Located in a valley at the edge of the Ouachita National Forest, Hot Springs is surrounded by five lakes,  providing plentiful opportunities for camping, hiking, fishing, boating and water skiing, to name a few.  There are four public golf courses and several private ones.  Restaurants, in a variety of cuisines, are quite good and plentiful.  The jewel of Hot Springs, though, is Bathhouse Row, a part of the Hot Springs National Park, where opulent 1920s bathhouses still stand in gorgeous splendor, giving a glimpse of a bygone era.

Fordyce Bathhouse is the granddaddy of all Hot Springs' bathhouses.  Built in 1915, it was said to be "the most practical, complete, and luxurious bathhouse in the world."   Today, it houses the Park's visitors' center and a free museum.  Only one of the eight original bathhouses still offers baths and massages, but newer bathhouses are located throughout this historic downtown district and provide a wonderful, rejuvenating way to spend an afternoon.  This is, after all, what has been bringing people to Hot Springs for the last two centuries.

Along Central Avenue, just across the street from Bathhouse Row, are nearly two dozen art galleries and museums.  The Art Gallery Walk on the first Friday of each month is fun, as is the Magic Springs Amusement Park summer concert series.  The Downtown Farmers Market is open Saturday mornings, and the Old Time Jazz Quartet in the Arlington Hotel Big Lobby is a great way to spend  a weekend evening.    The town also presents the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and the free Hot Springs Jazz Festival each year.  Oak Lawn is the local thoroughbred horseracing track.

Hot Springs has a transit system that services the downtown area and major destinations, including the hospitals, but the suburbs are not serviced.  The buses will take residents to many of the 90 churches found throughout town.

This area does have some drawbacks, the main one probably being the crime rate, which is higher than the national average.  Most crimes appear to be thefts and burglaries, and we hear that kids breaking into vacation homes accounts for much of this.   

The weather, while generally mild and providing four seasons, may also be a drawback for some.  It rains a lot (60 inches a year on average), and winters are chilly, with temperatures reaching into the low 30s at night.  It occasionally snows.   Summers are hot and humid (mid-80s are average), and the sun is seen about 60% of the time.  

And while Hot Springs is generally a quiet place, it does attract tourists, particularly during the summer, and the downtown area can get quite congested.

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