Hot Springs National Park is a health and pleasure resort in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. It encircles the northern part of the city of Hot Springs. The park is built around the famous hot mineral springs at the base of Hot Springs Mountain. These mineral waters are said to give relief to persons suffering from many painful diseases, such as arthritis, neuritis, and rheumatism. The water has an average temperature of about 143 °F (62 °C).
Eight of the bathhouses in Hot Springs National Park form what is called Bathhouse Row, at the base of Hot Springs Mountain. The National Park Service maintains a water collection and distribution system that supplies purified spring water to the bathhouses in the park. The system also supplies water to other bathhouses and a national arthritis hospital in the city of Hot Springs.
Indians were the first to use the beneficial spring waters. Explorer Hernando de Soto was probably the first white person to see the springs. He passed through the area in 1541. The region, containing 47 hot springs, was set aside as a federal reservation in 1832. It was the first national health and recreation center in the United States. It became a national park in 1921. For its area, see National Park System (table: National parks) .
