Maple Sugar Weekends

You’ll get to taste the freshest maple syrup right from the source at New York’s Maple Sugar Weekends as farmers invite families and friends into their sugar houses during two weekends: March 21-22 and 28-29. This is New York’s first agricultural harvest of the season.

Every spring since 1995 visitors head to the farms scattered all around our Finger Lakes region to experience firsthand the sugar-making processes and traditions. It’s your chance to taste pure, natural maple syrup in its many forms. Whether it’s drizzled over pancakes hot off the stove, turned into candy, added to barbecue sauce or poured over ice cream, there are dozens of delicious products made with the natural sweetener from New York’s forests. Learn the many ways to cook and bake with maple syrup, maple sap and other maple drinks and products.

Sponsored by the New York State Maple Producers’ Association, you’ll get to purchase fresh products, meet and talk with the skilled farmers who make them, and learn about their sustainable agriculture practices. Enjoy a walk outdoors, explore the machinery and equipment, and breathe in the sweet, steamy aroma filling the air as the sap is boiled down into thick maple syrup.

Tours and product samples are offered at most sites free of charge. Make sure to check with individual farms for specific dates and times, as well as other activities by visiting the event’s convenient “Places” website. In our area, some of the participating farms include:

• Schiek’s Maple Products
• Steinhaus Farm
• Wellspring Forest Farm
• Smokey Hollow Maple Products
• Stoney Ridge Farms
• Pied Piper Maple Products

Remember that the farms are rustic and muddy so you’ll want to dress accordingly.

I always feel at home where the sugar maple grows.... glorious in autumn, a fountain of coolness in summer, sugar in its veins, gold in its foliage, warmth in its fibers, and health in it the year round. ―

John Burroughs