Quapaw Baths & Spa

Quapaw Baths & Spa is a 1922 bathhouse on Bathhouse Row, now an indoor thermal-bathing facility and day spa. If you want to soak in the park’s hot-spring water, this is one of two bathhouses where you can do it. The public pools are shared and mixed-gender, with different temperatures to move between; choose a private bath or spa treatment if you’d rather have a quieter visit.

Public-pool entry is walk-in and first-come; private baths and treatments are booked separately. Bring a swimsuit and non-slip rubber or plastic pool shoes. The public pools are for ages 14 and up, and 14- to 18-year-olds need an adult. Leave time to change and try the pools instead of treating this as a quick look inside. If a treatment is the point of your visit, confirm the details before setting out; arranging one can take some follow-up. Public-pool entry is much simpler.

Mann & Stern designed the Quapaw Bathhouse, which opened in 1922. It cost $214,837 to build and is the longest building on Bathhouse Row, standing on the sites of two earlier bathhouses, the Horseshoe and Magnesia. It closed in 1984 and reopened as a family-oriented spa in 2008, giving the old bathhouse a working second life.

The water in the pools comes from Hot Springs’ thermal springs and is more than 4,000 years old; it’s piped straight into the bathhouse. There are no outdoor soaking spots in the park, so the experience here is indoors beneath the stained-glass skylight.

The tiled dome, white stucco and arched entrances make the façade one of Bathhouse Row’s standouts. From the sidewalk, step back enough to fit the dome and entrance arches together; inside, the skylight above the pools is the detail to look up for.