Hot Springs, Arkansas

A bird's-eye view of Bathhouse Row credit: Courtesy of Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau

Nestled in the Diamond Lakes region of the Ouachita Mountains, Hot Springs inherited a natural destiny of sorts as a peaceful spa town due to the wealth of healing mineral springs in the area. Legend has it that the water’s allure was so powerful that hostile Native American tribes would put down their weapons to enjoy a hot soak in the valley. Millions followed after Congress, in 1832, set aside land—about 2,500 of the current 5,500 acres—to create the Hot Springs National Park, the first in the nation’s history, with forty-seven hot springs feeding the historic bathhouses with 147-degree thermal waters.

In the 1920s, and for years thereafter, the spa luxuries (which include some cold springs, too), together with the town’s Southern hospitality, loosely enforced laws, and elegant nightlife, ended up making Hot Springs into the number one getaway for notorious gangsters from Chicago and New York, with Al Capone keeping a permanent suite at the Arlington Hotel. During Prohibition, he shipped his bootleg liquor in tanker railroad cars marked “Mountain Valley Water.”

But after illegal gambling was shut down in 1964, and after briefly languishing in economic malaise, the town reinvented itself when a handful of gallery owners purchased some crumbling downtown buildings and jump-started a trend of renovations and gallery openings. The birth of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (hsdfi.org) followed in 1992, the newest flame in the town’s unexpectedly glamorous history. Dubbed the “filmmakers’ film festival,” it lures tens of thousands of filmmakers, filmgoers, and film students each October to take in nearly one hundred films from around the world. The event, which runs this year from October 17 to October 26, remains one of the most important of its genre in the country.

A Typical Day

Fill up on fresh blueberry pancakes and homemade apple butter at the Pancake Shop, a family-owned and -operated landmark since 1940. Then, walk it off: Hot Springs National Park has thirty miles of hiking trails, with a scenic mountain tower commanding spectacular views of the city and the surrounding lakes and mountains. Visit the popular Garvan Woodland Gardens, a 210-acre world-class botanical garden on Lake Hamilton. Lunch at McClard’s Bar-B-Q, a family barbecue dynasty dating to 1928, is a must. Visit the downtown galleries, or dip your toes in the thermal waters on Bathhouse Row. Outdoorsmen can canoe on the popular Ouachita River or go fishing on Lake Ouachita. For dinner, indulge in a hand-cut filet mignon with cognac cream sauce at the sophisticated Belle Arti Italian Ristorante, which doubles as a gallery space.

Plant Your Roots

“Hot Springs is a well-kept secret,” says Realtor Bobbie Rushing. “It’s interesting to go downtown and see all the car tags: It’s a very diverse little town.” People come from all over to visit, then fall in love with it and stay. Houses on Lake Hamilton average $600,000. Victorian homes in historic downtown can be bought for $700,000. Property taxes are low. So if you’re looking for affordable resort living in a town with a vibrant arts scene, beat a path to Hot Springs and get while the getting is good.