PHOTO BY SEAN COLLIER

The unusual structure alongside Kummer Road is, somehow, both out of view and in plain sight. If you follow the winding road into North Park, you’ll eventually reach a quiet, tree-lined area (Pro Bike + Run is behind you, and the park’s golf course is up ahead). If you happen to glance to the right, you’ll see a door to nowhere embedded in the middle of the hillside. Above this mysterious portal, an ornate inscription reads, “Fountain of Youth.”

Likely an imaginative flourish by the builders — this structure was built in 1938, probably as part of a Works Progress Administration project — the building is actually a former springhouse that supplied water until the 1950s to anyone passing by. The water was eventually (and ironically) deemed unfit for consumption and the pump removed, but what’s left is a quiet and peaceful grotto. If you climb down from the road and cross a stream, you’ll find a lovely calm interior with the sound of trickling water still audible. It’s worth stopping just for the lovely, relaxing moment spent inside — and the striking view of nature peering out the door at the park beyond.

Find It!
McCandless: 10127 Kummer Road