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2024 Metro Detroit Maple Syrup Events: New Ultimate Guide

There are plenty of places throughout Michigan to discover the magic of tapping the trees for some sap! Below is our Ultimate Guide of Maple Syrup and Sugaring Events and Festivals around metro Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Certainly, March is the perfect time to make some Paczki-inspired pancakes and top them off with some locally-made syrup!

Additionally, you can check out the Michigan Maple Weekend in Southern Lower Michigan on March 23rd and 24th, 2024. Trees will be tapped and sap will be flowing! In fact, you can see how it’s harvested, and then made into the delicious syrup you enjoy. You may also catch a glimpse of maple candy, maple cream, and maple sugar being made. Meet the sugar makers who work their maple magic and support these local businesses by purchasing some of their special sweet treats to enjoy at home.

If you’re looking for some locally-made syrup, Blue Jay’s Outdoors in Oxford and Loncar Sugarbush in Milford produce some of the best! For a map of Michigan’s Sugarbush locations, click here.


Maple Syrup Sugaring Festivals In Macomb County

Maple Sweetness Sugaring – Wolcott Mill Metropark

Date & Time: Saturdays & Sundays, March 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, 23-24 , 2024 (10am-2pm)
Cost: $3 per child, $5 per adult, children under 2 Free
Location: Wolcott Mill Metropark, Farm Center Office

Come join us to learn about the crop rich in history and flavor! Enjoy a tractor drawn wagon ride to our sugar shack where you will see our wood-fired evaporator in action and discover how to turn sap into the sweet treat we all know and love, syrup! You will see how to identify and tap maple trees too! Maple items will be available for purchase.

Burgess-Shadbush Nature Center Maple Syrup Festival (Shelby Township)

Date & Time :
Cost: $5 per resident, $7 per non-resident
Location:
4101 River Bends Drive
Shelby Township, Michigan 48317

Join us as we turn our maple sap into syrup through the process of maple sugaring. Learn how trees make sugar and how people through the ages have harvested it. There will be hands-on crafts and an opportunity to taste test our finished product. Jars of our organic, homemade maple syrup will be available for purchase. Ages 2 and under are free. 

Maple Sugaring at Stony Creek Metropark (Shelby Township)

Maple Sweetness Pancake Breakfast – Wolcott Mill Metropark

Date & Time : Saturday, March 30, 2024 (9am-noon)
Cost: $8 per child, $8 per adult, children under 2 free!
Location: Wolcott Mill Metropark, Farm Center Office

It’s maple syrup season at the Wolcott Mill Metropark Farm Center! Come celebrate with us as we enjoy the benefits of our first crop of the season with a pancake breakfast! Breakfast will include all you can eat pancakes, 3 sausage links, coffee, water, or tang. Before or after breakfast, take a wagon ride to the sugar bush to visit our wood-fired evaporator and discover how to turn sap into the sweet treat we all know and love, syrup! Real maple syrup will be available for purchase to enjoy on site or take home.


Oakland County Maple Syrup Events

Maple Sugaring at Indian Springs Metropark – White Lake

Maple Sugaring in Your Backyard – Farmington Hills

Date & Time: Sundays, March 3 & 17, 2024 (10.30am-4.30pm)
Cost: $7 (resident or non-resident) , under 2yo is free
Location:
Heritage Park
24915 Farmington Road
Farmington Hills, MI, 48336

Celebrate Spring! Discover the basics of making maple syrup from your own Maple tree. Learn to identify and select a maple tree. Witness the ancient process of collecting the sap, then boiling it down to syrup around a cozy campfire. We will finish with a PURE maple syrup treat! Michigan maple syrup products & sugaring supplies will be exclusively available to participants for purchase. Dress for the weather.

Making Maple Syrup at Bloomer Park (Rochester Hills)

Date & Time: Saturday, March 2, 2024 (11am or 1pm)
Cost: $10
Location:
Bloomer Park
345 John R Road
Rochester, MI 48307

Travel through various stations in Bloomer Park with Outdoor Engagement staff to learn the first steps to make your own maple syrup. From identifying various species of maple tree, to the tree tapping process and sap boiling setup. You’ll gain the knowledge you need to make your own syrup. In addition, you can add on a starter kit with a spile, tubing, bucket, and filter to tap your own tree! This program is held rain or shine so come dressed for the weather and a walk through the woods.
Recommended for age 12+

MSU Tollgate Farm Maplefest Maple Tapping and Pancake Feast (Novi)

Date & Time: March 9-10, 2024 (9am-2pm)
Cost: $17 per person, 2yo and under are free
Location:
28115 Meadowbrook Road, Novi MI 48377

Identify and tap a maple tree, tour the sugar shack, explore fun maple-themed activities, take a wagon ride, taste maple sap, syrup, and sugar, and explore maple tools and technology. Enjoy an ‘all-you-can-eat pancake celebration in the historic 19th-century barn. Pancakes, sausage, and of course, pure maple syrup will be provided!

