Letchworth State Park will be the sweet spot of New York’s maple heartland on Maple Weekends.
Maple Weekends are statewide on March 16, March 17, March 23, and March 24. At Letchworth State Park, that means pancake breakfasts, tours of the sugarbush, and hands-on demos of sugaring techniques from the brand new to the deeply traditional at the Humphrey Nature Center, accessible through the Castile entrance, 6787 Denton Corners Road, Castile.
Volunteers with the Friends of Letchworth State Park will be working the griddles at the nature center, making pancakes and sausages. Watch Letchworth State Park’s official social media,
@letchworthstatepark on Facebook and Instagram, for posts when pancake breakfast tickets go on sale. Pancake breakfast tickets benefit the Friends of Letchworth’s preservation and improvement projects in the park. All syrup making activities are free.
Even sweeter, this year is NYS Parks’ centennial, the 100th birthday of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. To mark this 100th anniversary, Letchworth’s mapling team is using exactly 100 taps on the park’s maple trees. Aluminum buckets, plastic buckets, tubing lines, bags, even a DIY milk jug are all in play. At Maple Weekends, attendees can see them all in action and help collect sap.
Letchworth State Park’s maple syrup will be for sale at the nature center. To mark each batch made in NYS Parks’ centennial year, each bottle of syrup will have a unique centennial sticker.
Can’t make Maple Weekends? There are more chances to make maple at Letchworth, though there won’t be pancakes. Maple SAPturdays, maple-themed homeschooler classes, and tours of the sugarbush. Check the schedule for year-round free outings at http://parks.ny.gov/events/event-results.aspx?pk=79
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