How the North Shore Continues the Age-old Tradition of Maple Sugaring

As winter days grow longer and begin to warm, but nights still dip well below freezing, the maple trees awaken from their winter slumber. When the sap begins to flow, staff and volunteers at the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary start to prepare for the age-old tradition of maple sugaring.  

The People Behind the Syrup

Richard Wolneiwicz, North Shore Regional Property Manager, along with his dedicated staff and loyal volunteers, has been tapping sugar maple trees to produce Ipswich River maple syrup for three decades. Every season, Richard teaches staff, volunteers, and visitors how to make maple syrup in the traditional way: using a hand drill, sap buckets and spiles, and an evaporator fueled by a wood stove.  

Seasonal volunteers, known as "sugar bears", spend countless hours in the steamy sugarhouse, managing the evaporator temperatures and tending the wood stove that boils down the sap. The job requires a lot of patience, as it takes hours of boiling to transform sap into syrup, but the sweet-smelling vapors rising from the evaporator make the effort rewarding and unforgettable. Richard reflects on this process, “People get an authentic experience of stepping back in time in time to see how maple syrup was made the old-fashion way.” It takes 40 gallons of tree sap to make just one gallon of syrup—a true labor of love. 

Experience the Process of Maple Sugaring

The delicate process of maple sugaring typically begins in February and continues into the first weeks of March, but its success is directly tied to the weather. If it is too cold, the trees stop producing sap; if it becomes too warm, the sugaring season will end.  

Plan your maple sugaring adventure to experience this annual New England tradition on a walk down the Bunker Meadow Trail to the maple grove. It is a magical experience for the senses. Listen to the steady tapping of sap dripping into the many buckets hung from the trees while enjoying a view of Bunker Meadow in the distance. 

Take it to the next level by joining one of our Sugaring Saturday tours, where you’ll learn all about maple sugar, including how to identify sugar maple trees, tap them, and collect sap. Watch the sap being boiled down in the sugarhouse and get a taste of the final sweet syrup!