Maple Magic at Red Oaks Nature Center (Madison Heights)

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb 24, 2024 (3-4.30pm)
Cost: $5
Location:
30300 Hales St.
Madison Heights, MI 48071

Ever wondered how maple syrup is made? Participate in this Michigan tradition as we identify and tap maple trees, and learn the process of maple sugaring. All ages are welcome.

Maple Madness at Wint Nature Center (Clarkston)

Date & Time: Saturday, March 16, 2024 (1-2pm)
Cost: $5
Location:
9501 Sashabaw Road
Clarkston, MI 48348

Flapjacks and waffles just wouldn’t be the same without maple syrup. Join us to learn how to identify maple trees in the winter, how to tap a tree and the process of maple sugaring. All ages welcome.

Maple Sugaring at Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve (Rochester)

Date & Time: Sunday, March 10, 2024 (10am, 12pm, 2pm)
Cost: $4 member, $6 non-member
Location:
333 North Hill Circle

Join us for a maple syrup boil over the campfire. We’ll walk along the trail identifying different types of maple trees, have a taste of sap straight from the trees, and discuss the process of making sap into syrup, candy, and sugar. Have a taste of some maple products.

Sap to Syrup Pancake Breakfast at Van Hoosen Museum (Rochester Hills)

Maple Syrup Basics at Robert Williams Nature and Historical Learning Center (Davison)

A Day in the Sugarbush at EL Johnson Nature Center (Bloomfield Hills)

Sap-To-Syrup Pancake Breakfast – Bloomer Park – Rochester

Date & Time: Saturday, Apr 13, 2024 (9am, 10am, 11am)
Cost: $14 adults, $7 children age 3-12
Location:
Bloomer Park
345 John R Road
Rochester, MI 48307

Visit Bloomer Park and our Sugar Bush to see an old-fashioned sap-to-syrup boiling operation. We will be making syrup from trees tapped right here in Rochester Hills. Sample some real maple syrup and enjoy a pancake breakfast complete with sausage, juice and coffee. Pre-registration is required. All ages welcome, children 2 and under are free.

Maple Syrup Time at Stage Nature Center (Troy)

Date & Time: Saturdays, Mar 2, 9, 16, 2024 (9am-3pm time slots)

Cost:
Teens & Adults: $10
Children ages 4-12: $7
TNS & THS Members: $7
Children under 4: Free

Location:
6685 Coolidge Hwy, Troy, MI 48098

Take a hike through the sugar bush of the Stage Nature Center! Discover how maple trees make sugar and people through the ages have harvested it. This outdoor, interactive program highlights the natural and local history of our region. Learn how people processed maple sugar in the past and see similarities in the collecting, boiling, and drawing off maple syrup today. Small groups will be guided along the trail and participate in activities to learn more about maple syrup making. Visit a historic sugar camp. Stop for a short visit to the Sugar Shed to see our wood-stoked evaporator in action. There will be maple syrup and maple cream to sample and a “take-home” children’s craft. Shop for Michigan-made maple syrup, cream, and more sold by the Troy Historic Village.
Tours last approximately 1.25 hours and start every quarter hour between 9 am and 3 pm.

Maple’s Sweet Story at Kensington Metropark (Milford)

Date & Time: Saturdays & Sundays, Feb 25, Mar 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 2024 (multiple time slots 11am – 3.30pm)
Cost: $3 per child, $5 per adult, children under 2 Free
Location:
Kensington Metropark Farm Center

Take a guided walk through the farm’s Sugar Bush. Learn how to pick the right maple tree, then watch how maple trees are tapped and sap is collected. Stop by the French and Native American camps to hear and see how these techniques have changed through the years. Then visit the Sugar Shack to see and smell the sap being boiled down into maple sugar. Real maple sugar products will be available for purchase at the Farm Center Office. Tours begin every half hour, last approximately one hour and require registration.


Maple Syrup Events in Wayne County

Maple Sugaring Through The Ages – Oakwoods Metropark – Flat Rock

Date & Time: Saturday, Mar 2, 2024 (10am, 2pm)
Cost: $4 per child, $6 per adult, children under 2 Free
Location:
Oakwoods Metropark Nature Center

Come see the methods used to collect maple sap and learn how the maple tree helped sustain early Americans. We will begin indoors learning about the history of maple sugaring before heading outside to visit three sugaring “camps.” While visiting these camps we will discover how maple sugaring has changed, and in many ways stayed the same, throughout history.

