Maple sugar season is upon us in Greater Boston!
Sap begins to flow when the nights are below freezing and days are mild. In Massachusetts, this normally occurs from mid-February to mid-March, but due to more temperate weather this year, maple sugaring season is predicted to begin a little sooner.
Check out the following list for your guide to maple sugar tours, tapping demos, festivals, sugar shacks, and all things deliciously sap-related in the Boston area!
Hot tip: Be sure to register early for events that require it, as space is limited.
Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary
293 Moose Hill Parkway, Sharon
Moose Hill has been turning sap into syrup with the community for more than 45 years! This season they’re hosting many maple-themed events.
The tap-a-tree programs take place on January 29 and February 1, 4, 9, and 15. Hike to the sugar bush, and choose your sugar maple tree! Along the way you’ll learn about what it means to be a maple farmer. Once your maple bucket is hung, look and listen for the first drops of sap!
On February 26 and 27, try a maple syrup hike. On this outdoor guided tour you’ll see how to tap trees, collect the sap, and boil it down in the evaporator to make syrup — and try a taste, of course.
The big maple sugaring weekend will take place on March 8 and 9, complete with an outdoor, guided tour and characters from the past and present demonstrating the methods of producing maple syrup.
Appleton Farms
219 County Road, Hamilton and Ipswich
This “maple in the barnyard” program allows families to discover the maple tradition by observing trees, tasting sap, learning the tools involved, and tasting the sweet product. You’ll also have time to visit the barnyard animals! The program takes place on February 8, 15, and 22, and March 1. There is a farm store and sugar shack on site.
Natick Community Organic Farm
117 Eliot Street, Natick
Sit around the campfire and learn historical maple sugar techniques used by Indigenous people and colonists. If the weather’s just right during your tour, you can watch sap drip into buckets and boil in the sugar shack. This year’s tours run from February 8 through March 8.
Chestnut Hill Farm
Chestnut Hill Road, Southborough
It’s the annual maple tap-a-thon! On February 22, families at Chestnut Hill Farm will learn how to identify maple trees on the farm and hear the history of tapping. Each family group will set their own tap to get the farm’s maple flowing! You’ll even go home with instructions on how to tap your own maple trees and make your own syrup.
Drumlin Farm
208 South Great Road, Lincoln
At the maple magic program at Drumlin Farm, you’ll help the farmers with the first crop of the year — maple syrup! Visit the maple grove to check the taps, taste the sap, and learn how syrup is made. This year’s programs take place on February 22 and March 1, 2, 8, and 9.
Maple Sugar Days
River Bend Farm, 287 Oak Street, Uxbridge
The Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park will host this sweet event on February 22 and 23 to share the process of making maple sugar — including the history and the ways climate change is impacting the local industry. Guided tours will be offered at 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., and 2 p.m., and last about 90 minutes. Children’s activities include a craft and a Junior Ranger activity.
Maple Boil Down
All are invited to join in the fun on Saturday, March 1, for the 26th annual maple boil down and experience the process of boiling sap into maple syrup! Learn the process from the tapping of maple trees at Tufts University to the making of maple syrup. This event is free and open to all!
Boston Nature Center
500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan
Experience the magic of maple sugaring as you tap some of Boston’s beautiful maple trees, collect the sap, and watch it boil down into a delicious treat. You’ll also find a self-guided storybook walk and a fun scavenger hunt along the scenic trails. The maple sugaring program will take place on March 1 and 2 this year.
Ipswich Wildlife Sanctuary
87 Perkins Row, Topsfield
Saturdays are for maple sugaring! During a guided walk, learn how to identify a sugar maple then observe tapping, sap collection, and boiling. You can even get a sweet taste! The program at Ipswich runs on March 1, 8, and 15.
Blue Hills Trailside Museum
1904 Canton Avenue, Milton
At the Trailside explorers maple sugaring program on March 1, you and your child can investigate nature together through a story time, a short hike to look for maple trees, and a fun craft!
Maple Sugarin’ Days
Breakheart Reservation, 177 Forest Street, Saugus
syrup at this fun annual event on Saturday, March 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A hands-on tour will include the history of maple sugaring from Native Americans to today, plus tree identification and tapping, wood splitting, the evaporator, and a tasting station!
Land’s Sake Farm Sugaring Off Festival
Weston Middle School, 456 Wellesley Street, Weston
Come by the Weston Middle School sugar house on March 23 for FREE tours! See the amazing process of boiling maple sap into syrup as you take a behind-the-scenes look with forestry and education staff. Land’s Sake maple syrup and other farmstand favorites will be available for purchase, and be sure to save room for breakfast from Heirloom Weston!
Vermont Maple Festival
St. Albans, Vermont
For the ultimate in New England maple celebrations, head just north of Burlington, Vermont, from April 25-27. Festival-goers will enjoy a parade, carnival, sugarhouse tours, art shows, pancake breakfasts, maple syrup contests, a “teen fest” (including axe throwing, obstacle courses, and basketball and baseball challenges), kids singalongs, face painting, magic shows, and more! The 45th annual “sap run” — an 8.5-mile run — even includes syrup shots at the aid stations and homemade maple muffins at the finish line (plus maple awards for top finishers, of course).
