Comfort Maple, Heritage maple tree in Pelham, Canada.

Comfort Maple is a sugar maple in the Comfort Maple Conservation Area in Pelham, Ontario, standing 24.5 metres tall with a crown 38 metres in circumference and a trunk 6 metres around at the base. Bricks, concrete and guy wires repair damage from age and at least one major lightning strike. The 0.1-hectare site sits at the end of a narrow lane off Metler Road, surrounded by farmland.

The Comfort family acquired the land in 1816; a later 19th-century township map lists it under John B. Comfort. On April 30, 1961, Miss Edna Eleanor Comfort donated the tree and surrounding land to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority. The tree was designated a heritage tree in June 2000 under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The tree carries the Comfort family name: the family acquired the land in 1816, and a 19th-century township map lists John B. Comfort as owner. A sign at the site records that Miss Edna Eleanor Comfort gave the tree and surrounding land to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority on 30 April 1961.

The site is open to visitors with parking available nearby, and it is worth spending time walking around the tree from different angles. The signs provide information about the tree, helping you appreciate its scale and age without rushing through.

The age estimate of about 500 years was not based on a complete ring count, so it remains an estimate. The tree has survived at least one major lightning strike and has been patched over the years with bricks, concrete and guy wires.