INHF 25th Anniversary Event #1
Maple Syrup Festival

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Discover how maple trees make sweet sap, and learn how Native Americans and Colonial pioneers made sugar. Try your hand at tapping a tree using the sugarmaker's tools, and then visit a Vermont-style sugarhouse to learn how sap is turned into syrup. Finish the event with a sample of delicious Indian Creek Nature Center maple syrup and pancakes, along with live, musical entertainment.

Event details
Bring your entire family to join in the festivities. Meander through the maple trees as you watch live demonstrations of syruping--from tree tapping to syrup--boiling to historical displays…plus other surprise events. Then head inside the Nature Center for juice, coffee, sausage and pancakes topped with the Nature Center's mouth-watering maple syrup. Sit back and relax while you eat and enjoy live music and good company. With continuous running events throughout both days of the Maple Syrup Festival, you don't have to worry about missing out on anything!

Dress warmly for this event! March days can be quite chilly, and most of the events and displays are held outside (only the food and music are indoors.) An estimated 1600 people attended the Festival last year, so don't miss out!

Paid tickets give you admission to all of the event's activities. The cost of tickets are $5.50 for adults and $3.50 for children ages 3-12 if you pay in advance; $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for children ages 3-12 on the day of the event. Children ages 2 and under are free. You can pick up your advanced tickets at the Nature Center or you can order them by mail. If ordering by mail, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a check or money order with your order form. Order ahead and save money!

Indian Creek Nature Center
6665 Otis Rd. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403

The story behind this place
Most of Iowa's nature centers are associated with a government agency, but the Indian Creek Nature Center has operated for 30 years as a private, non-profit organization. Covering 234 acres, it is Iowa's largest private, non-profit nature center. Its main buildings and trails are leased to the Nature Center by the city, but recently ICNC bought an additional 67 acres known as Bena Farm to expand its programs and facilities.

Displays in the remodeled dairy barn depict various natural habitats. You can see a beehive demonstration, or use the observation tower to view the butterfly garden, maple sugar house, herb garden, frog pond, beehives and prairie planting. Four miles of trails weave through maple sugarbush, tallgrass prairies and oak-hickory savannas.

To ensure Bena Farm's restored wetlands and natural resources are permanently protected, ICNC worked with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation to place a conservation easement on the land. INHF has arranged more than 100 conservation easements, but most are provided by individual landowners. This is only the second time we've completed an easement to protect land held by a non-profit organization.

Partner Information
The Indian Creek Nature Center is a private, non-profit nature center providing environmental education for all ages. The Nature Center staff and volunteers provide leadership for a variety of learning experiences. Its Maple Syrup Festival is just one of the many programs offered to the public to make people more aware of their natural environment. The Nature Center also offers maple syruping progams for groups by appointment.
naturecenter@aol.com

Site Map
www.indiancreeknaturecenter.org/maps.asp

Driving Directions
http://www.indiancreeknaturecenter.org/directions.asp

Visitor Info
Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce
(310) 398-5317
chamber@cedarrapids.org

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