Buckstaff Bathhouse

What to expect

If you want to take the waters the way visitors to Hot Springs did a century ago, the Buckstaff is the place. It opened on Bathhouse Row on February 1, 1912, and NPS says it is the only bathhouse on the row that has never fully closed since it started giving baths. The building is a three-storey, 27,000-square-foot Classical design by Frank W. Gibb and Company, with blue awnings over Central Avenue.

A bath here is a sequence, not a swim. You do not share a pool. Each step is private, and an attendant moves you through it:

1. Whirlpool tub bath in thermal mineral water, 15 to 20 minutes, in a deep tub.
2. Sitz tub, a short soak sitting in hot water.
3. Steam cabinet, where you sit with your head outside a box of steam.
4. Hot towel packs laid on sore spots while you rest.
5. Swedish massage, 20 minutes, if your package includes it.

The water is the park’s own. The bathhouse says it comes from 47 protected natural springs, emerges at about 143°F62°C, and contains silica, calcium and magnesium, with nothing added. The bathhouse does not publish the temperature of the bath itself, so tell your attendant if you want it cooler.

Men and women bathe on separate floors: men’s services on the first floor with male attendants, the ladies’ department on the second floor with female staff. You are wrapped in a full-size bath sheet between treatments, and swimsuits are optional. There are no couples packages. The second floor is reached by a hand-operated Otis elevator from 1912, which says a lot about the building.

One feature is missing for now. The bathhouse says its cooling needle showers are due to return as part of upcoming improvements, along with a new roof and central air conditioning. NPS lists roof repairs for parts of the Buckstaff among projects funded by the Great American Outdoors Act.

A change of operator in 2027

On September 22, 2026, NPS announced that the Buckstaff Bath House Company would end its concession at the end of 2026, after 114 years, and that a new 10-year contract goes to Historic Baths, LLC from January 1, 2027. NPS says it does not expect any interruption in visitor services. The new contract brings longer bathing hours, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and advance reservations, with walk-ins still accepted. Prices, packages and staff could change in the switch, so check the bathhouse website or call 501-623-2308 before a trip in early 2027.

Prices and booking

Prices as listed on the bathhouse website in October 2026:

• Whirlpool Mineral Bath Package: $45
• Traditional Bathing Package (tub, sitz bath, steam cabinet, hot packs, loofah mitt, 20-minute massage): $101
• Deluxe Bathing Package: $116
• Swedish massage, 20 minutes: $50 (massage may be limited without a bath package)
• Add-ons: loofah mitt $6, spa slippers $5, paraffin hand treatment $15
• Spa services: manicure $35, pedicure $45, half-hour facial $60, one-hour facial $90

Baths and massages are walk-in only through the end of 2026. Facials, manicures and pedicures need an appointment by phone or online, and late cancellations of those are charged 50%.

Hours in 2026 are Monday to Saturday from 8 to 11:45 a.m. and 1:15 to 3 p.m., and Sunday from 8 to 11:45 a.m. Arrive by 11:30 a.m. for the morning or 2:45 p.m. for the afternoon. The bathhouse closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Easter Sunday, and on other federal holidays it stops admitting bathers at 10:30 a.m. A full bath and massage averages about 90 minutes and runs longer on busy days.

Guests must be at least 10 years old. The bathhouse asks people with heart conditions, high blood pressure, diabetes or thyroid conditions to check with a doctor first, and does not give bath treatments to anyone with open wounds or sores or surgery in the past six weeks. Wheelchair users should call ahead; the women’s floor depends on that 1912 elevator.

Getting there

The Buckstaff is at 509 Central Avenue (AR 7), toward the south end of Bathhouse Row in downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas.

• From Little Rock: NPS gives the route as I-30 west to Exit 111, US 70 west until it becomes US 70 Business (East Grand Avenue), right on Spring Street (which becomes Reserve Street), then right on Central Avenue. About 54 miles, roughly an hour.
• From Texarkana: I-30 to Exit 78, then AR 7 north; it becomes Central Avenue in town.

Since 2025 the city charges for parking on main streets, nearby side streets and in its garages. The city garage at 128 Exchange Street is a block west of the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center. Some side streets remain free.

When to go

Because it is walk-in only in 2026, timing matters. Arrive near 8 a.m. on a weekday and you will usually go straight in. Saturdays, holiday weekends and spring break bring waits, and the doors close to new bathers at 11:30 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. Sunday has a morning session only. Winter is quieter in town and a hot bath makes the most sense on a cold day.

Where to stay nearby

The Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa at the north end of Bathhouse Row has its own thermal bathhouse and Mineral Water Rooms. Hotel Hale, in the oldest building on the row, pipes thermal water into tubs in all of its suites. For camping, the park’s Gulpha Gorge Campground at 305 Gorge Road off US 70B has 40 full-hookup sites at $34 a night, reservable only on Recreation.gov.

Safety notes

• Heat: A hot tub, steam cabinet and hot packs in a row add up. Drink water between steps and tell your attendant if you feel faint.
• Medical limits: Follow the bathhouse’s health restrictions above, and ask a doctor if you are unsure.
• Footing: Tile floors are wet. Spa slippers are sold at the desk for $5.

Nearby stops worth adding

Two doors up the row, Quapaw Baths and Spa is the place for a shared thermal pool in a swimsuit, so the two bathhouses make a good pair. For free spring water, the Hill Wheatley Plaza jug fountain is a short walk south. Walk north along the row to the Dripping Spring between the Hale and Maurice bathhouses and the Hot Water Cascade on Arlington Lawn, where NPS lets you touch the water. Hot Springs National Park itself is free to enter.