Maple Syrup Days

It’s syrup season! The sugar maple trees at McCloud Nature Park produce a sweet treasure throughout the winter months:  sap with a high sugar content. Once the daytime temperatures start rising, the sap starts flowing, and our park staff and volunteers begin collecting it. Pretty soon, we have bottles of 100% all-natural maple syrup! 

How do we know which trees to use? How do we collect the sap? Do the sugar maple trees die afterwards? How do we turn that natural sweetness into syrup? How has maple syrup been made in the past? How is syrup made today? 

If any of these questions have crossed your mind, or your kids’ minds, come on out to McCloud Nature Park in early March and join us in discovering the rich, deliciousness of maple sugaring, at our 13^th Annual McCloud Maple Syrup Days! Bring the whole family because Maple Syrup Days are FREE to attend! 

Tap a Tree 

Visit the tree-tapping station, where you’ll learn how sugar maple trees are identified in the winter (with no leaves!), how sap is collected from them, and how the trees respond to being tapped. Learn how to tap a tree and watch a demonstration of the process as it was done in pioneer days.

How Maple Syrup Is Made 

Head on over to the Sugar Shack at the McCloud Pavilion to see a modern evaporator and learn how maple syrup is made today. Discover how the sap from maple trees becomes the tasty topping for pancakes. 

Maple Syrup Days are held entirely outdoors, so be sure to dress for the weather! We’ll see you there!