hot Springs and there are plenty of places a tourist may wish to go within walking distance of the main attraction.
Hot Springs Brochure:
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As for a place to stay, our options were camping in a tent, staying in one of Hot Springs' many motels, or finding a cabin in the woods.
We are still not ready for tent camping, so that was out. As for motels, in Hot Springs you have two choices: seedy or expensive. So just like last year, we opted for the Cabin. Although there are no cabins available in Hot Springs National Park. We found a great place to stay at Lake Catherine State Park. This State Park is about 20 minutes away from the city and had exactly what we were looking for in a cabin. It was cheaper than most places in Hot Springs and significantly nicer than any other place in our price range.

So Wednesday May 2nd we set out on our second National Park vacation. It was an easy 8 hour drive and the kids were great the entire time. Lunch was at McDonald's where we stretched our legs and got a quick slow burger. The service was very slow. But that gave the kids a chance to run around for a bit longer.

Then it was off to the cabin. Lake Catherine State Park was even better than we hoped. The cabin had 1 bedroom, a living / dining room, a small kitchen, and an enclosed porch. And it was right on the Lake. There were Canadian Geese all around, which the kids chased everywhere.

Once we were settled into the cabin, we went to Gospel Light Baptist Church.
Stacy had set up a meeting with their Master Club's Director, in the hopes that we would learn some new things on how to make our program even better. The plan was to talk to the Director for about 15 minutes before it started and then observe for duration. Instead we ending up talking to the Director for well over an hour as we asked questions on how they did things and how we could do them better. It was an informative time and Stacy was very excited to get home and implement some of the things she learned.

Once back at the cabin we put the kids to sleep on a roll-out bed in the enclosed porch and all went to sleep. Thursday the fun would start.