MI's Hartwick Pines State Park hosts Maple Syrup Day March 24

Hartwick Pines State Park Visitor Center

Author's note: We have camped at Hartwick Pines State Park and found it to be one of the better state parks in Michigan.The campground is basically split into two parts, with one side being under tree cover and the other side being open to the sun. Very generally speaking, if you were to draw a vertical line from the top of the campground, through the shower facilities, to the bottom of the campground, everything to the east is under tree cover. Sites on the west of the vertical line are open to the sun. The Old Growth Trail, Visitor Center and Logging Museum were both appealing to us grown-ups, but our kids were pretty much bored by it all.

At Hartwick Pines State Park’s Visitor Center and Logging Museum March 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. visitors can spend the day learning about — and sampling — North America’s oldest agricultural product, maple sugar!

Visitors to the park are invited to:

• Walk into the sugar bush to help tap a maple tree;
• Watch the boil-down process that converts maple sap to maple syrup;
• Learn about the history of maple sugar making in North America;
• Watch videos about maple sugar;
• Ask an expert about how to start making maple syrup and tap trees in their own backyard;
• Taste maple sap and the finished maple syrup; and
• Purchase maple sugar candy and syrup. 

 Children can help tap a maple tree and learn how to build their own mokuk. A mokuk is a birch bark container in which native peoples transported maple sugar. Making a paper mokuk replica provides a history lesson and discussion about how European settlers learned of the Native Americans’ sugaring culture.

Tree tapping demonstrations will take place at 10:30, 11:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 in the sugar bush. Visitors will be invited to help tap the maple trees.

Maple recipes will be available for those wishing to savor the sweetness of the day.

The Friends of Hartwick Pines State Park cosponsor this special event.

Hartwick Pines State Park is located at 4216 Ranger Rd., Grayling, MI 49738. Hartwick Pines Logging Museum is part of the Michigan Historical Museum Family. It is administered by the Michigan Historical Center and the Parks and Recreation Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. For more information about this event or other programs at the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum, please call (989) 348-2537 or visit www.michigan.gov/loggingmuseum.