To Plan A Trip

The Arkansas Parks and Tourist Commission (1-800-643-8383) will provide maps and brochures on the Hot Springs area. For information on the town’s facilities and amenities, write Hot Springs National Park, Box 1860, Hot Springs, AR 71902, or call the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center (501-623-1433.) Dee Brown’s book The American Spa is another good source. The Buckstaff, dating back to 1912, is the only one of the grand bathhouses still in business; call 501623-2308 for the latest on rates and services. “You will join a long line of people who have bathed in the Hot Springs of Arkansas,” promises the Park Service brochure, “a line that goes back 10,000 years.”