Insider Guide to Maple Syrup Days at McCloud Nature Park
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A fun, free and educational family event returns to Hendricks County, Indiana, in March! McCloud Maple Syrup Days celebrates McCloud Nature Park's sugar maple trees and the delectable sweetness they produce. This year's Maple Syrup Days will take place on March 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Located just outside North Salem, McCloud Nature Park provides a glorious outdoor experience year-round with 232 acres of hills, prairies, trails, Big Walnut Creek, wetlands, a historic truss bridge and much more. Inside McCloud, hundreds of sugar maple trees are tapped every year as Hendricks County Parks & Recreation celebrates Maple Syrup Days.
Learn At Maple Syrup Days
Maple Syrup Days are an excellent way to learn about the history of maple syrup and how it's made today. Come out to McCloud Nature Park to learn how sugar maple trees are tapped to draw out their sweet sap that is the core component of maple syrup, and then try your hand at installing a tap!
Head out to the fire ring for some wonderful storytelling about how Native Americans made maple syrup before the advent of more modern methods. Then head over to the parks' pavilion, transformed into a Sugar Shack, where an evaporator is set up to demonstrate a current method of creating syrup from sap.
Have Fun At Maple Syrup Days
Not only will you learn new things at Maple Syrup Days, you'll also have fun! We'll have axe-throwing, a story walk, yard games, tree cookie branding, crafts and a special passport for the event where you collect a special stamp at every station around the park, and then turn in your completed passport for a special treat.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resource's Woods on Wheels exhibit will be there, and there will be vendors on site to provide shopping opportunities. One of those vendors is Harris Sugar Bush, which will offer an opportunity to purchase the locally sourced maple syrup that you've learned about throughout the day!
Eat At Maple Syrup Days
The 17th Annual Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser at McCloud Nature Park will take place on March 14 from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Enjoy pancakes, sausage and fruit to fuel up for the day's events.
Freewill donations are accepted (minimum suggested donations are at least $10 per adult and $6 per child), and all proceeds go to Hendricks County Parks & Recreation for future developments and improvements to McCloud Nature Park. Your support allows the department to create new spaces, programs and experiences for everyone in the community to enjoy.
(Insider tip: Wanna get a pancake breakfast for free? Sign up to volunteer at the Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser!)
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