With 29-acres and over a quarter-mile of shoreline, the Stella Niagara Preserve is the largest privately-owned, undeveloped tract of land along the entire length of the Niagara River and is one of our region’s most ecologically and historically important places. In June 2015, the Land Conservancy purchased this spectacular property from the Sisters of St. Francis. Open to the public, it features walking trails, fishing access, and a place to put a kayak in the water. 

The property has a variety of habitats including a riparian zone, a large meadow, a forested area, and vernal pools. These habitats support rare plants and animals. Because of the property’s gentle slope down to the river, it is one of the few natural landing sites on the Lower Niagara, perfect for launching a canoe or kayak and was an important canoe landing site for the region’s Haudenosaunee who used the Niagara River for transport, trade, and fishing. Known locally as the five-mile meadow, it is the very spot where the British landed in 1813 to capture Fort Niagara.

The preserve is a nationally designated Peace Site and is part of the Niagara County Historic Trail. The chapel on the property was in the national spotlight in 1955 when it miraculously survived an ice jam and flood that destroyed many other properties along the river. The preserve is also home to numerous sgraffito-style murals by Józef Sławiński, a renowned Polish artist.