There’s a very specific kind of Ontario day when maple season hits just right.
Snow still lines the fields. The air smells like woodsmoke. Boots crunch on frozen ground. Steam curls out of sugar shack vents. Inside, sap boils. Outside, people line up for pancakes at 10 AM with absolutely no shame.
Winter isn’t done. Spring isn’t here.
But maple season? Maple season is on.
From heritage sugar bushes and wagon rides to maple espresso martinis and self-guided tasting trails, 2026 is stacked with ways to tap into Ontario’s sweetest tradition.
Want to skip ahead by vibe?
Let’s go.
Classic Sugar Shack Days
This is maple at its most nostalgic. Pancakes first. Everything else second.
Lanark County: Deep Roots, Full Plates & a 50-Year Celebration
Lanark County does not mess around when it comes to maple.
Just outside Ottawa, this region is packed with heritage producers, working sugar bushes and pancake houses that fill up fast. Evaporators run steady. Syrup flows thick. Families gather around long tables for stacks of fluffy pancakes drenched in the good stuff.
Ontario Maple Weekend lands April 4-5, 2026, and Lanark is one of the best places to experience it. Producers open their doors for tours, tastings and that glorious taffy-on-snow moment.
And if you’re looking to stretch maple season a little longer, circle April 25, 2026 for the 50th Anniversary of the Perth Festival of the Maples.
Downtown Perth transforms into a full maple celebration along Gore, Foster and Herriott Streets and the Tay Basin. Expect maple syrup producers, taffy-on-snow, artisans, live music and family-friendly energy throughout the core. This milestone year adds even more action with the Great Canadian Lumberjack Show – axe throws, cross-cut saw races, standing block chops and serious logger-sport bragging rights.
Small-town Ontario. Big maple energy.
Arrive hungry. Stay curious.
Ottawa Region: Sugar Shacks in Snow Boots
Maple season in the capital region runs roughly late February through April (weather depending), and the options are wide open.
Farm-based sugar bushes with tractor rides and animal barns. Pioneer-style demos showing how sap becomes syrup. Taffy pulled across fresh snow.
And then there’s the Vanier Sugar Shack – the only operating urban sugar shack in Canada. Maple tradition, right in the city. It’s charming. It’s unexpected. It’s very Ottawa.
Make it a full day. Pancakes. Sugar bush walk. Maple shopping. Repeat.
For more region-wide maple tips and experiences, visit the Maple syrup fun at Ottawa’s sugar shacks blog.
Bronte Creek Provincial Park (Halton)
@visitoakville 🍁 It’s officially maple season in Oakville! Get ready for a sweet adventure at the annual Maple Syrup Festival at Bronte Creek Provincial Park! Running every weekend in March, plus all of March Break, it’s the perfect way to step back in time and experience Oakville’s rich maple heritage. ✨ Activities to enjoy: 👩🌾 Demonstrations on traditional maple syrup making 🥞 Pancake meal with fresh maple syrup 🚜 Tractor rides 🐑 Visit with the farm animals 🛍️ Explore the gift shop for all the maple goodies The park also offers an 18 hole disc golf course or Gnome Road, a trail with a collection of whimsical little gnome and fairy houses for parkgoers to explore. 📍Bronte Creek Provincial Park, 1219 Burloak Dr, Oakville 🗓️ Every weekend in March + March Break #visitoakville #discoveroakville #welcometooakvile #maplesyrupfestival #maplesyrup #GnomeRoad #marchbreak #familyactivities #farmanimals #provincialpark @thetownofoakville @heartofontario
Bronte Creek’s Maple Syrup Festival is a spring classic.
Guided tours along Maple Lane. Historical interpreters in period dress. Wagon rides through the park. Farm animals waiting for pats. Pancakes and sausages served hot with pure Ontario syrup.
Festival programming runs through March 2026.
Go early. Stay for seconds.
Orillia & Lake Country: Tap Into Maple
March 6 – April 5, 2026
In Central Ontario, Tap Into Maple hits the sweet spot.
Follow a self-guided journey to working sugar shacks where producers invite you to watch the boiling process up close. Taste syrup at its freshest. Try maple taffy before the snow disappears.
Then keep going. Restaurants, cafés and breweries across the region roll out maple-inspired features that stretch the season beyond the sugar bush.
Maple in all its forms. Exactly as it should be.
