The Maple Sugar Shack excursion from Saint John, New Brunswick takes cruise passengers out to Elmhurst Outdoors, a family-run maple farm on the Kingston Peninsula that includes a guided walk through the sugar bush (the stand of maple trees the farm taps for sap) and a "breakfast" of pancakes, sausage and freshly made maple taffy on snow (or in our case on a fall cruise, shaved ice). We took the Maple Sugar Shack tour in October on Norwegian Getaway's Canada and New England itinerary and this was the perfect way to explore the beauty of New Brunswick in autumn.
Saint John often gets a late-morning arrival and a late-night departure because the strong tidal currents in the Bay of Fundy dictate the schedule, but in the fall the long evening in port is less useful than the itinerary suggests. Aquila Tours and Cruise Atlantic Canada invited my friend Sujeet and me on this tour during our Saint John port day. What I love about excursions like this is that they're a way to get out there and see something new, try something different and really experience what the area is like. This one had the added bonus of a fairly long bus ride where we learned a lot about the local area, stopped to see a cable ferry and saw some amazing fall colors along the way. The excursion starts with a narrated drive out of Saint John and into the New Brunswick countryside. Our local guide filled the ride with regional history and trivia that helped guests learn a bit about the area since for most guests this was the first time they'd visited the area. While the discussion of how the Bay of Fundy tides worked and various other pieces of Canada trivia, for me the ride was a fantasic opportunity to just relax while looking out the window. Our cruise was in late October and the landscape was filled with colorful maple trees that for me was one of the reasons I'd picked this particular itinerary. Near the farm, the bus pulled over at the Belleisle Bay Ferry landing at Long Point, across the road from the Bates Landing market, so we could watch one of the cable ferries that still carry traffic across the rivers here. The crossing is about a kilometer, takes around seven minutes and is free as it is essentially a core piece of the roadway instead of a bridge. Norwegian's description of this excursion includes crossing the Kennebecasis River on a cable ferry, so some tours do get to ride one, but ours stopped to watch instead and too another highway going around it. These ferries pull themselves along an underwater cable instead of steering under their own power, a design invented by a local captain, William Pitt, and first installed at the Gondola Point crossing on the Kennebecasis in 1903. New Brunswick still runs several of them as free river crossings. Gig and Denise Keirstead have welcomed visitors to Elmhurst Outdoors since 1994, and about an hour of the excursion is spent on the farm. I've been to several maple farms before, and outside of spring they are pretty dormant, so the mape tours I've done before were mostly just looking at equipment that isn't running, followed by a tasting. Why we picked it: adults-only, with tips and most dining included. Promoted by FlowAds That's fun - I always like to see things and taste different local foods - but this one is something special. Here they took us up the hill to part of the farm itself, with stations covering the history of Indigenous maple traditions, antique machinery like iron kettles and wood-fired evaporator pans, and how they turn sap into sugar today. Blue tubing lines run from tree to tree through the woods, and this was the first time I got a clear look at how a modern maple farm moves sap downhill toward the sugar shack. Sap comes out of the tree at roughly 2 percent sugar, and it takes about 40 liters of it to boil down to one liter of syrup. If you just want fall color, the maple woods have plenty. If you're a nerd like I am, Gig Keirstead is an amazing resource on the whole process. Back at the lodge, the tasting starts with maple candy: warm syrup dripped over "snow," which in October is shaved ice, then rolled up on a wooden stick as it firms into taffy. In spring the farm pours it on real snow. Then comes a plate of pancakes and sausage with pure maple syrup, plus hot coffee or tea. After a cool, damp walk through the woods, a warm room and a hot breakfast were a welcome way to finish before the ride back to the ship. Norwegian lists its Maple Sugar Shack and Tasting excursion at about 3.5 hours and from about $120 per adult, rated moderate. You will find that other cruise lines including Disney and Holland America Line also offer a Saint John maple sugar shack tour, so it's likely that if you see this listed on your cruise that the experience will be similar to what we did. The walk covers about half a mile on uneven ground with an uphill stretch to the sugar shack so people with limited mobility may find that challenging. This was compounded by the fact that it was drizzling that day and some leaves were slippery. However, the reality is for most people it was fine just taking it slow and the guide waited till everyone caught up. That was nice since I'm not the fastest walker with things like this.
The Bus Ride From Saint John To The Kingston Peninsula
An Hour In The Maple Woods At Elmhurst Outdoors Learning How Maple Syrup Is Made
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Maple Taffy On Snow And A Pancake Breakfast In The Lodge
Walking, Timing And Price For The Saint John Maple Sugar Shack Tour
Outside of spring when they are actively producing maple syrup, this tour is a demonstration rather than a working production because maple sap only runs in late winter and early spring, well before the Canada and New England cruise season starts. You still get the full walk through the process, the fall color and the taffy, and anyone who wants to see the evaporator running can plan a March or April trip to New Brunswick on their own and book with Elmhurst Outdoors directly.
This Is A Very Popular Tour So Book The Maple Sugar Shack Tickets Early!
On our sailing the excursion was sold out about a week before we arrived, so reserve it when your cruise line opens shore excursions, and plan on it filling your afternoon. If you can't get tickets in advance, make sure to visit their booth in the visitor center by the pier since there may be extra spaces that open up last minute.
We'd hoped to add a stop at Moosehead Brewery afterward, but the brewery is a drive from the cruise port and once we were back around 4:45 PM it was getting dark. Restaurants and some bars were still open, but it wasn't the kind of evening for walking around the city. Port of Saint John has a huge amount of tour options from foodie tours walking around town to visiting breweries, fishing expeditions, and of course multiple options for people that want to "Walk on the Sea Floor" at low tide. Or if you just want to have a beer and enjoy some local lobster that's a great way to spend a fall day in New Brunswick too - check our guide to the best Canada and New England cruise breweries for the Saint John options.
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