Celebrate All Things Maple at Maple Madness Festival

While most Pittsburghers are surprised that snow is in the forecast this late in the year, Sue Jeffrey of Wagner’s Maple Sugar Camp was excited.

“We are hoping this snow means we can harvest a little more syrup.  Everyone loves the 70 degree days in winter except the maple harvesters,” she says.

Wagner’s is a fourth-generation maple farm located two hours south of Pittsburgh in Somerset County. The Wagner family bought their farm in 1882, and have been producing maple products ever since. Many of their maple trees are original to the farm, with some being over 200 years old.

And this weekend, Pittsburghers will have the chance to sample of of this syrup at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve for their annual Maple Madness Festival on Saturday, March 18.

The event will give guests that chance to learn the history of maple syrup harvesting Western Pennsylvania and, of course, try a lot of maple syrup.

Maple Madness begins with a pancake brunch, featuring syrup, and other maple goodies from Wagner’s.  After the brunch, guests are taken on a hike around the nature reserve. Different stations will be set up to display different parts of the maple harvesting process.

Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve is the headquarters for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.  It’s located just 20 minutes northeast of downtown Pittsburgh, and has 134 acres of protected area for flora, fauna, and wildlife. A similar event will be held the following Saturday, on March 25, at the Succop Nature Park in Butler, PA.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the event. The first brunch will be served at 10:00 a.m, and the last brunch seating at 1:00 p.m., with the final tour to follow. More information can be found online.

And, if Maple Madness isn’t enough, the 70th Annual Pennsylvania Maple Festival will be held over on March 25 and March 26, and March 29 through April 2 in Meyersdale, PA, just up the road from Wagner’s Maple Sugar Camp. The festival will have even more maple events like tree tapping, syrup tasting, a Maple Queen pageant, a tractor show, horse pulling contest and more. Visit the event page for more information.