2 Best Sights in Hot Springs, Arkansas

Garvan Woodland Gardens

Fodor's choice

On 210 acres of woodland bordering Lake Hamilton (accessible by car or boat), this site was clear-cut for timber a century ago, and it wasn't until the mid-1950s that it was considered as a possible homesite by Verna Cook Garvan and her husband, Francis Patrick Garvan Jr. Instead, Verna devoted 40 years to creating the footprint for what has become her legacy—a world-class botanical garden, complete with thousands of species of heritage flora and fauna, a series of unique bridges, waterfalls and walking paths, a children's adventure garden, plus a magnificent wood-and-glass chapel and complementary pavilion designed by the renowned architectural firm of E. Fay Jones.

The Gangster Museum of America

The bubbling opulence of Hot Springs during the Roaring Twenties was fueled in part by a notorious undercurrent of legalized gambling. Your museum gallery guide will separate fact from fiction as you learn about this unique era in America history that for decades defined the character of America's First Resort.