With the last of the freezing nights and the beginning of sap flow, maple trees are tapped for their sweet sap which is boiled into delicious maple syrup open the first two weekends in March – both Saturday and Sunday from 10 am – 4pm March 1st and March 2nd, 2025.
In the 1870s, Swedish immigrants Anders and Johanna “Kjellberg” bought 80 acres in Porter County, Indiana, to establish a modest family farm. They were the first of three generations of the Chellberg Family to make their living here. In the 1930s, the Chellberg’s started to tap the many maple trees on their property for the production of maple syrup.
Maple Sugar Time in early March is one of the most popular seasons at the national lakeshore’s historic Chellberg Farm. Come and experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the sugarbush in spring.
The Annual Maple Sugar Time features the evolution of “maple sugaring” in Northwest Indiana from an early American Indian method, to the pioneer method of boiling sap in open iron kettles, to the relatively modern and commercial method of producing syrup much the way the Chellberg Family did.
Chellberg Farm is located on Mineral Springs Road in Porter, between U.S. Highways 12 and 20. For more information on this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, call 219-395-1882 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/indu
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Maple Sugar Time at Indiana Dunes!
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The National Park Service hosts the event at Chellberg Farm. Maple Sugar will be held March 9th and 10th in 2024.
The farm stayed in the family until 1972 when Carl Chellberg
School Programs Offered For Maple Sugar by The Indiana Dunes National Park
Bring your school class or education group out for a ranger-led tour of Indiana Dunes National Park’s Chellberg Farm at Maple Sugar Time in March.
Take a walk through time from indigenous methods to the 1930 Chellberg Sugar House ending with a taste of real maple syrup in the Chellberg Farmhouse. While on the trail, take a stab at tapping a Maple Tree post to get the experience of how the tapping process works.
Though the program is designed to be presented to all grade levels, program meets several state education standards for elementary-grade students. Continue Reading . . .
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Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.
