CAMPBELLVILLE, ON – Conservation Halton is excited to welcome the sweetest time of the year with the return of Maple Season programs at Mountsberg and Crawford Lake. Starting March 4th, guests can visit the 150-year-old sugarbush at Mountsberg’s Maple Town and see how sap tapped from the maple trees is transformed into maple syrup or explore Crawford Lake to learn more about the Indigenous origins of maple sugaring. Maple Season programs are offered on weekends, holidays, and March Break until April 9th.
Mountsberg will be home to two programs as part of Conservation Halton’s Maple Season: Maple Town and the Sugarmaker’s Breakfast. The Sugarmaker’s Breakfast is a truly unique, and exclusive event, offered only on February 25th and 26th, where you can help kick off the start of Maple Season. The two-hour experience includes a wagon ride, a maple syrup-tasting flight, maple taffy on snow, a guided tour, and, of course, a delicious pancake breakfast by the wood stove. Guests of the Sugarmaker’s breakfast will also have the rare opportunity to tap one of the park’s 150-year-old sugar maples and hang their own pails to begin collecting crystal-clear sap.
The second program offered at Mountsberg, Maple Town, is a family favourite tradition. Through independent exploration and guided exhibits throughout the sugarbush, visitors can witness maple sap transformed into syrup in the evaporator, warm up by a fireside lounge, or let the kids run wild on the natural playground. Satisfy sweet cravings with maple sugar candy samples, maple syrup drizzled pancakes at the Pancake Pavilion, and other maple products available to try throughout the day or take home from the Country Store retail shop. Visitors can add a horse-drawn wagon ride to their visit for a truly unforgettable experience. Maple Town visitors are welcome to explore Mountsberg’s trails, historical sites, and the animal barn and Raptor Centre. Those who want to get up close and personal with the Mountsberg resident birds of prey can add the Talons and Tailfeathers experience to their visit.
Maple Season also includes a third program called Sweetwater Season, hosted at Crawford Lake. This experience focuses on the Indigenous heritage of maple sugaring and features the First Harvest: Celebrating Sweetwater exhibit. Visitors can take a step back in time to the 15th-century site when maple sugaring was the first harvest of the year. Sweetwater demonstrations will run throughout the day where guests can gather by the fire and learn all about the history of maple sugar making. There will also be guided maple syrup-tasting flights offered where you can try different grades of maple syrup, similar to a wine tasting.
“We always get excited about Maple Season at Conservation Halton, and we are even more pleased to offer the programs in their original format this year,” said Brenna Bartley, Education Manager at Conservation Halton “With over 600 maple trees, Mountsberg’s sugarbush has been producing maple syrup for over 150 years and educating the public for over 40 years. We see people come back to this event year after year and we’re proud to have become a part of so many families’ annual traditions. We love offering multiple programs for our visitors to enjoy a fun and educational experience whether they participate in Maple Season at Maple Town or Sweetwater Season.”
For tickets, pricing, and details about Maple Season, visit conservationhalton.ca/MapleSeason
Conservation Halton is the community based environmental agency that protects, restores, and manages the natural resources in its watershed. The organization has staff that includes ecologists, land use planners, engineers, foresters and educators, along with a network of volunteers, who are guided by a Board of Directors comprised of municipally elected and appointed citizens. Conservation Halton is recognized for its stewardship of creeks, forests and Niagara Escarpment lands through science-based programs and services.
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