You can easily lose a day poking around the waterfalls and woods of this 2200-acre state park, named for Lake Catherine, itself one of the natural highlights of a visit to the Ouchatica mountain region. The park is just 12 miles from Hot Springs via State Hwy 290 and about 50 miles from Little Rock, making it one of the more accessible gateways to Arkansas' considerable natural beauty. If you're feeling rustic, consider booking a night here.
Lake Catherine State Park
Arkansas
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
5.13 MILES
Located just across from the Garvan Woodland Gardens, the Anthony Chapel is an architectural masterpiece. This soaring, wood-and-glass complex, built in…
8.78 MILES
On Bathhouse Row in the 1915 Fordyce bathhouse, the NPS visitor center and museum has exhibits about the park's history, first as a Native American free…
8.62 MILES
On top of Hot Springs Mountain, the 216ft tower has spectacular views of the surrounding mountains covered with dogwood, hickory, oak and pine – lovely in…
8.88 MILES
This wax museum is a throwback to the days when an off brand wax museum was all your town needed to be a tourism attraction. From the moment you enter and…
5.12 MILES
While these are technically the University of Arkansas' botanical gardens, Garvan feels more like a forest grove caught between the mountains and an…
20.45 MILES
This wild and pretty forest is studded with lakes and draws hunters, fishers, mountain-bike riders and boaters. The small roads through the mountains…
8.68 MILES
And now for something completely different: a museum dedicated to Star Wars. This fantastically geeky temple is the labor of love of one particularly…
Maxwell Blade's Odditorium & Curiosity Museum
8.59 MILES
The 'museum' attached to Maxwell Blade's stage show is a collection of horror-movie props, weird toys, creepy dolls, freak-show paraphernalia and, as the…
Nearby Arkansas attractions
5.12 MILES
While these are technically the University of Arkansas' botanical gardens, Garvan feels more like a forest grove caught between the mountains and an…
5.13 MILES
Located just across from the Garvan Woodland Gardens, the Anthony Chapel is an architectural masterpiece. This soaring, wood-and-glass complex, built in…
3. Maxwell Blade's Odditorium & Curiosity Museum
8.59 MILES
The 'museum' attached to Maxwell Blade's stage show is a collection of horror-movie props, weird toys, creepy dolls, freak-show paraphernalia and, as the…
8.62 MILES
On top of Hot Springs Mountain, the 216ft tower has spectacular views of the surrounding mountains covered with dogwood, hickory, oak and pine – lovely in…
8.68 MILES
And now for something completely different: a museum dedicated to Star Wars. This fantastically geeky temple is the labor of love of one particularly…
8.74 MILES
Learn about the sinful glory days of Prohibition, when this small town in the middle of nowhere turned into a hotbed of lavish wealth thanks to Chicago…
8.78 MILES
On Bathhouse Row in the 1915 Fordyce bathhouse, the NPS visitor center and museum has exhibits about the park's history, first as a Native American free…
8. Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum
8.88 MILES
This wax museum is a throwback to the days when an off brand wax museum was all your town needed to be a tourism attraction. From the moment you enter and…