Experience Maple Days at Old Sturbridge Village
March brings rising sap to life at Old Sturbridge Village, with its annual Maple Days sugar camp, happening Wednesdays to Sundays through March 19. See the entire sugar-making process, from tapping the trees to “sugaring off,” and learn why maple sugar was more commonly used than maple syrup in early New England. Costumed historians will also cook period foods made with maple products and the tinner and cooper will make maple-related items.
Included with standard daytime admission or Village membership. $28 for adults, $26 for seniors (55+), $14 for college students (with a valid college ID), $14 for youth (4-17), and free for children 3 and under
Visit Bruce & Sully’s Pure BS Maple Shack
The team at Pure BS Maple Shack in Auburn have been churning out syrup since 2007, and they’re clearly the pros. Bruce Hopper and wife Maria (along with their family of saplings) hand-tap maple trees each year throughout the neighborhood and set to work boiling sap. Folks have come to recognize puffs of steam, a sweet smell wafting in the air and the sound of a dinner bell to signify when a new batch is ready.
The shack will be open for tours, tastings, a bit of science and math, tales and good hearty laughs each weekend in March—Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.—with Golden, Amber, Dark and Very Dark syrups available, as well as with maple cream, maple candy and maple sugar.
Sip at BirchTree Bread Co.
BirchTree Bread Company’s signature maple latte has been a staple on the menu there for years—and March brings the perfect excuse to visit and warm the soul with this bit of sweetness. The folks at BirchTree source their syrup from Bruce Hopper of Pure BS Sugar Shack in Auburn (more on them above) and sell his syrup right in their retail area.
Tap the Trees at Grand Maple Farms
New Braintree’s tree tappers unite at Grand Maple Farms, a father and son sugaring business nestled in the woods of scenic Central Massachusetts.
Snag a Bottle of Sap Castle
Sap Castle is a third-generation farm producing high quality maple syrup in Rutland, in a hand-raised timber frame sugarhouse. Click here to discover where you can buy these specialty syrups—at the farm, in stores and at farmers markets locally.
Savor the Sweet at Hardwick Sugar Shack
A small family farm in Hardwick, the local Sugar Shack produces pure products and hosts an open house every Sunday in March for those looking to discover Massachusetts maple syrup—claimed to be “The best maple syrup. Ever."
