Maple sugaring guide

Maple harvest season is late February to early April. Maple shack map Planning a visit to a maple house? Find a New England sugar shack near you with this map.

From tap to table Nothing signifies the end of winter like a trip to an authentic New England sugar shack. Take a tour of some of New England's delectable sugar houses. Map Find maple shacks | Favorite maple spot? | Have a maple recipe?

Maple sugar 101

• Origins: Quebec, Canada & Vermont

  Traditional harvest: A maple tree is tapped through the bark and into the wood phloem, the sap runs into a bucket, and collected daily.

  Processing: Approximately 40 liters of sap must be boiled down to make one liter of syrup.

  Season: Generally Feb., March, and April

  Interesting fact: A hole must be drilled in a new location each year because of the natural healing process of trees, also known as walling-off.

Plan your New England getaway

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More from The Boston Globe

• Merck center heats up to celebrate start of sugaring

  RUPERT, Vt. - One sure cure for the mud-season mopes is visiting an authentic New England sugarhouse, where steam billowing from the roof vents signals that the alchemy of spring has begun. The annual sugaring celebration here at Merck Forest & Farmland Center holds rich rewards for urban pilgrims, especially families with kids.

• Local farms see success in production of maple syrup

  NORTH ANDOVER - This time of year, Paul Boulanger remembers the first time he made maple syrup. He was 12 and in his mother's kitchen. Boy, was she mad.

• Pancakes, syrup, and centuries of sugaring off in Sturbridge

  STURBRIDGE - Visitors to Old Sturbridge Village this weekend and next can see how families in the 1830s turned maple sap into sugar in that quintessentially New England process known as "sugaring off." Interpreters in period costume will tap trees and boil the sap over open fires at the village's outdoor sugar camp from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday ...