Hot Springs is unlike other national parks in the fact that it is an urban park, located in the middle of Hot Springs, Arkansas. To camp inside the park, your only option is Gulpha Gorge. When we visited in February, we found this campground almost empty, adequate, and an easy way to save money while visiting the national park.

Amenities at Gulpha Gorge include basic flush toilets, picnic tables, and hookups at every site. Sites all run $30/night, and they are all first-come, first-served. This was not a problem for us, since we were visiting in the off-season, but during summer it probably fills up quickly.

Our main motivation for staying here was that we wanted to camp inside each national park we visited. But in an urban park like Hot Springs, the experience wasn’t much of a scenic one. If we return, we’ll opt for camping in the nearby Ouachita National Forest or something a bit cheaper and more secluded. Gulpha Gorge was perfectly adequate for an in-park camping experience.

The rest of our time at Hot Springs was spent touring the historic bathhouses (free ranger tours!), hiking the trails -- we liked the Sunset Trail! -- and ending our day at the NPS’s only brewery: Superior Bathhouse.

You can read much more about our three days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Hot Springs)