Bringing Your Dog to Hot Springs National Park: The B.A.R.K. Ranger Program

Hot Springs National Park is good country for exploring with a dog. Dogs are allowed on every trail in the park, and even inside the Superior Bathhouse.

Become a B.A.R.K. Ranger

Ask a ranger at the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center about the program. You and your dog complete two activities of your choice from the B.A.R.K. Ranger activity card; every dog that finishes is sworn in as an official B.A.R.K. Ranger and receives a certificate.

Getting sworn in as a B.A.R.K. Ranger. NPS.

Only service animals may go inside the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center and Museum, but every dog is welcome on its wide front porch, where water is provided.

Bark Ranger Cooper. NPS.

The four rules

B — Bag your poop. Pick up and throw away all dog waste in proper bins, found throughout the park. Carry the bag off the trail; don't toss it into the woods or leave it by the path. Dog waste is not a natural fertilizer: runoff from it can pollute the park's springs, creeks and groundwater, and dogs can carry parvovirus, giardia and roundworms that affect other dogs and wildlife.

A — Always wear a leash. Leashes may be no longer than 6 feet (2 m); retractable leashes that extend beyond that are not allowed. A leash keeps a dog from getting lost or hurt, and it protects other visitors — many people, children especially, are frightened of dogs, even small ones, and some are allergic. Unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells can make even a calm, well-trained dog act unpredictably or bark a lot.

R — Respect wildlife. Dogs can chase and threaten animals and scare birds away from nests, food and resting places. Even a dog's scent can signal a predator: small animals may stay in their burrows all day after smelling one, and go without food. Keep your dog well away from any animal you meet, other dogs included.

K — Know where to go.

• Dogs may go on all trails and in Gulpha Gorge Campground, and may cool off, leashed, in Gulpha Gorge Creek by the campground.
• Pets may not enter any public building in the park except the Superior Bathhouse Brewery and Restaurant.
• Areas closed to visitors, such as the thermal springs, are off limits; neither pets nor people may swim in them.
• Never leave a pet unattended — and never alone in a car in summer heat while you hike.

K9 Ranger Konyak

K9 Ranger Konyak. NPS.

Konyak, a Belgian Malinois from Hungary, is one of the Park Service's best-known K9 rangers. He served Hot Springs National Park for six years before retiring in 2022. With his handler, Ranger Little, he made about forty arrests by surrender, helped seize more than ten thousand dollars in narcotics and currency, assisted local agencies in Garland County — the Hot Springs Police, the Garland County Sheriff's Office and the Arkansas State Troopers — and was deployed on drug interdiction operations at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Yosemite National Park. Off duty, he showed off the B.A.R.K. rules on the trails, loved fetch, meeting junior rangers and school demonstrations, and being petted by visitors.

Dogs work in other parks too: herding and protecting wildlife at Yosemite, pulling sleds across the tundra at Denali, and serving people with disabilities in countless parks.

Sources

• National Park Service, Hot Springs National Park, "B.A.R.K. Ranger Program." https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/be-a-hot-springs-bark-ranger.htm
• Corrected: the page sends Konyak to "Oregon Pipe Cactus National Monument"; the park is Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.