Hot Springs is located on the Buncombe Turnpike, a road built in 1828 from Greenville, SC, to Greeneville, TN. The turnpike was the superhighway of its time, allowing goods and people to flow into and out of the mountains.

The Appalachian Trail goes right through the main street of Hot Springs. For A.T. thru-hikers, Hot Springs is a major destination, one of only a handful of places where the A.T. passes through a town.