It’s maple syrup season. Here’s where to taste Vermont’s best.

It takes 40 gallons of tree sap to create one gallon of maple syrup. The formula might come from science, but the result is pure magic, especially to Vermonters, who’ve been tapping and sugaring in the Green Mountains longer than the state’s existed.

The state’s sole outpost of IHOP, which closed in 2024, was the only branch in the country to serve real maple syrup. In part, this is because state law strictly prohibits labeling any product maple — or even “maple flavored” — if it doesn’t contain pure maple syrup. But more importantly, serving fake maple syrup would put a thumb in the eye of Vermont pride. 

As such, any traveler seeking the full Vermont experience must travel through maple country. And the closer you can get to the sugarhouse, the purer the experience. Visitors will also learn how the Vermont maple landscape is breaking ground with new forms and formulations. Here’s how to tap the best of all.

From legend to dollars

To the Abenaki, Iroquois, and Micmac, maple passes into legend. As the story goes, maple trees originally supplied villagers with pure syrup until a trickster poured water into the trees to create a sap that flows just once a year, when the lake freezes, game disappears, and crops hibernate.

At some point during the colonial period, the practice was shared with arriving settlers, who adopted it. Later, maple sugaring also became a moral crusade that offered a home-grown alternative to imported, enslaved-produced cane sugar. It wasn’t until the mid-to-late 1800s that the industry began to take off, after the invention of the evaporator pan and metal taps.  

Today, maple in Vermont is big business, amounting to around $100 million per year. In fact, this most rural state in the country produces 53 percent of the national total of maple syrup and 70 percent of all maple sap sales in the country. To say it’s integral to all things Vermont is an understatement, and the evidence pours liberally on far more than just pancakes, from cheese, eggs, and meat to bread, baked beans, and beer.   

The right kind of maple trees

Not every maple tree produces the right sap for syrup, so you can’t just tap any and wait for the magic to happen. At the top of the maple pole is the sugar maple, which gets its name from the high concentration of sugar in its sap. Red maples also produce a lot of syrup sap in Vermont. Other types of maples, such as silver, are used less frequently and can alter the flavor. Find Vermont’s highest concentration of maple trees in Orange County, just south of the state capital, Montpelier.

The sugaring season begins when the temperature rises above freezing during the day but dips below at night — triggering the flow of sap. That generally occurs between February and April, when Vermont sees the fewest visitors, thanks to cold air, muddy ground, and slushy roads. But this is prime time for maple lovers, as sugar-shack chimneys pump out hot steam as the new sap condenses into syrup.

Decoding the language of maple

There’s no one maple syrup to rule them all. In fact, the flavor, color, and consistency change as the season progresses, with early maple light and delicate and later maple smoky and spicy. These are categorized by grade, and they guide any journey into maple. 

For generations, these grades fell into into “Fancy,” “Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber, Grade B” and “Grade C.” But a 2014 law changed them to Golden, Amber, Dark, and Very Dark to fit national standards.

Soon after, this new maple language began adding further terms in a bevy of value-added products. This got a jumpstart in 2016, when Oprah Winfrey listed the Runamok Maple Syrup Gift Box by Runamok Maple on her Oprah’s Favorite Things list. It contained three very non-traditional versions — bourbon barrel-aged, cinnamon and vanilla, and hibiscus. This success spurred other new-school maple producers to follow suit with a variety of infusions, from apple brandy and coffee bean to lemon thyme and, yes, pumpkin spice. Even sparkles find a home in Vermont maple syrup now.

Where to taste Vermont maple

In Vermont, maple is rarely more than a few steps away, as even the local gas station, especially Maplefields, carries syrup, sugar, candies, and creams at any time of the year. However, the sweetest spot for Vermont maple tourism is March — the heart of the sugaring season. At this time, sugarhouses welcome visitors with tours, tastings, demonstrations, and more.

In fact, the state hosts an annual open house weekend at sugarhouses throughout the state. Many celebrations include activities and family fun along with all the maple you can eat, including the most Vermont way to eat maple — sugar on snow. This sweet treat is created by drizzling maple syrup heated to 235°F on fresh snow.

One particularly great place to taste it is the Green Mountain Audubon Center, which hosts an annual Sugar on Snow Party. Along with sugaring demonstrations, the event also gives visitors a chance to tap a tree and collect sap from a bucket. If you miss the party, the sugarhouse remains open to the public until mid-April.

Another great maple experience is at the von Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, where visitors can strap on snowshoes in February and March for a Maple Sugaring Tour of its own sugar bushes and sugaring operation — and wear boots for visits during the rest of the year.

In Montpelier, visit the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks, home to one of Vermont’s oldest families, who’ve been tapping trees almost as long as Vermont’s been a state. The farm, sugarhouse included, is open all year and hosts a robust, maple-packed gift shop, as well as a hiking trail through the sugarbush. Other maple stops include winners of the annual Vermont Sugar Makers Awards, including Stewart Maple in Shrewsbury, Goodrich Maple Farm in Cabot, and Green’s Sugarhouse in Poultney.

You can also dive deep into the history of maple at the New England Maple Museum in Pittsford.

To stretch the maple boundaries, check out other businesses that make special uses of Vermont maple. This includes several breweries and distilleries, including Lawson’s Finest Liquids taproom in Waitsfield, which serves the Mad River Maple Ale and Vermont Spirits Distilling Company in Quechee, serving maple-derived Vermont Gold Vodka. Restaurants like Maple Soul in Rochester also regularly work maple into the menu, including in dishes like maple chili wings, maple bourbon apple crisp, and maple brioche.

(Related: How to plan the ultimate road trip through New England)