I always mark the end of winter with Maple Syrup Days, which is coming up the next two weekends at McCloud Nature Park. The trees are finally warm enough for sap to start flowing!
If you've never checked out Make Syrup Days, you should! Our family loved learning about the maple syrup process, including hands-on power drilling a piece of wood (under adult supervision) and witnessing the amazing sight of evaporation and condensation of real tree sap into maple syrup.
Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser
A yummy option for your visit during the festival is an all-you-can-eat pancake fundraiser, sponsored by The Parks Foundation of Hendricks County.
It's highly reccommended that you reserve a timeslot for your family to eat breakfast or lunch. There is no set cost for the meal, but the website suggests $10 per adult and $6 per child. Seating times are from 8 AM to 2 PM each day. Sign up for that here.
According to the Hendricks County Parks website, here is a list of things you can do during the festival:
- Eat pancakes with McCloud maple syrup.
- Tap a tree yourself.
- Explore the “Sugar Bush” area.
- Find ways to identify trees in the winter.
- Learn how Native Americans first made maple syrup and how colonial Americans advanced the process.
- Visit the “Sugar Shack”, where our modern-day evaporator will be condensing hundreds of gallons of sugary sap into sweet, rich maple syrup.
- Purchase some 100% pure McCloud Maple Syrup to take home, with all proceeds benefiting the parks!
Maple Syrup Days are: March 7th & 14th from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM at McCloud Nature Park in North Salem, IN.
