Adventurion

Cabanes à sucre (sugar shack)

It was a maple season and Quebec is famous as a supplier of about 80% of the world’s maple syrup production. On top of that Quebec is a home to hundreds of the best cabanes à sucres (sugar shacks) in the world. 

We’ve never visited sugar shack before and I am happy to try such experience. After quick research (googling and reading reviews) we decided to go to La Goudrelle sugar shack, which is situated in the Montérégie on the South-Shore of Montreal.

It’s all about food.

I was curious about the process and tried to learn more from the workers in order not to miss something interesting. Unfortunately nobody spoke English, but they were kind to escort us to the manager who was very friendly and provided all needed information.

The main activity here is of course FOOD 🙂 . We’ve been invited to a huge place full of tables. It’s unbelievable how many people could be fed there. Two of us were served like minimum 4 hungry men 🙂 . The food at all sugar shacks usually the same: pea soup, beans, eggs, ham, and sausage with tons and tons of maple syrup. At La Goudrelle, there are beans baked in molasses, there are Criss d’Oreils, and there are fried doughnuts which are very good. We were full without being able to finish even quarter of what was on the table 🙂 On the way out waiter gave us cookies, even though I tried to explain that we can’t eat anymore 🙂 .

Of course we couldn’t skip tasting of the maple taffy on snow. Love it 🙂 .

Some useful information about the temperature in case you would like to make such taffy at home 🙂

It’s not only about food.

La Goudrelle has a dance floor, hiking trail tours, and a lot of activities for the kids.

Unbelievable, but only in the dance hall we’ve spent several hours. Many adults and kids were dancing and in the corner there was a miniature indoor play ground which managed to entertain a lot of kids.

We took a motorized sleigh ride around the maple site. The information was provided in both French and English.

Each maple tree had 1 or 2 buckets attached to collect fresh maple juice.

On the miniature outdoor farm nimble goats were waiting for a new portion of food and the kids were happy to feed them.

The weather was beautiful and we could spend plenty of time outdoor having fun with tree adventures.

The favorite one was a small zip-line.

Regular activities could be found as well. For instance tire swing.

 And of course ass sliding 🙂

We couldn’t escape extra fee activities either. How could you not allow your kid to ride a pony.

Advices.

• Be ready to consume a lot of food 🙂
• Take friends – you will have much more fun.
• Be ready for the additional expenses (like pony ride, etc.)
• Have warm clothes to spend time outside.
• Arrive earlier to have good spot on the parking lot. It becomes very crowded later.