Hotels near The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool is a small hidden landscape inside Lincoln Park, designed in the 1930s in the Prairie School style to imitate a river cut through limestone, with a stone council ring, a waterfall and a pavilion. It fell derelict for decades, was restored in 2002 and is now a National Historic Landmark. It covers less than three acres and most people walking past the zoo never find it.

October is its month, with the surrounding trees closing overhead in yellow and the pool holding the reflection. It is free and open seasonally, typically from spring until early November, closing for winter, so a late-October visit is near the end of the window. Lincoln Park Zoo next door is also free and open year-round, which is unusual for a major American zoo.

Pro Tip: Go early on a weekday morning. The pool is tiny, the path around it is single file, and its entire effect depends on being there without a queue behind you. Check it has not closed for the season before making the trip in the last week of October.