News Release

Maple Sugar Time Festival Offers Kids Activities

Date: March 2, 2018

Enjoy an early taste of spring at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's 40th annual Maple Sugar Time festival. The historic Chellberg Farm will be bustling with maple sugaring activities from 10:00 am– 4:00 pm on the weekends of March 3-4 and March 10-11. The free, one-hour maple sugar tours start every 20 minutes.

Learn how American Indians first boiled maple sap into sugar and how early settlers used large iron kettles to make syrup. Then, stand in the warm steam of the sugar shack where sap is still boiled down the way the Chellberg family did it back in the 1930s. Try your hand at drilling a tap hole, lugging heavy sap buckets using an old-fashioned yoke, or just enjoying a free taste of pure maple syrup!
 
In addition to the ranger-led tours of the sugaring operation, children can participate in a special Maple Sugar Junior Ranger program. At the start of a tour, pick up a free, Junior Ranger activity booklet and then fill it out during the tour. Completing the activities will not only make the event a lot more fun for your child, but will give them a deeper understanding of our local maple sugaring history. After completing the tasks your child will receive a junior ranger sticker.
 
Chellberg Farm is located on Mineral Springs Road between U.S. Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 12 in Porter, Indiana. For more information on this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, call 219-395-1882 or visit our website and our Facebook page.