Light-as-a-feather pancakes, crisp waffles and tasty French toast topped with a dollop of butter and drenched with sweet, golden brown maple syrup, or sirup, if you prefer the alternate spelling, are reasons enough to rise and shine during the Midwest’s gloomy winter days.
Up and at ’em! There are people to see and places to go, among them maple sugarin’ sites where you’ll find demonstrations of sap-gathering from hard maple trees, the boiling process that reduces sap to syrup and, yum!, pancakes swimming in the toothsome liquid treat.
With freezing nighttime temperatures and above-freezing daytime temperatures, late winter and early spring mark harvest time.
Vermont is king of the commercial crop. According to the Crop Production Report of June 9, 2000, furnished by the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it most recently produced 460,000 gallons. Not surprisingly, the state tree is the sugar maple.
In the Midwest, the same report showed Wisconsin with 65,000 gallons and Michigan producing 44,000.
In Illinois, the biggest commercial producer is 160-acre Funks Grove about 15 miles southwest of Bloomington, which has 3,000 taps with lidded buckets and 3,000 with tubing.
Here are some of the places you can visit to learn more about how Native Americans and America’s pioneers harnessed nature’s gift with techniques still in use today.
Illinois
Maple Syrup Time, Springfield, Feb. 18, 24-25, March 3-4, 10-11. Hear the history of maple sugarin’, then travel into the sugarbush for a tree-tapping, sap-collecting, old-fashioned boiling demonstration and a taste treat at the Lincoln Memorial Garden. Hours: 1, 2 and 3 p.m. 217-529-1111 (197 miles).
Pancake Breakfast, Springfield, March 17-18, 24-25. Enjoy the Lincoln Memorial Garden’s own maple syrup at a pancake-sausage-beverage breakfast on site. Hours: 8 a.m. to noon. Price: $6, $4 ages 12 and under; reservations required. 217-529-1111 (197 miles)
Funks Grove Tours, Shirley, March 1 until the end of the season. Follow the trails at Funks Grove to see how the state’s largest commercial producer of maple syrup gathers sap. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. 309-874-3360 (150 miles)
Festival of the Sugar Maples, Marengo, March 10-11, 17-18. Take a hike in Coral Woods to learn the history of maple sugaring and sugar collection methods, then enjoy a taste of the finished product. Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. 815-479-5779 (60 miles)
Maple Syrup Festival, Pecatonica, March 18. Maple tree tapping and syrup boiling demonstrations, wildlife artists and self-guided tours centered at the Regional Environmental Center in the Pecatonica River Forest Preserve, where guests will be treated to syrup sundaes and hot chocolate. Hours: 1 to 4 p.m. 815-239-1762 (106 miles)
Indiana
Maple Sugarin’ Days, Terre Haute, through Feb. 28. Watch sap being boiled into syrup via a wood burning evaporator at the Prairie Creek Park sugar camp; phone first to learn specific times of operation. 812-898-2279 (179 miles)
Maple Syrup Pancake Breakfast, Terre Haute, Feb. 17-18. Chow down on hot pancakes with maple syrup and sausage in the Pioneer Village Log Barn in Fowler Park, then tour the sugar camp at Prairie Creek Park, weather permitting. Hours: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Price: $4, $2 ages 12 and under. 812-462-3392 (179 miles)
Maple Syrup Making Festival, Rockville, Feb. 23-25, March 2-4. Primitive maple syrup making, wagon rides and covered bridge tours in Billie Creek Village, a living history museum featuring an authentic 1820 log cabin, three covered bridges and a general store. Hours: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday/Sunday. Price: $3.50, $3 seniors, free ages 4 and under. 765-569-3430 (184 miles)
Iowa
Maple Syrup Festival, Cedar Falls, March 3. Take a lesson in making maple syrup at the Hartman Reserve Nature Center and enjoy an all-you-can eat pancake breakfast with sausage, juice, coffee or milk. Hours: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Price: $5, $3 ages 12 and under 319-277-2187 (308 miles)
Maple Syrup Festival, Cedar Rapids, March 3-4. Tree tapping, sap boiling, syrup finishing, horse-drawn sleigh rides and a pancake breakfast at the Indian Creek Nature Center. Hours: Saturday 8 a.m. to noon, Sunday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Price: $5, $3 ages 6-12. 319-362-0664 (251 miles)
Michigan
Sugarbush, Grand Rapids, March 3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25. Focus on the history and science of sugaring by watching a slide presentation and taking a self-guided tour to check out the sugarbush and primitive buildings at the Blandford Nature Center. Hours: 1-5 p.m. Price: $2, $1 children. 616-453-6192 (180 miles)
Maple Sugar Festival, Kalamazoo, March 17-18. Learn how to turn sap into syrup, hitch a ride on a horse-drawn wagon, enjoy a pancake brunch and tour the DeLano Homestead at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday; brunch 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, noon to 3 p.m. Sunday. Price: $4.50, $3.50 seniors, $2.50 ages 4-12; brunch additional. 616-381-1574 (150 miles)
Maple Sugar Day, Grayling, March 24. Walk into the sugarbush to tap a maple tree, watch the boildown process convert sap to syrup and see a 30-minute video at the Forest Visitor Center in Hartwick Pines State Park. Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Price: $4/car. 517-348-2537 (339 miles)
Wisconsin
Tapping the Sugar Bush, Newburg, begins Feb. 25. Volunteers of all ages are invited to help drive sap-drawing spiles into more than 300 maple trees at Riveredge Nature Center and hang buckets in preparation for the Maple Sugarin’ Season. The facility produces about 100 gallons per year. Hours: 2-3:30 p.m. 262-375-2715 (123 miles)
Also in Newburg, on April 1, visitors can watch sap being boiled into syrup in the sugarbush and tickle their taste buds with pancakes, ham, a beverage and a sour pickle. Hours: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Price: $6.75. $5 ages 12 and under.
Adopt A Bucket, Appleton, March 3. Family fun includes personalizing a sap bucket, tapping a maple tree in the sugarbush, attaching the bucket and sampling a syrup sundae at the Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve. Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Price: $20/bucket. 920-731-6041 (200 miles)
On March 17, the nature preserve will offer another program to view the sugar-making process, make your own maple syrup and sample a syrup sundae. Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Group price: $10/household. Individual price: $3, $2 seniors/students, free ages 2 and under.
Maple Sugar Weekend, Franklin, March 17-18 Franklin. Take a 45-minute hike to the sugarbush and an old time sugarin’ camp, and enjoy demonstrations, kids’ activities and a pancake-and-syrup sample at the Wehr Nature Center. Hours: 1 to 4 p.m. Price: $4, $2 ages 3-12. 414-425-8550 (94 miles)
Maple Syrup Sunday, Ledge View Nature Center, Chilton. April 1. Celebrate winter’s thaw with a day of syrup-making demonstrations, a pancake breakfast, music and a tour of the sugarbush at Ledge View Nature Center. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., breakfast 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Price: $4, $2.50 ages 5-12. 800-937-9123 (163 miles)
