Are We There Yet – Maple Town Celebrates Sugar Shack Season
March is maple time – maple syrup festivals pop up across Ontario celebrating the sweet sap that runs from trees, eventually ending up on breakfast pancakes (after a bit of processing). One of the best festivals almost has its own postal code: Maple Town, in Campbellville, Ontario.
Every weekend during the month of March (and every day during March Break, 10 am to 4 pm), the Mountsberg Conservation Area turns acres of forest into Maple Town, an almost Hansel and Gretel-like experience. Start at the entrance and follow the signs (and crowds) over the train tracks and into the woods following the scent of grilling flapjacks and steam from boiling sap cauldrons.
Celebrating the heritage of maple is the point, so past to present methods of turning sap into syrup – over an open fire to sugar shack – are demonstrated living-history style at various points on the tour. Each station is connected by a paved trail (so strollers are possible). Note, the walk from parking lot to Maple Town is long but scenic especially if trees are snow covered.
When weather permits, horse-drawn sleigh or wagon rides are available to tour you through the magic sap forest, and few people miss hot breakfast at the pancake pavilion in the woods. Maple Town is included with admission, and check out the conservation area’s Raptor Centre, barn play area, and horse stable on the way out.
Other March Break and weekend sugar shack festivals nearby include Sweet Water Season at the reconstructed Iroquoian Village at Crawford Lake Conservation Area in Milton; Bronte Creek Maple Syrup Festival at Bronte Creek Provincial Park, Oakville; and every Sunday at Westfield Heritage Village, Rockton.
Sherri Telenko is a freelance writer `and blogger living in Southern Ontario. Sign up for travel ideas at www.dogtrotting.net or follow her on twitter @SherriTelenko.
Sherri Telenko is a freelance writer and blogger living in Southern Ontario. Sign up for travel ideas at www.dogtrotting.net or follow her on twitter @SherriTelenko.
