With the last of the freezing nights and the beginning of sap flow, maple trees are tapped for their sweet sap which is boiled into delicious maple syrup.

In the 1870s, Swedish immigrants Anders and Johanna "Kjellberg" bought 80 acres in Porter County, Indiana, to establish a modest family farm. They were the first of three generations of the Chellberg Family to make their living here. In the 1930s, the Chellbergs started to tap the many maple trees on their property for the production of maple syrup.

The Annual Maple Sugar Time Festival features the evolution of "maple sugaring" in Northwest Indiana from an early American Indian method, to the pioneer method of boiling sap in open iron kettles, to the relatively modern and commercial method of producing syrup much the way the Chellberg Family did.

The Sugar Shack, damaged during a 2007 summer storm was restored and used during the 2008 sugaring season

FESTIVAL GROUNDS ARE OPEN 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Ranger-led tours will be offered from 10 a.m. - noon. At noon, the guided tours are replaced by a self-guided interpreted tour route with uniformed rangers and volunteers stationed at stops along the way. All tours start behind the Bailly/Chellberg Visitor Center and end near the Chellberg Farmhouse.

At the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center, view the films "Visit to a Maple Sugar Farm" and "Maple Sugar Farmer" shown at 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m. All will add to your sugaring experience.

The Chesterton Lions Club will serve pancakes topped with pure maple syrup from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Bottled syrup will be available for sale at the visitor centers.

Admission to the Festival is free.

The Bailly/Chellberg Area is located on Mineral Springs Road between Highways 20 and 12, about 2 miles west of Highway 49. For more information about this and other programs, contact the visitor center at 219-395-8914. Schedule of Events on the Web.