Maple Season is short and the time of open sugarhouses is even shorter, s
o I’ve come up with a means of hitting as many as I can as quickly as I can. Having a GPS helps but is not necessary if your goal farms are on main roads.
Farmers who belong to the state associations (see link here) let the association know when they will be open and often provide a “news release” listing specialty items or unusual activities they 
may have available. I decide on an area I want to conquer on a particular day and create an excel spreadsheet transferring the data from the website. I then use MapQuest’s Route Planner option to create a tour that includes all the sites. This site includes an option to upload a spreadsheet.
The Map this creates for me may or may not be reasonable. It gives a time estimate, but of course that does not include any time for the stop itself. And the Map is only labeled with the addresses,
not the names of the farms, so I have to keep my Excel Spreadsheet handy. I compare it to thethe map and the list and may pull stops off of my map if there are too many or they are too far away. Eventually I’ve worked it down to a “do-able” list and I’ve taken farms off of the spreadsheet to match. I put the “pin numbers” from Mapquest on the spreadsheet and reorder the list keeping in mind if a farm has listed that it will open late or close early.
I save both the original long list and the final draft as pdfs and open them on my tablet. The day of my adventure I use the short list to feed my GPS and add in stops from the long list if I find I have recommendations from farmers or extra time. I will often direct my tours so I end up far from home so that this drive can take place after a day full of adventures when the farms are closed.
(Cover photo: Ridgeland Farm, Loudon, NH)
HodgePodge Maple 