Those taking the tour at the Succop Conservancy grounds learned how Native Americans, and later American settlers, tapped maple trees for sugar.

The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania hosted its eighth annual Maple Madness event today at Succop Nature Park in Penn Township.

Participants, many of them children, got a crash course on the history and art of maple sap tapping.

Slippery Rock University students served as tour guides in assisting Ryan Stauffer, the park naturalist, during the event.

Those taking the tour meandered through trails on the Succop Conservancy grounds, stopping at different stations along the way to learn how Native Americans tapped maple trees for sugar and how American settlers used the same method.

At another station, tour-goers were shown tree-tapping in the modern age. The tour was tapped off at a “sugar shack,” or sugarhouse, where maple sap is boiled to make maple syrup and maple sugar.

“It's always a fun event,” Stauffer said, “and it's nice to see the children out with their parents and grandparents having a good time. I get a lot of pleasure from it, too.”

At the end of the tours, participants were able to partake in a meal of pancakes and — what else — maple syrup.

Read more in the Butler Eagle's Monday edition.