Tree Fern Dell and Lily Pond

The Tree Fern Dell originated from a chance encounter in the late nineteenth century. The park's legendary superintendent, John McLaren, received a small cigar box filled with live fern stalks from an acquaintance traveling from New Zealand. He planted these initial specimens around a water feature that had been excavated as a chert quarry for road construction. This simple donation grew into a lush, prehistoric-looking forest that McLaren himself considered the most beautiful spot in the entire park.