Ontario’s Southwest: Pancakes, Pioneer Charm & Maple Trails
Ontario’s Southwest leans fully into maple season – and it does it road-trip style.
In Elgin County, long-running sugar shacks like Palmer’s Maple Syrup serve pancake breakfasts on weekends in March. Middlesex County brings wagon rides and historic syrup-making demos. Dunnville’s Richardson’s Farm & Market offers hands-on family experiences from tapping to tasting.
Add festival energy at Springwater Maple Syrup Festival and the self-guided Essex Region Maple Trail linking maple lattes, baked goods and wineries, and you’ve got a full weekend mapped out.
Pack a cooler. You will be bringing syrup home.
(For a deeper Southwest itinerary, check out our 2025 road trip guide.)
Maple Food & Drink Trails
This is where maple stretches beyond tradition.
Waterloo Region: Taste of Maple Trail
March 1 – April 15, 2026
There’s no sweeter place to be this spring than Waterloo Region.
The Taste of Maple Trail brings together more than 20 limited-time maple creations across the region. It’s self-guided. It’s creative. It’s deliciously ambitious.
Think:
- Maple bacon crepes
- Maple crème brûlée ice cream
- Maple chicken and waffles
- Maple rye stout
- Maple old fashioneds
- Maple morning buns tossed in maple sugar
Like spring, these flavours don’t stick around forever.
Sip. Savour. Vote for your favourite for the Top Taste award.
Muskoka Maple Trail
Maple season in Muskoka feels cinematic.
Snow resting on forest trails. Wood-fired evaporators steaming into cold air. Restaurants layering maple into seasonal dishes. Breweries experimenting with maple-infused brews.
It’s part sugar bush. Part culinary crawl. Fully worth the drive.
Only-in-Ontario Maple Experiences
If you’re looking for something beyond pancakes, Ontario delivers.
Muskoka: A Maple Weekend at Windermere House
March 20–22, 2026
If your maple season calls for something slower, deeper and a little more indulgent, head to Lake Rosseau.
Windermere House is hosting a curated Muskoka Maple Adventure from March 20–22 – a two-night lakeside escape that connects forest, food and story in one sweet weekend.
The experience includes:
- A guided sugar bush and sugar shack visit at Brooklands Farm
- A maple-inspired farm brunch in an 1876 log home
- A three-course maple-themed dinner at The Rosseau
- Fireside storytelling led by Wahta Mohawk Elders
- Guided reflection and live music
- Full access to barrel saunas and outdoor hot tubs overlooking the lake
It’s maple season reimagined – less lineup, more lakeside steam rising from the water.
Winter still lingers. The sap is running. You settle into a robe between hot springs sessions and let Muskoka do the rest.
For those who want to turn maple season into a full reset, this is your move.
Haliburton Highlands: Dogsled to a Sugar Bush
Maple season in the Haliburton Highlands comes with fresh forest air and a little extra adventure.
Across the region, local producers like Esson Creek Maple and Wintergreen Maple Products welcome visitors for sugar bush tours, taffy-on-snow experiences and classic syrup-season traditions.
Explore more through the Haliburton Highlands Maple page to discover where to experience and buy local maple throughout the region.
But if you’re looking for something truly unforgettable? Glide there.
Winterdance Dogsled Tours offers a Maple Sugar Bush Tour in March, where guests travel by dogsled through Haliburton’s winter wilderness before warming up at a working sugar bush. It’s part forest adventure, part maple immersion – and entirely Ontario.
The experience books quickly (especially weekends), so advance reservations are recommended.
Winter meets spring. Huskies meet syrup. Maple season, reimagined.
Manitoulin Island Maple Syrup Festival
March 28, 2026
A full-day maple celebration in Kagawong featuring:
- Mock sugar bush demonstrations
- Maple-inspired pancake breakfast
- Maple-forward lunch
- A butter tart competition (every tart made with local maple syrup)
- A ticketed multi-course maple dinner to close it out
Interactive. Community-driven. Sweet from start to finish.
Why Maple Season Works
Maple season is Ontario’s in-between magic trick.
Snow still lingers. Fires still crackle. But the light shifts. The air softens. Spring edges closer.
You bundle up. You wander into the woods. You eat pancakes at 10 AM. You buy more syrup than you meant to. You start planning the next stop before you even leave the parking lot.
Short trip. Big flavour. Sweetest season unlocked.
