Ottawa-area maple sugarbushes are opening for the 2024 season!

If you love maple syrup, maple sugar, maple taffy, maple butter—anything sweet and spring-like, basically—I have good news for you: Lots of maple sugarbushes (aka sucreries) across Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais are welcoming visitors in spring 2024! Here’s the scoop on who’s opening when, and what activities and food will be available.

Important: Sugarbush activities may be weather dependent, so do check your chosen site’s social media or website before heading out the door.

This post includes only those sugarbushes that are offering tours and other activities in 2024. However, that’s not the only way to support your favourite maple syrup maker! Please check this post for information on sugarbushes that are selling their products online or in a farm store.

I’m still confirming dates and hours for a couple of places, so keep checking back as spring goes on.

And, as always, if I’ve overlooked your favourite place, let me know and I’ll do my best to include it.

Cover photo by Kobby Mendez on Unsplash.

Ottawa maple syrup producers

• The Log Farm, Cedarview Road: The sugarbush will be open on weekends from March 2 to April 7, as well as several days (March 11, 14 and 15) during Ontario’s March Break and all four days of the Easter weekend (March 29 to April 1). Visitors can collect sap buckets, see how syrup is made, tour the pioneer farmhouse and visit the barn animals. You need to book tickets online in advance.
• Proulx Farm, Cumberland: Maple Fest is open on weekends from March 3 until April 14. It is also open from March 11 to 15 (Ontario March Break) and all four days of the Easter weekend (March 29 to April 1). The pancake house opens for the season on March 3. Depending on the day, you can visit the sugar shack, get s’mores, hot dogs or soup to enjoy around the fire, pet farm animals, enjoy the outdoor playground, eat pancakes or desserts, enjoy a horse-drawn wagon ride, or explore the outdoor trails. There’s a farm shop, too. You can buy tickets online or at the door.
• Stanley’s Olde Maple Lane Farm, Edwards: The sugarbush is open on weekends from March 2 to April 14, as well as March Break (March 12 to 15), with an animal barn, a taffy shack, tractor-pulled wagon rides, a small farm museum and a pancake house. Intriguingly, the pancake house buffet is priced by weight, so you can heap your plate with as much or as little as you like and pay accordingly. The farm shop (please check Stanley’s website for current hours) sells take-home meals and baked goods, as well as maple products.
• Vanier Museopark Sugar Shack: The sucrerie is back after a devastating 2020 fire! It will be open to the general public Friday through Sunday from February 18 until April 28 (except for March 13 to 15, and March 18 to 24). It is also open to groups of 15 or more (by reservation only, at least a week in advance), from Wednesday through Friday. As well as watching maple syrup being made, you can tuck into sausages, French toast, baked beans and, of course, pancakes.

Sugarbushes elsewhere in Eastern Ontario

• Fulton’s, Pakenham: The trails and the maple shop at Fulton’s are open daily for the season from February 17 to April 14 (10am to 3pm). Sleigh rides are available on weekends from 11am to 3pm, as well as on weekdays during Ontario March Break (March 11 to 15) and over the Easter weekend (March 29 to 31; not Easter Monday). In the farm shop, you can pick up syrup, other foods and baked goods from a variety of local producers. There’s a $10 per vehicle admission fee if you want to use the hiking/snowshoeing/ski trails or enjoy other activities, but you don’t need to pay it to visit the shop.
• Fortune Farms, Almonte: The farm opens to the public on March 2 and will be open seven days a week from 10am to 4pm until the end of the season. You can have a picnic, see syrup being made, and taste taffy, syrup, fudge and candy. The site is dog friendly, too (make sure to leash your pooch). Check the website for updates on conditions before heading out.
• Grants Settlement Farms, Foresters Falls: Sugar shack tours are available between 10am and 4pm on Saturdays in March (and, possibly, on other days—their website has details on who to contact to check). You can also buy maple syrup, sugar and other maple food products at the farm store, which you can visit on Saturdays or by appointment, year round.
• Hunter’s Maple Products, Spencerville: On Saturdays and Sundays in March and April (8am to 3pm), you can dig into an all-day pancake breakfast, see sap being made and see the maple taps. The farm doesn’t take reservations. Fun fact: Hunter’s is celebrating its 50th anniversary in business in 2024.
• Temple’s Sugar Bush, Lanark: Temple’s is serving up pancake breakfasts from Wednesday through Sunday from March 1 to April 21. Hours are 9am to 3pm.
• Wheelers Maple Products, McDonald’s Corners: The pancake house, sugarbush and museums are open on weekends (plus Family Day, February 19) from January 7 to February 29; open Tuesday through Sunday (plus Easter Monday, April 1) until April 21; and open Thursday through Sunday (plus Victoria Day, May 20) from April 25 to June 30. Reservations strongly recommended.
• Sand Road Maple Farm, Moose Creek: Take a tour, explore the nature trails, eat taffy made on snow and check out the maple buffet, among other fun activities. The farm opens for the season on Sunday, March 10, and will be open to visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until April 14.
• Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area, Kingston: The sugarbush is open weekends throughout March and during March Break, from 9am to 4pm. You can take a tractor-drawn wagon ride, explore an interpretive trail, see the sugar shack in action and eat pancakes. Advance online registration required.
• Trillium Sugarworks, Napanee: The sugarbush will be open daily from 9am to 4pm, from February 19 until April 7. Drop-ins welcome. Food will be served on Maple Weekend (April 6 and 7), and you’ll need reservations for that pancake brunch.

Outaouais and other Quebec cabanes à sucre

• Le Domaine de l’Ange-Gardien, l’Ange-Gardien: Open Tuesday through Sunday (plus Easter Monday, April 1) from February 17 to April 28. The fun includes sugar shack meals and snow tubing. If you want to eat at the sugar shack, you must reserve online in advance. You can also get sugar shack meals to go.
• Erablière J.B. Caron, Gracefield: Open from March 2 until April 21. Tour the sugar shack, go snowshoeing and enjoy pancake house treats. Reservations strongly recommended.
• Sucrerie de la Montagne, Rigaud: One of the region’s largest sugar shacks, this sucrerie is open seven days a week from February 19 until April 30. Visit the maple syrup operation, take a horse-drawn sleigh or wagon ride, eat taffy, hear some live music, visit the general store, or enjoy traditional Quebec specialties like baked beans, meat pie and pea soup. Reserve in advance.
• Ferme Patry, Ange-Gardien: Starting March 9, the farm shop will be open daily from 9am to 5pm. You can shop for maple products (syrup, candies, tea and much more). The sugar shack operation depends on the weather; check the website before heading out.

Looking for other foodie posts? Check out my posts on how to get groceries delivered, where to find international ingredients and great local cheese shops.

Looking for more ideas for things to see and do in our region? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or pick up a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide, from which this post is adapted.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.