Parking
The lower access is by the Gulpha Gorge Campground amphitheater, across the creek. Day visitors can park at Gulpha Gorge Picnic Area off Gorge Road and walk to the crossing. The upper trailhead is beside the North Mountain shelter.
Overview
About Gulpha Gorge Trail
Why go
- A direct link between the campground and North Mountain trail network.
- A memorable stone creek crossing on a short route.
Heads up
- The steep climb is a lot of work for a short standalone hike.
- It is point-to-point, so a return means retracing the steep grade or continuing on another route.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Hot Springs map
Full mapElevation532–938 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Hot Springs Tour Guide
Your drive to Gulpha Gorge Trail, 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 trailhead
North Mountain Shelter: Down to Gulpha Creek0:00 / 0:22
“You're heading toward the North Mountain shelter, where Gulpha Gorge Trail starts its descent toward the campground. The payoff is the stepping-stone crossing of Gulpha Creek at the bottom, reached by a steep dirt trail.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Hot Springs Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- North Mountain Overlook and Goat Rock
- Gulpha Gorge: A Creekside Picnic
- A Woodpecker Leaves a Clue
- Hot Springs Mountain: Pagoda and Tower
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Gulpha Gorge Trail
A short mountain connectorGulpha Gorge Trail is a 0.
Gulpha Gorge Trail is a 0.7-mile point-to-point hike from the North Mountain shelter to Gulpha Gorge Campground, with a stone crossing over Gulpha Creek near the lower end. It links the campground to the park’s other mountain trails rather than forming a loop. Allow 30 to 60 minutes one way. The printed map labels it 0.6 mile; following the full mapped bends measures 0.72, rounded here to 0.7.
Pick your directionThe westbound walk from the campground to the shelter is the steep direction, on packed dirt;…
The westbound walk from the campground to the shelter is the steep direction, on packed dirt; the typical grade is listed at 13.8%. Starting by the shelter makes most of the walk downhill. This is a connector, not a loop: retracing it makes about 1.4 miles total, with the long climb on the way back if you started at camp. Budget roughly an hour to two hours for that return walk.
The creek and the upper endNear the campground, the route crosses Gulpha Creek on flat stepping stones.
Near the campground, the route crosses Gulpha Creek on flat stepping stones. It’s the most distinctive part of this short walk; frame the stones across the water with the low arch nearby if you want a photo. Near the upper end, views look back over the campground and creek toward Hot Springs. The shelter also puts you at the wider mountain-trail network, so you can continue on another route without counting those extra miles as Gulpha Gorge Trail.
Access and effortThe lower entrance is by the campground amphitheater, across the creek.
The lower entrance is by the campground amphitheater, across the creek. Day visitors can park at Gulpha Gorge Picnic Area off Gorge Road and walk to the crossing; the upper trailhead is beside the North Mountain shelter. The trail is listed as open year-round, pets are allowed on leash, and this steep packed-dirt route is not ADA compliant.
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.
