DIY Maple Tree Tapping

Looking for a Family - Friendly and Socially Distanced Spring Activity?

Early spring days, when the sun is getting stronger and the birds are returning is a fabulous time to be outside with the kids and grandkids learning a new useful skill!

Try DIY tree tapping on Wayzata's Big Woods Knoll* or your back yard! This year, to keep our community safe, there will not be a gathering event for Maple Tree Tapping nor will we be reducing the sap in a central location.  That process will be handled by you in your yard. Instead, we encourage you to sign up for the DIY experience, which will allow you to do it on your own time (after the sap starts rising) and remain a safe distance. 

Between mid-February and March the sap starts rising in the trees and there are many mature trees around town that can be tapped. The tree should be at least 12 inches in diameter or larger to be tapped.

Each set of this tree tapping equipment will cost $20. $10 will be refunded if the supplies are returned in the same condition when loaned-unbroken, mild dish-soap scrubbed clean and dry. (because sap is clear it will dry sticky and dark and you will not be reimbursed the full fee). 

DID YOU KNOW?

  • It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
  • Sugar Maple, Black, Red and Silver Maple are the best trees to tap, because they have the highest sugar content, but Birch, Walnut or Boxelder may also be tapped. 
  • Native Americans taught Minnesota pioneers the skill of making maple syrup, which provided sweetener when sugar was scarce.
  • The Native Americans used birch bark containers fixed with fir tree pitch glue the bark together to stop leaking.
  • Native Americans knew it was time to move to the “sugar bush” camp (the hardwood maple forests) when they saw the crows return.
  • Maple sugaring stops when the sap runs cloudy, the trees start budding, or the frogs start croaking after a thunder and lightning storm

Sign Up Form

Sign up is closed for 2022.

Download the DIY Guide & Instructions 

  1. DIY Maple Tree Tapping Instructions