PORTER | Get a sweet taste of spring at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s annual Maple Sugar Time. The historic Chellberg Farm will be bustling with the activities of maple sugaring from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekends of March 2 and 3 and March 9 and 1013.
See how American Indians first boiled maple sap into sugar and learn how the early settlers used large iron kettles to create syrup. Then, stand in the warm steam of the sugar shack where sap is still boiled down the way the Chellbergs did it in the 1930s. Guests can try their hand at drilling a tap hole, lugging heavy sap buckets using an old-fashioned yolk, or just enjoying a free taste of pure maple syrup. Admission for all activities is free.
Take a short stroll along the self-guided farm trail to learn more about this part of this shared heritage. Along the way, help the kids complete a junior ranger activity sheet so they can earn a free Junior Ranger Heritage Patch. Then warm up in the farm house and collect recipes featuring maple syrup. Pure maple syrup and sugar, and related products, will be for sale on site.
Maple Sugar Time takes place at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s Chellberg Farm on Mineral Springs Road between U.S. 20 and Highway 12 in the central portion of the national lakeshore. Call (219) 395-1882.
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