Pocono Mountain Maple Tours & Tastings
Explore PA's largest organic maple farm offering a unique tasting experience, seasonal tours.
The delightful crunch of Elderberry, great on pancakes and in green tea; Cinnamon Vanilla, the perfect addition to ice cream or coffee; and Bourbon, a tasty topping for salmon or a Manhattan. A trip to Pocono Mountain Maple in Newfoundland certainly hits the sweet spot! Our tasting also included Orange and Vanilla Bourbon; seasonal syrups barrel aged for six months. And of course, the Original, which is nothing like what you get in the grocery store.
You can also enjoy locally sourced, maple-infused baked goods, yogurt, cotton candy, coffee and cheese.
Pocono Mountain Maple is Pennsylvania’s largest organic maple farm, spanning 450-acres. It's also one of the country's only female owned and operated maple farms.
“This property has historically been a farm for over 200 years, so it’s great to be a part of the transition,” said Nicole Bentler, co-owner.
Nicole Bentler is from the Poconos and re-located to Florida. About seven years ago, she was searching for a small summer home in her hometown and came across this property.
“This kind of fell in our laps. I sent it to the family and said ‘this would be cool,’ as more of a joke, and they were like, ‘let's go check it out.’ And here we are seven years later,” she smiled.
Overtime, she hired a dedicated team to bring the property to its full potential and decided to share her home with the public.
Gabe Stirr, sugar shack manager, is part of the crew bringing sap from tree to table. “We tap between 22,000 and 25,000 trees. All the sap we collect comes to us here in the sugar shack. With that, we have about 330 miles of tubing that connect to each tree and a vacuum pulls the sap towards us and collects in these tanks,” he explained.
Between February and April, you can book a walking tour to the sugar shack to observe the operation.
“We get a lot of people from New York and Philadelphia who never get to experience something like this. We also get boy scouts, girl scouts, and other kid’s groups that don't know where maple syrup comes from. For them to see the whole process is fun and interesting,” Bentler said.
There are always new projects happening at the farm. One of the largest ventures is bringing maple water to the masses.
“It's basically nature’s Gatorade and is one of the cleanest sources of water you could get on the planet because it's filtered by the tree itself,” Bentler explained.
Pocono Mountain Maple offers experiences by season including apple picking in the orchard, yoga at the boathouse, picnics along Lake Russell, and maple dinners on the farm. Plus, six cabins on-site are perfect for large gatherings and events like family reunions.
“We're one of the Poconos’ only exclusive campgrounds where you can actually rent the entire campground all by itself,” Bentler added.
One woman reconnecting with her roots and planting an agricultural legacy for all to enjoy.