Hot Springs Mountain Observation Tower

When we were arriving into Hot Springs, we noticed an observation tower out in the distance.  I had read about there being one that was part of the National Park and we had planned to go up there on the first evening in town.  Neither one of us drive at night if we don't have to, but since it doesn't get dark until 8 PM right now, we knew we'd have time to go after dinner.  However, Mother Nature had other plans, namely severe thunderstorms and lots of rain, so we just sat tight at the Air BnB.  We figured we could always go up on the way out of town (although technically it was in the opposite direction) if we didn't get there on Saturday or Sunday.

Saturday late afternoon was also rainy without any improvement in weather as the evening progressed, and the forecast for Sunday afternoon was also pretty grim.

However, Sunday afternoon ended up having an early rain and then just being overcast for the rest of the afternoon.  The weather app indicated we had about a 3-hour window of low rain chance, so we decided it was "now or never" if we wanted to go up the mountain.

You get to the Hot Springs Mountain Observation Tower from the end of Bathhouse Row via a winding, climbing, one-direction-only road.  You can walk up if you're so inclined (no pun intended) but you have to be in good shape and have time.  Our Subaru Outback handled it like she should - I keep saying on this trip that this is what she's built for!

The Observation Tower is 216 feet high at the observation deck.  There's an outdoor upper deck and a lower informational (and enclosed) deck.  If you go, you get a token from the gift shop cashier that will let you through the turnstile to the elevator.  When you get to the top, you can see for miles and get a good understanding of how much more there is to Hot Springs National Park than just the bathhouses.

We went on an overcast day and still saw so much in the distance,  I imagine that photos would be better when taken on a sunny day, but if you're ever out there and considering not doing it because the weather is overcast, it's still worth it to do.

There is a gift shop that had a different selection of things than the Lamar Bathhouse had, so we were able to find a book about the area that wasn't available at the other gift shop.

These pictures were taken from the Observation Tower.

View from the Hot Springs Mountain Observation Tower

Our car is the white one on the right side.

The wind on the exterior observation deck made it nearly impossible to take any pictures with us in them because my hair was always in my face and I didn't have a hair tie with me.  

The drive down the mountain was pretty easy.  At one point you can veer right and continue on the path to the top of North Mountain but by this point we were done for the day.  

The Observation Tower was the last thing we did related to Hot Springs National Park.  It's not our favorite national park, but we're glad we have seen it for ourselves.  DH's favorite part of Hot Springs National Park was going up the Observation Tower.  My favorite part was learning about life from the stories related to the bathhouses.

~ Cindy D.