Hot Springs National Park- November 2022

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This trip was for the dogs (literally)


Due to some shift switching at work, I had a couple extra days off at the beginning of November, and decided for no particular reason to go to Hot Springs National Park. It's only about a 6 hour drive from St. Louis, and dog friendly, and an easy park to cross off the list, so it was a win all around. I decided Saturday I was leaving on Monday and that's what we did. I found an adorable dog friendly BnB and the pups quickly made themselves comfortable. Moose had traveled with me before on a couple of road trips, but this was Kolache's first time out. For an almost 5 month old puppy, he did great! 

Hot Springs National Park 

Our first day of the trip consisted of hiking most of the day. The dogs were into it, and the fall colors were much more vibrant than the fading Missouri season. We parked at the Gulpha Gorge campground, and made a loop of the Gulpha Gorge trail to the Goat Rock Trail, and wrapped back around on the Upper Dogwood Trail, then the Hot Springs Mountain loop came off of that and intersected back with the Goat Rock trail. This loop was about 5.5 miles, with 900ft of elevation that was all at the beginning on the Goat Rock section. It was a leisurely, easy day of hiking with beautiful views and lots of attention from passing hikers.
We then went to the West Mountain trail for a couple more miles after I let them have a short nap in the car, and did some more easy hiking through the woods. It was really quiet and there weren't many others around, so we just enjoyed our time together, which is where I am most content. This is a very understated national park, and feels more like a local state park since it is right in the middle of the town of Hot Springs. But it was peaceful and exactly what we needed to get a little extra sun before winter. 

As far as extra things I bring when hiking with dogs, they have a collapsible water bowl and I bring them their own bottle of water. We stop and take breaks when they start walking a little slower or panting too hard. Even though it was relatively cool out, I didn't want either of them to over-do it. I also keep both of them on a leash at all times. They are both very good natured, but we have not practiced good recall, and even though I trust them to be nice to other dogs, it can be very overwhelming to other dogs to have unleashed dogs run up on them. So I don't put any of us in that situation, and step off the trail to let other dogs pass safely by. 

A big pet related pet peeve of mine on the trail- dog poop in bags on the ground. Why even bother picking it up if you're going to leave it in a bag on the trail? I get it, dog poop isn't fun to carry around. You can attach a grocery bag to the outside of your backpack and put the poop bag in there if you simply can't be bothered to use your hands to carry the poop to a trash can. 

After a big day of hiking, they were plenty tired when we got to a dog friendly biergarten
called Steinhaus Keller that had a whole dog menu for snacks and drinks, just for them. I was obsessed, and the German food and beer was DELICIOUS. I also shared my french fries with them, because they deserve it. 

Garvan Woodland Gardens 

The next day, the pups were still adequately exhausted, so I took some time to explore Garvan Woodland Gardens, which is one of the most unique and amazing botanical gardens I've ever visited. It is definitely worth checking out if you're in the area. I spent a few hours here wandering around, and there was so much to take in. I was amazed how much there was to see!  

I also scheduled a massage on Bathhouse Row at Quapaw Bath and Spa, because treat yo'self. 


Lake Ouachita State Park 

I wanted to hit one more hike on the way out of town, because none of us like sitting restless in the car for 6 hours. This state park is located northwest of Hot Springs (about a 20 minute drive) and it is STUNNING. It follows a peninsula along the lake, and goes down to the water a few times, allowing the pups to splash around and the view of the water down there was absolutely beautiful. It was a 4 mile hike that took about 2 hours. We weren't in a hurry, and it was great way to wear the dogs out for the trip back. In my opinion, this was the prettiest hike we did, mostly because I am a sucker for a nice lake, and the fall colors were still on point. 

Overall, the dogs and I had a wonderful time on this spontaneous little get away.  



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