History & local legend
The Seven Gates of Hell is a legend attached to the Trout Run Road area of Hellam Township. Its rules are simple: the first gate can be seen in daylight, the remaining six appear after dark, and nobody who passes the fifth returns. One version places a burning asylum beyond the gates, with patients trapped or fleeing through the woods.
Former York County journalist Gary Dutery remembered something more concrete at the entrance to a wooded lane in the 1960s. Two weathered stone carvings resembled frogs or toads, giving the path its local nickname, Toad Road. In a 2011 interview with Jim McClure, Dutery distinguished the carvings he had personally seen from the frightening stories people placed around them. The actual road was Trout Run Road; Toad Road was the informal name for the lane and the mystery that grew around it.
