This small property in rural Pelham exists to protect one extraordinary specimen. The Comfort Maple towers roughly 24 metres with a trunk circumference of about six metres, and has been braced over the decades with guy wires, concrete and other repairs after lightning strikes and the ordinary toll of centuries. It takes its name from the Comfort family, who bought the surrounding land in 1816; a family member later donated the tree and its plot to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority in 1961, and the maple was designated a heritage tree under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2000.
Today a short lane off Metler Road leads visitors to the tree, with a small parking area and picnic space on site. It is a quick, free, sunrise-to-sunset stop rather than a full day out, but for anyone interested in old-growth trees or a distinctly Canadian landmark, standing beneath this half-millennium-old maple is a memorable few minutes.
