Maple Sugar Time near

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Updated: February 21, 2012 1:55PM

Enjoy a sweet taste of dunes heritage during the annual Maple Sugar Time at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

National Park Service rangers and volunteers will be at the lakeshore’s historic Chellberg Farm from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekends of March 3 and 4 and March 10 and 11 for the fun, educational and free event marking the unofficial start of spring.

Over the past 400 years, pure maple sugar and syrup have played roles in the lives of dunes residents. Visitors will take a short stroll down the farm trail and learn why American Indians first boiled maple sap into sugar and how, later, European settlers used large iron kettles to make the sap into syrup.

Then, they can stand in the warm steam of the sugar shack, where sap is boiled using the same methods that the Chellberg family used during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Visitors may try their hands at drilling a tap hole or help children complete a junior-ranger activity sheet so they can earn a Junior Ranger Heritage Patch.

A taste of pure maple syrup will allow attendees to compare it to modern “pancake syrup.” In the farm house, recipes featuring maple syrup will be shared.

Pure maple syrup and sugar, and related products, will be for sale.

Chellberg Farm is on Mineral Springs Road between U.S. 20 and U.S. 12 in the town of Porter. For more information on this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, visit the park website at www.nps.gov/indu/planyourvisit or call the park’s information desk at (219) 395-1882.