Road trip: New England’s maple syrup season

“Maple syrup season is a special time in New England,” said Adam H. Callaghan in Food & Wine. In February and March, as temperatures routinely cross above the freezing point when night turns to day, sap flows strongly in the region’s maple trees, meaning the sugarhouses will be boiling it down to create syrup and other sweet treats for locals and visitors. Here are some ideas, by state, on places to “taste the delicious results.”

Maine

Treehouse Brand Maple Syrup of Auburn taps black maple trees instead of sugar maples, then “boils the sap in a must-see sugar shack: a treehouse that looks like a huge locomotive steam engine.” You can also enjoy the unique syrup drizzled on the blueberry pancakes or stirred into the sea-salt maple latte served at the Alna Store in Alna.

Vermont

During Vermont Maple Open House Weekend, March 22-23, many of the state’s 3,000 sugarhouses welcome visitors. And maple syrup can be found in a wide variety of Green Mountain State products, including Vermont Spirits’ No. 14 bourbon and the beloved maple creemee, a flavor of soft-serve ice cream made with maple syrup and extra dairy fat that’s served statewide.

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New Hampshire

For all there is to know about how sap becomes syrup, head to The Rocks, a 1,400-acre estate in Bethlehem. The preserve’s New Hampshire Maple Experience includes a horse-drawn wagon tour, tapping lessons, a tour of a working sugarhouse, and a visit to a maple museum. Don’t forget to leave with a jug of the proprietary stuff.

Massachusetts

Old Sturbridge Village usually ends its sugaring season in early March, so get your syrup history lessons instead at the Northern Spy restaurant in Canton, where proprietor Marc Sheehan is a student of the subject and makes the syrup for his maple-bacon breakfast sausage and sticky maple pudding.