#6 - Arkansas
Scenic 7 Byway to Hot Springs
Hot Springs, Arkansas, and its surrounding national park have been welcoming the weary for centuries. The Native Americans called it the Valley of Vapors and believed the healing waters were a gift from the Great Spirit. In 1832, Congress made the valley America's first public recreational preserve, and it quickly became a world-famous playground for the wealthy. Magnificent bathhouses and elegant hotels catered to well-to-do travelers while abundant gambling opportunities attracted both famous and infamous elements.
The history of Hot Springs is colorful, but its fate lacks such luster. The progress of modern medicine contradicted the curative benefits of the mineral springs and a ban on gambling in the 1960s further dried out the economy. What's left more than a century after its heyday is a curious and fragile shell of the former mecca.
The roads leading to the forlorn resort city, luckily, haven't suffered a similar remission, and are constantly freshened regardless of the local economy. Hot Springs sits in this network of roads like a spider luring motorcyclists via its web of asphalt. There are many routes that lead to and from the springs, but the most remarkable would have to be the Arkansas Scenic 7 Byway.
You can jump on this nationally recognized scenic route at its designated point of origin in Arkadelphia, south of Hot Springs, or as far north as Harrison, above U.S. Interstate 40 and the Ozark National Forest (which is 208 miles from Hot Springs). It's a sinuous two-lane highway that rises and falls with the gentle undulations of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains. Breathtaking vistas connect the sweeping tree-lined sections, and quaint little towns break up the journey. The only shortcoming of the Scenic 7 is the plethora of logging trucks that enter, exit and cross the road. This part of Arkansas survives on its timber harvest--truck crossings are required to be marked, but some are marked poorly. Keep your eyes and instincts trained for trouble.
There are several worthy loops out of Hot Springs that incorporate the Scenic 7. These can be daylong or half-day rides around the five counties that make up the Diamond Lakes Region, named for the five diamond-bearing lakes in the area: Catherine, DeGray, Greeson, Hamilton and Ouachita. The brilliant lakes rest jewellike amid the lush green forests of the Ouachita Mountains. In the Southern sunshine a ride to lake level can offer resuscitating breezes and a chance to browse local rock shops.
It's true that there's much to do and see outside the city limits of Hot Springs, but every time I go, it's the city that clutches my curiosity and ignites my imagination. I stay at the Majestic Hotel/Resort/Spa on Park Avenue. The main section of this sprawling hotel was built in 1882, and the bathhouse was added in '96. When you step into the lobby you step back in history. It has the ambiance of the hexed hotel in The Shining, but it's not as spooky. The magnificent bathhouses, so celebrated at the turn of the century, stand empty and ominous. Only one, the Buckstaff, still offers traditional spa services. Another original spa, the Fordyce Bathhouse, has been reopened as the Visitor Center and Museum of the Hot Springs National Park. If you do one touristy thing in Hot Springs, visit the old bathhouses. Across the street are numerous boutiques and eateries with such a consistent turnover rate that every time I visit it feels like a new experience.
The lifeblood that sustains historic Hot Springs continues to be the thermal waters weeping from Hot Springs Mountain. Visitors at the old bathhouses indulge in spa treatments and massages for a fraction of the price charged in big-city establishments. At the Majestic, for example, an hour-and-a-half spa treatment--including a massage--is only $60. It's a great way to work out the kinks after a long stint on a motorcycle. In fact, I don't think rheumatism is an extinct affliction. Its definition includes "stiffness, pain or soreness of joints and muscles"--sounds like motorcycle touring to me.
Don't Miss:
Majestic Hotel/Resort/Spa (800/643-1504), bathhouse tours.
Season:
Year-round.
Road Notes:
AAA suggests a 400-mile scenic loop from Hot Springs north on Scenic 7 Byway.
More Info:
The Hot Springs' official site is www.hotsprings.org. To check out the Scenic 7 and America's other byways, visit www.byways.org.