How Sweet It Is: 5 Musn’t Miss Maple Experiences

Every year, small outbuildings across Southe Eastern Ontario farms show telltale signs of maple syrup season: plumes of steam chugging from their chimneys. Inside these sugar shacks, producers watch over their evaporators 24/7 as the watery sap is transformed into sweet liquid gold. Here are five ways you can tap into that maple magic!

HAVE FUN AT A FESTIVAL

Sweet tooths unite at festivals across the region. These gatherings celebrate the history and culture of sugaring off and showcase everything maple: trees, sap, syrup, food and drink, candy, taffy, butter, and more! 

Find the info: PEC March Maple Madness (Prince Edward County, every weekend in March); Maple Madness at Little Cataraqui Conservation Area (Glenburnie, every weekend in March + March break); Maple in the County (Prince Edward County, March 23-24); Maple Weekend (April 6-7, producers across Southeastern Ontario); Delta Maple Syrup Festival (Delta, April 20-21)

ENJOY BRUNCH IN A SUGAR SHACK

In this part of the world, piling your plate with a stack of pancakes, bacon, eggs, toasts, and beans—and drizzling maple syrup over everything is a rite of passage. Enjoying the experience with friends, family, and  traditional fiddle music? Priceless!

Where to go:  Walt’s Sugar Shack (Consecon); Waupoos Estates Winery (Picton);  Fosterholm Farms (Picton); Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area (Glenburnie); Ferme Drouin (Casselman); On the Bend Sugar Shack (Kemptville); Sand Road Sugar Shack (Moose Creek)

STROLL THE SUGARBUSH

Get some fresh air, build up your appetite, and enjoy a lovely walk through maple sugar stands. This is the perfect opportunity to get a first-hand view of how sap is collected from tapped trees with old-school buckets or new-school droplines that snake through the forest.

Where to walk:  Walt’s Sugar Shack (Consecon); Trillium Ridge Sugarworks/MahKwan Kadeek (North Tyendinaga);  Murray’s Sugarbush (Carrying Place); Fosterholm Farms (Picton); Justin’s Maple Syrup (Picton); Sugarbush Vineyards (Halliwell); Golden Moment Farm (Athens); On the Bend Sugar Shack (Chesterville and Kemptville);  Barkleyvale Farms (Chesterville); Sand Road Sugar Shack (Moose Creek); Wightman Sugar Bush (Lancaster)

SEE HOW IT’S MADE

Maple syrup production is a fascinating process that has been perfected over centuries; Indigenous people were the first to make maple syrup and when they arrived, settlers mimicked their techniques to make their own. Learn everything it takes for the sap to go from tapped tree to table. 

Where to watch: Walt’s Sugar Shack (Consecon); Trillium Ridge Sugarworks/MahKwan Kadeek (North Tyendinaga); Murray’s Sugarbush (Carrying Place); Fosterholm Farms (Picton);  Justin’s Maple Syrup (Picton); Waupoos Estates Winery (Picton); Vader’s Maple Syrup (Cherry Valley); Golden Moment Farm (Athens);  Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area (Glenburnie); Ferme Drouin (Casselman); Ferme St. Malo (Wendover); Sand Road Sugar Shack (Moose Creek); On the Bend Sugar Shack (Chesterville and Kemptville); Barkleyvale Farms (Chesterville); Érablière Souligny (Dunvegan); Wightman Sugar Bush (Lancaster); Cabane à sucre St-Pierre et famille (Lancaster); Érablière Souligny (Dunvegan).

TWIRL THAT TAFFY!

What do you get when you put maple syrup on a cold medium like snow or ice ? A winter treat, of course. The whole family will love the challenge of rolling the sticky stuff on a stick and being rewarded with a mouthful of happiness!

Where to taste: Walt’s Sugar Shack (Consecon); Waupoos Estates Winery (Picton); Golden Moment Farm (Athens); Ferme Drouin (Casselman); On the Bend Sugar Shack (Kemptville);  Ferme St. Malo (Wendover); Sand Road Sugar Shack (Moose Creek); Wightman Sugar Bush (Lancaster); Cabane à sucre St-Pierre et famille (Lancaster);

Because sap runs for a mere few months, our much anticipated maple season is incredibly short and yet satisfyingly sweet. So visit as many maple producers in South Eastern Ontario as you can. Your taste buds—and your family—will thank you!

A word to the wise: Many maple syrup producers open their doors to the public on set days, by chance and/or by appointment. Be sure to contact them before you set out to avoid disappointment.