Hill Wheatley Plaza Jug Fountain (Hot)

What to expect

Hill Wheatley Plaza is a small public plaza at 629 Central Avenue, at the south end of downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas, just across the street from Hot Springs National Park. Its jug fountain dispenses thermal water from the park’s springs,, and it is set up for people who come with containers.

Set expectations before you go. This is a drinking water fountain, not a hot spring you can get into. Nothing here holds water deep enough to soak in, and NPS states that there are no outdoor soaking opportunities anywhere in the park. People come here to take the water home. Hot Springs has a long tradition of drinking its spring water, and NPS still encourages it: the park’s own page invites visitors to “quaff the elixir” as they did in the spa era.

The water comes out hot. NPS gives an average of 143°F62°C for this fountain, the same as the springs on Bathhouse Row. The park posts a full mineral analysis for it in parts per million: silica 53.0, bicarbonate 130.0, calcium 47.0, sulfate 7.8, magnesium 4.9, oxygen 4.5, sodium 4.0, chloride 2.2, potassium 1.4, fluoride 0.26 and free carbon dioxide 9.7, with radon emanation measured at 43.3 picocuries per liter.

NPS marks only three thermal fountains as suitable for filling jugs: this one and two on Reserve Street. Hill Wheatley is the only one on Central Avenue, and the plaza is outside the park boundary, which is why it has parking that suits people filling a car boot full of containers.

Getting there

The plaza is at 629 Central Avenue (AR 7), south of the Reserve Street corner where Bathhouse Row ends.

• From Little Rock: Take I-30 west to Exit 111 and follow US 70 west, which becomes US 70 Business (East Grand Avenue). Turn right on Spring Street, which becomes Reserve Street, and turn left on Central Avenue for the plaza. NPS puts the drive to downtown at about 54 miles and an hour.
• From Texarkana or the south: Take I-30 to Exit 78 and follow AR 7 north. AR 7 becomes Central Avenue as you reach downtown, so you pass the plaza before you reach Bathhouse Row.

NPS says Hill Wheatley Plaza has limited parking for RVs and buses, one of only two such spots it lists downtown (the other is Whittington Park). Most downtown street parking is metered since 2025. The park limits parking at its jug-filling fountains to 15 minutes while you are actively filling, and the same courtesy applies here: fill, load and move on.

The jug stations are wheelchair accessible, according to NPS.

When to go

The fountain is available year-round and, per NPS, around the clock unless a notice says otherwise. Weekday mornings are the quietest. Weekend afternoons can bring a line.

Occasionally the park shuts the fountains for maintenance. In April 2020, for example, the Reserve Street and Hill Wheatley Plaza jug fountains were turned off for two days while crews repaired a main water line on Bathhouse Row; the cold spring fountains stayed on. Shutdowns like that are announced in local news and on the park’s social media.

Rules and etiquette

• Free water, no resale. The park gives the water away, and regulations prohibit private individuals from selling it.
• No hoses. Park rules ban attaching a hose to any thermal water feature.
• Keep it moving. At the park’s jug fountains, parking is limited to 15 minutes while you fill containers. If people are waiting, let them use a tap between your jugs.
• Use clean containers and keep the spout from touching the inside of your jug.
• Leashed pets are fine outdoors. Pick up after them.

Where to soak instead

The same water is piped into the bathhouses a few minutes’ walk north on Central Avenue. Buckstaff Bathhouse offers the traditional bath sequence, and Quapaw Baths and Spa has shared thermal pools. The Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa at the north end of downtown has its own thermal bathhouse, and Hotel Hale has thermal-water soaking tubs in its rooms.

Where to stay nearby

Downtown has historic hotels within walking distance: the Arlington at 239 Central Avenue and Hotel Hale at 341 Central Avenue. For camping, the park’s Gulpha Gorge Campground at 305 Gorge Road, off US 70B on the east side of town, has 40 full-hookup sites at $34 a night. Every site must be reserved on Recreation.gov, and campers are limited to 14 consecutive days and 30 days a year.

Safety notes

• Scald risk: At 143°F62°C the water can burn. Fill jugs with care, keep fingers out of the stream and do not let children play at the spout.
• Containers: Thin single-use bottles can deform with water this hot. Glass or heavy plastic jugs hold up better; let them cool before you cap them tight.
• Breathing the water: NPS says Legionella bacteria have been found in some thermal water samples, and the risk is from inhaling droplets, especially for people with weakened immune systems. The park says drinking and bathing are not the concern, and points people to the CDC and their doctor.
• Traffic: Central Avenue is a busy highway through town. Load your vehicle from the plaza side, not the traffic lane.

Nearby stops worth adding

Walk north up Central Avenue to Bathhouse Row. Between the Hale and Maurice bathhouses you will find the Dripping Spring and the Display Spring, and at the far north end the Hot Water Cascade on Arlington Lawn, where NPS lets you touch the thermal water as it comes down the hillside. The Fordyce Bathhouse at 369 Central Avenue is the park visitor center and museum, open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.