Courtesy KLT
Map provides approximate location.
MapleCross John Wolfe Forest Preserve
Peterborough County, ON
Kawartha Land Trust – 2024
303 hectares
Property Description
Kawartha Land Trust (KLT), a land conservation charity serving the Kawarthas, has conserved the 303-hectare MapleCross John Wolfe Forest Preserve in Peterborough County. This protected property is contiguous on three sides with a block of the Peterborough County Forest and is KLT’s third-largest nature reserve.
KLT’s Maplecross John Wolfe Forest Preserve is located within the Crowe River subwatershed. One hundred percent of the property is considered deep habitat or interior forest. In a time of increased fragmentation of forest ecosystems in Southern Ontario, the protection of interior forest habitat is essential for species that require large, intact tracts of natural land to survive and thrive, including Black Bear, Moose, White-tailed Deer, and Fisher, among many others.
The nature reserve is also home to a significant creek that flows into a wetland before continuing south to Beloporine Creek.
“Walking beneath the vast canopy of trees, I couldn’t help but feel the immensity and richness of this land,” shared Sam Clapperton, KLT’s Land Research Coordinator, about her visits to the property. “Quiet moments in the early dawn revealed shy forest birds, while the sound of the creek made me pause to listen. The air feels full of life, and the Preserve is just that — alive with flourishing wetlands that are home to beavers and waterfowl, forests of oaks and maples, and small clearings where pollinators hover above native wildflowers. Every step further into this sprawling forest reminds me that this place is more than just land — it’s a sanctuary and a piece in the larger puzzle of natural habitat on the landscape where nature can thrive.”
Content and property pictures courtesy of Kawartha Land Trust.
