Maple Sugaring
Let’s get Sap Happy!
Join our maple sugaring community this March! Come out to tour our sugar shack, tap a sugar maple tree, explore the history of sugaring, and taste one of nature’s sweetest treats. Registration is required.
Maple Sugaring Event: Sap Happy
Experience Maple Sugaring at Johnson Nature Center in 2024
Dates & Times:
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Saturday, March 9 CANCELLED
Saturday, March 16
Times: 9:30a-2:30p
Join us this maple sugaring season for a tour of our Sugarbush! Discover how to identify and tap the perfect sugar maple tree and enjoy the sights, smells, and tastes of the sweet syrup-making process in our Sugar Shack and Log Cabin. Self-guided tours begin every half hour from 9:30a - 2:30p with numerous activities available at your own pace. Explore the log cabin, experience tree tapping, work on your tree identification skills, and much more with our staff and volunteers there to engage you in the joys of the season along the way.
Maple Sugaring Self-Guided Tours through Experience Stations
Cost : $12 per person (ages 2 years and older). Toddlers 1 year old and under are free.
Pre-registration is required. Timed entry every half hour for both events. Enter the Visitor Center upon your arrival to begin your maple sugar experience.
Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
School groups interested in a Maple Sugaring program, please go HERE for details.
Interested in helping out?
We are looking for volunteers to help during the Maple Sugaring event. Please sign up HERE if interested. Thank you in advance.
Maple Sugaring Data Results from 3rd Grade programs at Bloomfield Hills School:
During the school visits to Johnson Nature Center, students conducted field studies to embark on a journey of history, food, and culture. The story of maple sugaring is an important one… thousands of years spanning from the First Nations people living in the Great Lakes region to today. Observing and journaling art from a First Nations artist and living into an 1800’s log cabin and barn provided a historical lens to understand the importance of maple sugaring to countless people living on this land. Students also identified native trees, collected data with tools, and observed the process of boiling sap to make syrup which will provided a scientific overview of maple sugaring.
Data was collected by the students as an authentic contribution to a larger effort to preserve past data kept in handwritten journals and the development of a new digital method of collection as of this year (2022). You will be able to view this data, to be updated weekly below. This data will guide future management and stewardship planning of the sugarbush.
“The Maple News” is also linked below providing the latest edition of our special sugaring newsletter.
Bar Graph of Volume of Sap Collected (gallons):
Student Activity: Sugar Maple Tree Data Coming Soon
This data is as of March 17, 2022.