Sand Road Maple Farm — Attraction in North Stormont

First I should mention that I'm only giving one star to bring the 4.3 star average down a bit. I'm guessing that a lot of these rave reviews are from local friends and families pumping their Google rating. I'd really give it 3 stars. Here's why: First, the staff are VERY friendly and helpful in the dining room. That said, I called three times to make sure of a few things before going there. I, like many people, travel reasonably long distances to go to a sugar shack and want it to be a good experience. Every call went to voice mail, which was always full, so we had to trust the gods and just show up. (We went in the first place because the area has family history significance, so we were really rooting for it from the start.)

That said, we arrived to a line up we stood 30 minutes in. That would have been fine but there were not a lot of people in front of us. It was just super inefficient. Their pay line and food line were all one, and the food line would have benefitted from double staff (when busy, like our time) to move things along. The food was overpriced for "mediocre-at-best" plates. The pancakes were fluffy and heavy/chewy at the same time, somehow. Sausages were on the cheaper side of a bulk purchase, ham was very good, and bacon was a "homestyle" type, which was good but the level of salt held me back from eating what I had on my plate for fear of heart failure (I know... one doesn't go to a sugar shack to eat a nutritious meal, but still!). All in all "not bad", but certainly not "yum!" compared to many other venues at this valuable "once a year which should we choose?" time of life. The picture from the "local guide" review of taffy on snow is no longer accurate. A staff member does it indoors (i.e., we don't get to roll it ourselves anymore) and they do it in bulk so they're ready made and waiting for someone to buy them. $2 did not shock me for their price given today's market, but may be hard on a bigger family, and yeah, should be included in the meal in the first place. It's a quite nice country atmosphere inside and out.

The purpose of my review is only to try to help people be aware of what they may be travelling to before getting there. It is not complete, but has a few highlights which some of the other reviews mentioned, as well, so I know...

What a let down. We went to this Sugar Camp several years ago and it was fine. We were able to have a small and reasonable meal and walk the paths. We were hoping for a better experience this time. We saw horse rides on line, and people giving a history of maple syrup...but when we got there...nothing. No horses, nobody giving demonstrations. Even the taffy experience was terrible - and expensive. We figured at least we would eat. So, we went into the lodge with two grandparents, two parents and three kids. Had we actually eaten, the bill for a pancake and sausage brunch would have been close to $200!!!!! Over $29 per adult and I didn't stick around to find out how much it would have been for kids under 12 - but it it was over $6 it would have been too much - considering what they would actually eat. This is so disappointing. We mentioned this to some people, and they told us about some on the Quebec side that have admission of about $30 per person which includes brunch, rides, demonstrations and hikes through the operation and also the taffy experience. I'm afraid I will never find my way back to the Sand...

We though we'd try a different Sugar Shack this year and made the trek from Quebec to visit Sand Road Maple Farm, which seemed to be a good choice based on there website and various reviews.

Unfortunately it was a huge disappointment - noisy, buffet style with food slopped onto a styrofoam plate - great for the environment, reserved tables in the nicest area sat empty, terrible coffee, hot chocolate in a bag that you have to make yourself.

And if that wasn’t enough, the real deal breaker was the fact that they charge $2 a lick for their snow toffee!!!!! You must be kidding! In Quebec it’s part of the meal price and you can have a couple of pieces no problem.

Outside we didn’t see any activities of interest or things for kids to do, just a store where they sell way over-priced maple products.

Conclusion, the worst Sugar Shacks in Quebec offer better value and food than Sand Road Maple Farm does, even when you factor in the time to get there and...