Visiting the Sugarbush: Maple Syrup Events for the Family

I love real maple syrup. It's yummy on pancakes and waffles and even used as an ice cream topping! I even love making homemade maple syrup with the family, it's easy to do and yields wonderful results. If you don't want to make your own though, in Washtenaw County and close to Ann Arbor, there are several places where families can go to learn about maple syrup, it's history and how it was made.

On February 25 & 26 at the Hudson Mills Activity Center (8801 N. Territorial Rd., Dexter), families can journey to the sugar bush on a guided tour traveling back in time to experience how maple syrup has been made over the years. While you are there, enjoy an all you can eat pancake and sausage breakfast served from 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. The guided tour is $3/person with the pancake breakfast at $3.50/child and $5.50/adult. Call 734-426-8211 to register.


Weekends throughout March, Arbor families can take a short drive to visit the sugarbush at Kensington Metropark (2240 W. Buno Rd., Milford). Tours are given every half hour from noon until 2:30 p.m. where families can learn about maple sugaring. Stop in for a hot breakfast from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Farmhouse Grille, and then head on a guided tour to the sugar bush to see the maple sugaring process, including tapping trees and boiling down the sap. You might even see some Native American re-enactors telling the tale of the sugarbush!  For more information call 800-477-3178. A Metroparks vehicle entry permit is required to enter any Metropark in addition to a small fee of $3/adults and $1/seniors and children 3 to 12 years; kids under 3 are free.

Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation runs the yearly program "Sap To Syrup" at the County Farm Park (2960 Washtenaw Ave.at Platt Road, Ann Arbor) where families (and adults too!) learn to make their own maple Syrup. This year, the program is scheduled for Saturday March 10, at 1:00-2:00 p.m. for families and 3:00-4:00 p.m. for adults. The program, led by Naturalist Faye Stoner, demonstrates the process from drilling the hole and placing the tap to boiling down the sap to make syrup. So pack up the family, dress for the weather, and learn how to identify and tap maple trees, to make delicious maple syrup. You even have the chance to taste the sap as well as the final product! Pre-registration is required and the program fills up fast, so be sure to call (734) 971-6337 ext. 334 to register. This is the fantastic event where we learned about the process. As a family we have been making homemade maple syrup for 4 years now!

On March 11, at 1:30-3:00 p.m. at the Gerald E. Eddy Discovery Center at the Waterloo Recreation Area (17030 Bush Rd., Chelsea) families can join in the fun at a maple sugar festival to observe the process of making maple syrup from tree to the pancake! Observe demonstrations of the whole process of making maple syrup from collecting the sap to the evaporation process, watch a short film demonstrating old-time methods and find many maple products for sale. Program fees are $2/person or $5/family for non-members of the Waterloo Natural History Association.

Real maple syrup is very much worth the effort and worth checking out, so if your children would enjoy trying something a little different, be sure to check out the many maple sugaring events around Ann Arbor in the coming month! Or if you feel up to the challenge try your hand at making maple syrup with your family, it's really easy to do.