Day 36--Dallas, TX to Benton, AR

Today, I drove from Dallas to Benton, AR, stopping in Hot Springs, AR (the location of Hot Springs National Park) on the way. I got on the road at just around 9:00am, stopping at the Dallas location of Sprinkles Cupcakes on the way. Since I found driving on I-30 the past two days rather unpleasant and because I wanted to add Oklahoma to my list of visited states, I took a not much longer but less taken route through north Texas and a corner of Oklahoma. I stopped in Broken Bow, OK on the way for lunch at Subway and got to Hot Springs a little after 3:00pm.

In Hot Springs, I first went up the scenic mountain road for a bit. I probably could have found some really nice views but the road was lined with tree obstructing those views. Hot Springs National Park is VERY different from other national parks. Instead of being a large secluded park, the park is very small and in an incorporated town. It also doesn't have much in the way of auto touring. However, it is still very nice. The central location of the park, which is also the central location of the town, is Bathhouse Row, where there are still two operating spas with mineral baths (there were originally 8 but the town struggled in the 1960s after a crackdown on gambling). I went to the Quapaw Bathouse and spent around an hour in the different mineral pools which was a very relaxing experience (although it cost $21.90). I then took a Duck Tour, which was honestly disappointing, I was expecting a duck tour of scenic areas, but instead, the surface portion was on a commercial street and much of the distance was through commercial sprawl out to a nice, but not spectacular lake where about 20 minutes of the ~70 minute tour was spent. I had never taken a Duck Tour before, and at $18 for adults, apparently the one in Hot Springs is the cheapest anywhere. Hot Springs also has many lower tier tourist attractions (seemingly low quality museums and an aquarium, go karts, miniature golf, etc) that I skipped. It did seem to have nicer historic areas and during season (mid January to mid April), the Oaklawn Horse Racing Track is supposed to be good so Hot Springs may well be a nice place to visit.

Here are a few pictures:

I'm now at my hotel (a Best Western that I got with my Hotels.com free night) in Benton, AR. Tomorrow, it's on to Mammouth Caves National Park although I'll probably stop at the Bill Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock or the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis on the way.

Next Stop: Mammouth Caves National Park, KY