Hiking at Lake Catherine

Today we headed to Lake Catherine State Park. It's on the furthest south of the three lakes created by dams on the Ouachita River near Hot Springs.  We took a less ambitious hike today, the Falls Branch Trail. It's a two mile loop through pine and hardwood forest and along some streams.

The highlight of the trail is the waterfalls at mile 1.5 (if you hike counter-clockwise). Some people avoid the loop and just hike the half mile in to the falls. The water is cold, but that didn't stop lots of folks and their kids and their dogs from taking a dip or splashing about. It's clearly a very popular spot.

Back at the trailhead, we found a picnic table to eat our lunch before heading back to Hot Springs. There we visited a historic bathhouse, but not to take the thermal waters. This one is the farthest north on Bathhouse Row, and it has been re-purposed. It is now the Superior Bathhouse Brewery & Distillery.

Here is how their website describes it: "After lying vacant for 30 years, we re-imagined the Superior Bathhouse into a brewery, craft beer tasting room, full service restaurant and most recently a special event venue.  We are the first brewery in a U.S. National Park and the world's first to utilize thermal spring water as our main ingredient.  We turn our unique 144 degree water into a myriad of styles ranging from light to dark, mild to strong."