1 active Hot Springs alert
- InfoBurn ban in parkA burn ban is in effect because of high fire danger. - In the campground and picnic areas, only gas and charcoal grills are currently allowed; the ban was enacted August 15, 2026.Official details
Overview
About Gulpha Gorge Picnic Area
Why stop
- Shaded picnic tables beside Gulpha Creek
Map
Where it is
Loading the Hot Springs map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Hot Springs Tour Guide
Your drive to Gulpha Gorge Picnic Area, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Hot Springs National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Gulpha Gorge: A Creekside Picnic0:00 / 0:26
“Gulpha Gorge is coming up, with a public picnic area beside the creek. This is a good stop if you have lunch with you: shaded tables sit close to the water, with grills at designated picnic sites.”
Plays as you drive up to Gulpha Gorge Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Hot Springs Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- North Mountain Shelter: Down to Gulpha Creek
- North Mountain Overlook and Goat Rock
- Hot Springs Mountain: Pagoda and Tower
- A Woodpecker Leaves a Clue
- 18 audio storiesacross Hot Springs’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor White-tailed Deer, Groundhog, Mexican Long-nosed Armadillo, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 19 trails, 33 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Gulpha Gorge Picnic Area
An easy place to eatGulpha Gorge Picnic Area is the public day-use picnic ground beside Gulpha Creek, separate from…
Gulpha Gorge Picnic Area is the public day-use picnic ground beside Gulpha Creek, separate from the overnight campground. It's a good place for lunch or a quiet pause by the water, not one of Hot Springs' major sights. Visitors mention shaded tables close to the creek, which is the reason to stop.
Bring a picnicThe park identifies grills at designated picnic sites, so bring a meal and settle in.
The park identifies grills at designated picnic sites, so bring a meal and settle in. A day-use parking area sits beside the picnic grounds.
Keep day-use limits in mindThe picnic area is open to the public from sunrise to sunset and is reached via Gorge Road from…
The picnic area is open to the public from sunrise to sunset and is reached via Gorge Road from U.S. 70B on Hot Springs' east side. The park describes restrooms and drinking water for campground users but doesn't say whether day visitors can use them; check before relying on either.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Hot Springs
71 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
11 sightingsGroundhogMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsMexican Long-nosed ArmadilloMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
16 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around noonSighting map
41 sightingsCardinalMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
27 sightingsSummer TanagerMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Hot Springs. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
