Where to Take Your Family to See Maple Syrup Being Made Near Washington, D.C

It's almost that time of year again- not Valentine's Day- maple sugaring time. Back in New England where I grew up, tapping the sugar maples and letting the syrup drip into pails to be later boiled into syrup was an event that didn't get underway until March. Here in the Mid-Atlantic region, maple sugaring often starts in February and is finished by mid-March. So few the trees, so absent the fanfare, the maple sugaring season slips by unnoticed here. It takes some serious searching to find a grove that invites visitors to watch the sugaring magic.

Fortunately, Meadowside Nature Center, 5100 Meadowside Lane, Rockville, MD, 20855, Tel. 301-924-4141 offers an educational program allowing visitors to follow the stages of the maple sugaring process. They learn about when and how the trees are tapped and see the metal shafts that guide the tree sap to drip into a bucket. They can watch the boiling down process that nets maple syrup. And then the best part of all- the taste test!

This maple sugaring program is available for only three weeks during late February and early March when the sap is running. Exact dates are hard to pinpoint in advance, especially this year with the warmer winter weather. A good cold snap is needed to get that sap running. And a warm spell can stop it in its tracks. But you can call the Center for information- the latest prediction is that the maple sugaring process will get underway toward the end of February. The cost to participate in the program is $5.

Brookside Nature Center, 1400 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton Regional Park, Wheaton, Maryland 20902, Tel. 301-946-9071 offers its maple sugaring program in February. This year's dates are February 6-23, 2007. The cost is $5. Naturalists focus on the science of maple sugaring beginning with photosynthesis and ending with a taste test.