Mark Your Calendars: Annual Maple Sugar Days; Maple-Tapping Workshop Coming Up

MILWAUKEE, WI — As temperatures begin to fluctuate, staff at Wehr Nature Center will be be preparing to present a Maple-Tapping Workshop and the annual Maple Sugar Days, in celebration of Spring.

Wehr Nature Center is located in Whitnall Park at 9701 W. College Ave.

Maple-Tapping Workshop, Feb. 26

An expert maple-syrup-maker will lead the Maple Tapping Workshop, Feb. 26, from noon-2 p.m. In this workshop designed for adults, participants will learn how to turn backyard maple trees into “liquid gold.”

Instruction will include identification of suitable trees, the tools and tricks of drilling and tapping, techniques to store and boil down sap safely, and the processes of “finishing off” and storing syrup. The workshop fee includes a spile (the spout that is inserted into sapwood), a sap collection bag, and a holder for the bag. Participants are encouraged to dress for walking and working outdoors.

Annual Maple Sugar Days, March 25 & 26

Next month, the 41st Annual Maple Sugar Days will return to Wehr. March 25 and 26, from 1-4 p.m., the event will feature a hike to an old-time sugarin’ camp. Led by a naturalist guide, families will trek through the woodland to the sugarbush, where they’ll see tapped sugar maple trees and sap as it drips from a tree.

Then, visitors will follow the sweet aroma of maple syrup to the sugarin’ camp, where clear sap is boiled down to form dark syrup. A sugar maker will tell tales of camps long ago.

Walks to the camp will last about 45 minutes. Visitors are encouraged to dress in layers and to dress to keep their feet warm. The first tour will start at 1 p.m.; the last tour, 4 p.m. Hikes will go on rain or shine.

Hands-on activities for young and old will include using a hand drill on a log, trying Native-American methods of boiling sap without metal pans, and making a craft. The sweet reward will be real maple syrup on a pancake.

>>> image via Milwaukee County Parks