Floating Fen Preserve

Western New York Land Conservancy's 225 acre Floating Fen Preserve features 2 miles of relatively easy hiking trails through a natural wonderland.

The preserve's crown jewel, the floating fen is a floating mat of peat moss reaching 8 acres in size. The floating fen is home to beautiful sundews—carnivorous plants that sparkle in the sunlight—awe-inspiring colonies of blue flag iris, highbush blueberry, and mountain holly. Small blackgum trees dot the fen, and beautiful orchids are scattered throughout the forest. Learn more. 

The diverse habitats make Floating Fen Preserve an ideal home to black bears, wood ducks, red-shouldered hawks, porcupines, fishers, and beavers—including one exceptionally large beaver dam. Like the neighboring College Lodge Forest, the Floating Fen is situated directly in a migratory bird corridor. Birds as diverse as Veeries, Blackburnian Warblers, Canada Warblers, and Scarlet Tanagers may all descend on the forest to nest in the spring.

The Floating Fen Preserve is an integral part of the WNY Wildway, the Land Conservancy’s plan to create an extensive series of protected lands that connect the vast forests of northern Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes and link up with the Eastern Wildway. The Floating Fen and College Lodge Forest total nearly 400 acres of contiguous land.

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