• water flowing over rocks into basin

    Hot Springs

    National Park Arkansas

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  • Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center Closed

    The Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center is closed until Fall 2013 for a major maintenance project. A temporary park Visitor Center, along with the park store, are located in the Lamar Bathhouse at the south end of Bathhouse Row. Call for more information.

Dead Chief Trail

Photo of Dead Chief trailhead sign made of dark brown metal with gold lettering and map of the trail

From the Dead Chief Trailhead at the Army-Navy gate above the Stevens Balustrade, this trail intersects with the Gulpha Gorge Trail for the easiest walk (1.6 miles) from Bathhouse Row to the park campground at Gulpha Gorge. At first, the route is quite steep, then the trail levels off and continues across the south slope of Hot Springs Mountain towards Gulpha Gorge.

The historic Oertel Fitness Trail, completed in 1915, once followed what is now the west end of Dead Chief Trail. The portion of Dead Chief Trail below the Shortcut Trail intersection was part of the Red Trail, the most strenuous of the Oertel system's exercise program.

Choose another trail.

Read more about the Oertel System of Graduated Exercise in this .pdf page.

 
infrared aerial map with Dead Chief Trail marked in green
 
Choose Another Trail

Did You Know?

Black and white photo of the Government Free Bathhouse with a ranger walking on the sidewalk in front.

The Public Health Service operated a venereal disease clinic in the Government Free Bathhouse (1922-1948) in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas. It was one of the first facilities in the United States to use penicillin. In 1948, the clinic transferred to the nearby Camp Garraday Transient Camp.