The Tap Into Maple syrup festival is one of Ontario’s best

It’s time to Tap Into Maple! Orillia and Lake Country’s annual month-long maple syrup festival is among the best celebrations of the sweet stuff you’ll find anywhere in Ontario.

March is the perfect time to explore all things maple. Spring brings the conditions when maple sap runs, as the days warm up but the nights are still below freezing. During Tap Into Maple, you can discover how maple syrup is made and learn the many ways it can enhance your sweet treats and culinary delights.

Here’s everything you need to know about planning your visit. Have questions about Tap Into Maple? Join our Facebook community!

Produced in partnership with Orillia & Lake Country Tourism

What is Tap Into Maple?

Tap Into Maple is Orillia and Lake Country’s annual maple syrup festival. Each year, more than 20 of the region’s businesses come together to create a sweet celebration! Participants include maple syrup producers, restaurants and cafés, and other food-based businesses such as chocolate makers and bakeries. For 2025, Tap Into Maple in Orillia and Lake Country takes place from March 3 to April 6, which includes five weekends and all of March Break.

How to plan your own Tap Into Maple road trip

Orillia and Lake Country is located just 90 minutes north of the Greater Toronto Area, making Tap Into Maple a great day trip, weekend road trip, or March Break getaway. Using the map above created by Orillia and Lake Country Tourism, you can plan your own route based on the locations you’d like to visit.

Once you’re in the region, you’ll find most participating businesses are a short drive from one another, often 20 minutes or less. It’s realistic to visit four to six spots per day, and more if you spend some time in downtown Orillia (which we highly recommend!).

Be sure to check the opening dates and hours of each location before you set out. Many of the businesses that participate in Tap Into Maple are open for all of March Break, but some are open only on weekends for the remainder of the maple syrup festival.

At this Ontario maple syrup festival, see how syrup is made

In Canada, the process of harvesting maple sap and turning it into syrup is has a very long history. Indigenous peoples have been producing maple syrup and maple sugar for millennia. Early settlers hung buckets on trees and boiled sap in cauldrons over bonfires. Today, you’ll still see the occasional tap and bucket, but most producers now use advanced line tapping systems and large boiler units to make the process more efficient.

To make just one litre of maple syrup, producers need to harvest 40 litres of sap! The water in the sap is boiled off during the production process, leaving the sugars behind. Each sugar bush has slightly different characteristics, giving every syrup its own signature flavour.

To learn more about this process, visit the maple syrup producers below during Tap Into Maple. You’ll be able to see how each one gathers sap and boils it down to create amazing maple syrup and pick up a fresh bottle to take home. You may even have a chance to try some maple taffy as a special treat!

Hutchinson’s Maple Syrup

Hutchinson’s Maple Syrup in Oro-Medonte Township is a family-owned and operated maple farm. From the 1,600 taps throughout their maple bush, their vacuum system harvests sap into a huge tank that feeds their enormous wood-fired boiler. When you visit, you’re likely to see the boiler in action! Hutchinson’s has syrup and other maple products available for purchase, and they serve maple taffy on select days throughout Tap Into Maple.

Maple Grove Syrup

Maple Grove Syrup is located in Severn Township. Brent Beers works full-time as a nurse at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie. He takes time off to lead this family operation during maple season as it produces more than 5,000 litres of maple syrup every spring. His family has been making maple syrup for generations, so he jokes that it runs through his veins!

Brent and his wife Amy focus on creating a family-friendly atmosphere during Tap Into Maple. When you visit, you’re likely to see Brent operating the wood-fired boiler and Amy inviting guests to walk through the trails carved into their maple bush. On select days, they boil their award-winning syrup down into maple taffy poured directly onto snow!

Shaw’s Maple Syrup

If you’re looking for a traditional sugar shack and pancake house, look no further than Shaw’s Maple Syrup. When you arrive, you may see someone working around the tanks and boiler. That’s most likely Tom Shaw, the third generation of syrup maker at this family maple bush, which has been operating since 1904.

Breakfast and brunch are served daily at Shaw’s pancake house, located in Oro-Medonte not far from Highway 11. You can enjoy their house-made maple syrup with pancakes, French toast, bacon, sausage and more. The store stocks Shaw’s maple syrup and other maple products. Don’t miss the homemade maple sugar candy, but arrive early: it sells out quickly on busy days.

You’ll also find interesting heirlooms throughout the sugar shack. One of them is a piece of wood where Shaw family members recorded the first day of the maple tap each year, all the way back to 1906. Tom also showed us a cross-section of a tree with tap holes made by his family going back decades!

Elsie’s Creek Farm

Carl Campitelli and his two sons run the maple syrup operation at Elsie’s Creek Farm in Oro-Medonte. In many ways, this is still a traditional operation. There are tap lines throughout the bush, but the family still gathers sap using a vintage snowcat and processes it in small batches in a wood-fired boiler. The system is clearly working: Elsie’s Creek syrups have won more than 20 ribbons at the Royal Winter Fair!

The elder Campitelli is a retired schoolteacher, and this shines through at Elsie’s Creek Farm in many ways. Most visits are by appointment to allow for a more personal experience. As little ones walk through the maple bush, they can look for letters hidden along the way and use them to solve some clever word puzzles. Plus, you’ll find traditional taps and buckets placed by local schoolchildren, who get to return and see how much sap their buckets have collected.

A visit to Elsie’s Creek Farm is a welcoming and family-friendly experience. And the syrup is delicious, too! Visit during Ontario’s Maple Weekend for a fully doors-open event. In 2025, Ontario’s Maple Weekend runs on April 5 and 6.

