Lake County maple syrup hikes end on a sweet note

The Lake County Forest Preserve District held its final Maple Syrup Hike of the season Sunday, giving visitors to Ryerson Woods near Riverwoods an up-close look at how the sticky topping is made.

Over the last three weekends, more than 750 people took part in the one-hour hikes led by forest preserve nature educators. After a short walk into the woods, participants witnessed the sap collection process and saw an evaporator working to make the sap into syrup.

“Some people are interested because they're thinking about tapping their own maple trees to see if they can make their own maple syrup,” said environmental educator June Melber. “We give people an opportunity to taste maple syrup so that they know what the maple syrup that we make right here at Ryerson Woods tastes like.”

According to the forest preserve, Ryerson Woods is only one of a few places in the county where the trees grow to a diameter and height that allows for tapping. The syrup production takes place in late winter and early spring.

“It's amazing that they have a maple grove right here in Lake County. It was very informative and straightforward,” Carey Fox of Grayslake said after walking in the woods to look at the maple trees with her son, Griffin, and husband, Bob. “We didn't know how much it took to make a gallon of syrup.”