Hill Wheatley Plaza Jug Fountain

The Hill Wheatley Plaza Jug Fountain is a free public thermal-water filling station across Central Avenue from Hot Springs National Park, in the Hot Springs Visitor Center parking lot. Stop if you want to fill a container to take away; this is a water stop, not a bathing place. The water averages 143°F (62°C), so bring a heat-safe jug and take care handling it.

The spring water began as rain more than 4,000 years ago. It seeps through porous Bigfork Chert and Arkansas Novaculite to depths of 2,000 to 8,000 feet, warms from the surrounding rock, then rises through fractures in Hot Springs Sandstone. There is no evidence of magma heating it.

The fountain is at 629 Central Avenue, just outside the park boundary and immediately beside its access parking lot. The City maintains it, and the spring water is free to take. NPS includes Hill Wheatley Plaza among the places visitors can fill jugs, even though the fountain itself sits across the street from the park. This is a quick practical stop, not one of the Bathhouse Row soaking facilities.