Hewitts Farm-Market

If you’ve driven through Barrie and Orillia before, you may have seen Hewitts roadside corn stands. This is one of the annual traditions Hewitts is best known for in the region. What you may not know is that the farm has a maple bush and makes their own maple syrup on site!

Hewitts Farm-Market sells syrup and plenty more at their farm store, which is open year-round in Severn. This is an especially good place to stop if you’re short on time: Hewitts carries tons of local products, including from several of the shops that participate in Tap Into Maple.

Others maple syrup producers participating in Tap Into Maple include The FarmGate in Ramara Township, Sugar Sweet Farms in Oro-Medonte, and Backwoods Maple Syrup in Severn Township.

Sample maple-infused dishes at local restaurants and cafés

Once you’ve learned how maple syrup is made, it’s time to eat! One seriously fun aspect of Tap Into Maple is seeing how local restaurants incorporate locally produced maple syrup into their dishes. There are plenty of special creations available exclusively during Tap Into Maple. Whether you’re looking for a casual bite or a sweet treat, you’re sure to find something satisfying on this list!

Quayle’s Brewery

Quayle’s Brewery is an absolute must-visit. Located in Oro-Medonte inside a replica of a local landmark barn, Quayle’s offers a wide variety of craft beers in a welcoming and family-friendly atmosphere. Events are held all year long like trivia and comedy nights, live music, and pop-up markets. For Tap Into Maple in 2025, Quayle’s is offering a maple butternut squash soup, maple beer, and maple coffeecake. Ask for the Maplelicious bundle to try all three!

Off Eleven Pizza + Eats

Maple on pizza? You bet! Off Eleven Pizza + Eats, also in Oro-Medonte, puts together creative offerings for Tap Into Maple. This year’s offerings include maple bacon and goat cheese pizza with cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions, and arugula, and maple bourbon chicken tenders. Gluten-free and vegan options are available. Enjoy your pizza with some plane-watching at this restaurant inside the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport.

Apple Annie’s Café

Apple Annie’s Café is a classic and cozy café located in downtown Orillia. During Tap Into Maple, enjoy their signature maple latte and maple pecan Danish, or try the maple French toast and brie, pear and ham sandwich created specially for maple syrup festival season.

Em’s Café

Visit the quaint village of Coldwater to sample maple creations at Em’s Café. Their signature dishes are panini-grilled sandwiches and house-made soups. For Tap Into Maple, pair these with a maple spice latte or a French toast iced latte with cold foam for a sweet treat.

Lake Country Grill

Lake Country Grill is a cozy restaurant in Orillia that offers up cottage country vibes, warming comfort foods, and plenty of live music. For their Tap Into Maple special, you’ll get fall-off-the-bone pork ribs with a sweet and sticky maple chili glaze, paired with a maple crème brûlée for dessert. It’s delicious and filling, and it’s a great value!

Blue Moon Junction in Severn Township is also serving maple chili glazed pork back ribs for Tap Into Maple, along with maple chili Atlantic salmon and hot maple bacon walnut cheesecake.

Stock up on amazing maple treats

Tap Into Maple is a fantastic time to explore the many local artisans creating delicious products with maple in Orillia and Lake Country. There are so many sweet treats to discover!

Chelsea Chocolates

Based in the charming community of Craighurst, Chelsea Chocolates is offering its Maple Madness Bar and Bourbon Maple Gourmet Bar, both made with locally sourced ingredients, on top of their usual selection of delectable chocolate creations.

Copperpot Nuts

You may smell the enticing aroma from Copperpot Nuts before you even walk through the door. Try the maple roasted nuts made right there in their Coldwater store using locally made syrup from Backwoods Maple Syrup. If you’re lucky, you’ll arrive just as a batch is coming out of the pot and can try a freshly made sample while it’s still warm!

DWN Craft Chocolatier

Don’t miss this fantastic shop in downtown Orillia. Dawn’s chocolate is delectable! It may be the maple chocolate covered almonds that will pull you in, or possibly the maple-infused cinnamon toast chocolate bar. But the amazing variety of flavour combinations at DWN Craft Chocolatier will have you heading home with much more!

Mariposa Market

Mariposa Market is an Orillia legend! Locals stop in regularly for their fresh-made sandwiches, oversized donuts, and other baked goods. You’ll also find a massive candy store and a housewares section with unique high-end wares.

For Tap Into Maple, Mariposa Market is a hub for local maple products, including Maple Grove Syrup, maple coffee from Muskoka Roastery Coffee Company, and others. They’ve also cooked up some maple items of their own including jams, pickles, mustards, salad dressings, and more!

Susie Q Fudge & Gifts

Susie Q Fudge & Gifts is another great downtown Orillia shop, located just downstairs from Mariposa Market. Their maple fudge is the main draw for Tap Into Maple, but you can sample any flavour of fudge you wish and peruse their wide variety of maple products, coffees and teas, and kitchen wares.

Other shops participating in Tap Into Maple in 2025: the Gathering Place Store inside Casino Rama to shop maple creations and products from local Indigenous artisans, and the Orillia Farmers Market, which is open on Saturdays from 9 AM and 1 PM.

Visit the Sweetwater Harvest Festival

The annual Sweetwater Harvest Festival is held at Wye Marsh and Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons near Midland. This is a wonderful way to incorporate an Indigenous perspective into your Tap Into Maple experience and learn more about how critical the maple harvest is to the Indigenous way of life. The 2025 Sweetwater Harvest Festival will take place on March 23 and 24 from 9 AM to 5 PM each day.

Tap Into Maple is a fantastic, customizable, and interactive way to learn about maple syrup and enjoy a quintessential Canadian tradition in a true tree-to-table experience. To learn more about this Ontario maple syrup festival, visit the Tap Into Maple website at tapintomaple.com.

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