STROUDSBURG, Pa. — "It's educational, and there's a nice sweet reward at the end."
That's the short and sweet summary of Kettle Creek Environmental Education Center's annual maple sugaring public day.
"The day includes a 90-minute tour of the sugarbush. It includes how the Native Americans made maple syrup, pilgrims, and how we make it today," said environmental educator Alesia Gallo.
The event is held in the sugarbush in Delaware State Forest. Since there's not much activity in the sugarbush just yet, we followed environmental educator Brittney Coleman into the woods behind the environmental center to see what goes into tapping a maple tree.
"We want to use the hand drill at a 45-degree angle so that when sap does run, it will run right out," Coleman explained.
After cleaning out the hole that's about one and a half inches deep, it's time for a spile and spile driver to tap the tree.
This process is repeated hundreds of times throughout the sugarbush.
"It just feels cool to know that you're out in the woods, doing a traditional activity, using the resources that are all around us," Coleman said.
Kettle Creek Environmental Education Center's public maple sugaring day is Saturday, March 7.
"You can actually show up any time from 10 to 3, so there is a pretty steady flow of traffic coming in and out," Gallo said.
It'll run you $6 to get in, $4 for kids under 12.
"There will be a local maple sugar farmer up there who has some amazing maple sugar products -- syrup, cotton candy, maple sugar candy," Gallo added.
All tours end with pancakes topped with fresh maple syrup.