Making Maple Syrup Tours at Maybury Farm (Northville)

Date & Time: Saturdays & Sundays, Mar 2-30, 2024 (12, 12:30, 1, 1:30, 2, 2:30, 3, 3:30, & 4pm)
Cost: $11, children under 2 Free
Location:
50165 Eight Mile Rd, Northville, MI 48167

This engaging tour begins with a wagon ride to the forested area of Maybury Farm. There you will walk into the sugar bush where you’ll learn the amazing way sugar maple trees produce sap, why sap flows, how to tap and collect sap from the tree. The wagon will then take you to the Sugar Shack where you’ll learn how the sap becomes delicious maple syrup by watching the process in action! You’ll even get to try a sample of the finished product! 
Once your tour is finished, you are invited to warm up in the Maybury Farm General Store where hot drinks and snacks are available to purchase. Pure Michigan Maple Syrup is also available for purchase and we offer free recipes for you to try with your maple syrup at home. It’s a fun and educational experience for all ages!


Other Maple Syrup Events Around Southeast Michigan

For-Mar Nature Preserve Maple Syrup Festival (Burton)

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb 10, 2024 (1-3pm)
Cost: $10
Location:
For-Mar – Dewaters Educational Building
5360 Potter Rd., Burton, MI 48509

Grab your favorite friend and join us in learning one of the sweetest skills around, Maple Syrup Making. From tree ID to tapping basics, you will learn how you can make the most of your maples this season in this hands-on how-to maple syrup program.  Walk away with tips and tricks on getting started this year in your own backyard. 

Journey to the Sugar Bush at Hudson Mills Metropark (Dexter)


How is Maple Syrup Made?

Find The Right Tree

The best maple trees are often marked in the fall, which makes them easy to spot when it’s time to collect the sap in winter, when the trees have no leaves.  Know your maple trees and where they are. Have the necessary equipment prepped and ready to go. Weather must warm to above freezing temperatures for sap to flow. A very rapid rise in temperature (from 25°F to 45°F) will enhance sap flow considerably.

While temperatures remain above freezing, sap will flow at a steadily declining rate for approximately 8 to 15 hours. When it refreezes at night and thaws again the next day, the sap flow will resume at the peak rate and slowly diminish to nearly no flow by the end of the 8 to 15 hour period. Intermittent flow periods will continue for as long as the freeze/thaw cycle lasts.

Tap The Tree

Maple trees are tapped using tools such as a spile or spout. These are placed on the south side of the tree to maximize the tree’s potential sap yield.  Sap is collected daily as conditions permit.

Collect The Sap

Collection containers are hung from spiles to gather up all the dripping sap. Because the sap that falls into these containers is 98% water and 2% sugar, 40 gallons of sap only makes one gallon of syrup, so the key is to collect as much sap as possible.  Once the weather stays above freezing and trees begin to bud, the sap flow changes composition and is no longer usable. This signals the end of maple production for the season

Boil It Down

Now that the sap has been harvested, the process of transforming the sap into syrup can begin. Water must be removed until the desired concentration of sugar remains. The sap is cooked over a stovetop or fire where the water from the sap is boiled out, leaving behind the sweet sticky sugary syrup we know and love. 

Store It Safely

After that, maple syrup is packaged while it’s still hot, then stored at room temperature in a cool, dark space. This ensures the syrup will last for as long as possible. 

Eat It Up

Enjoy maple syrup on any number of breakfast foods, like pancakes, waffles, or French toast. Maple syrup may be used as is, of course, or it may be converted into other highly desirable products. Maple sugar, maple candy and maple fudge are just a few of the many other maple products. Basically, these are made by concentrating finished syrup to a greater density and stirring the highly concentrated syrup. Recipes for a variety of maple products may be obtained by contacting the local county Extension office or by writing to the Department of Forestry at Michigan State University.


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Amber is the proud mother to four beautiful children, Damian (27), Rosaleigh (14), Carlyn (11), and Naomi (8). Her family also includes four cats. She loves being a stay-at-home mom and feels blessed to be able to care for her children full-time and provide them with so many opportunities through Metro Detroit Mommy. In addition to Metro Detroit Mommy, Amber has a passion for hosting karaoke with Malibu Entertainment.  She enjoys the metro Detroit nightlife especially, singing, dancing and meeting new people.