On A Sugar High

With blue skies and the sun shining, what better way then to spend the holiday Monday then at a Sugar Bush in Lanark County? Lanark County is known as “The Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario” and lucky for me it’s only one county over. With an early start my roommate and I spent the afternoon at Fulton’s Pancake House & Sugar Bush in Pakenham. Although they are not licensed and there was no beer to be seen, such a great place should be written about.

It it took a little over an hour (We always take the back roads, in this case it was Dwyer Hill) it was the perfect day for a drive. We also did manage to take a wrong turn, seeing as I wasn’t as prepared as usual. I’m usually smart enough to always have physical map with me, because let’s face it out there my phone rarely works. Eventually we made it there in one piece and ready for the sugar rush.

Fulton’s Pancake House & Sugar Bush is located between Almonte and Pakenham on four hundred acres of forest. Probably one of the best known sugar bushes west of Ottawa, the property has been in the Fulton family for over 160 years. Whether you’re learning the process of maple syrup, taking a walk on one of their forest trails, or a break for something to eat at the restaurant, there’s lots to do at Fulton’s.

Starting off at the restaurant we walked in to the sound of live music from a young boy playing the violin and happy chatter from customers and employees. The Pancake House is a cafeteria style set up with all of your plate options overhead. We picked up our trays and with careful consideration picked out our plates. The restaurant serves pancakes, sausages, maple baked beans and a variety of baked goods and for the many of you out there with dietary restrictions no worries you can request a gluten, milk, egg free waffle. Although I am lactose intolerant I managed to take a pill and get away with having a real pancake. I ended up getting the standed “Fulton’s” which consisted of 1 pancake, 1 sausage, baked beans, and a beverage while my roommate went for the “Cedar Hill” which consisted of 2 pancakes, 2 sausages, and a beverage. With at least five other plate combinations there’s something for every appetite.

After finishing up with our food we made our way to the Maple Shoppe and picked up a few goodies to take home. A small but quaint store, it was filled to the roof with maple syrup, gourmet jams, spices, candy, and even maple bath & body products. The body care supplies really stood out to me, “All of the pure maple ingredients we use in our bath & body care line have been produced on the Fulton’s family farm near Pakenham in Eastern Ontario, Canada…We’ve combined our home-grown maple – the wonderful gift Mother Nature entrusted to us – with the finest ingredients to create the most nourishing, delightful line of bath & body care products possible. All of our products have been tested on family and friends.” I looked through everything with great detail, I think I spent about a good 20minutes making sure I didn’t miss anything. The two employees at the counter were extremely nice and told us some stories about the trails and famous tree on their property that looks like an elephant.

With our time getting short we decided to come back another day to walk the trails, we grabbed some maple taffy and hopped in the car. The drive home was rather interesting, being the passenger I spent the first half of the drive busting a move (I have some pretty wicked dance moves, if there was a competition for best dance sitting down with their seatbelt on, I’d win.) and then having my face pressed up against the window in a sugar coma for the second half. Needless to say it was a great day and I can’t wait to go back.

If you want to experience some of Fulton’s tasty treats and are not in the area (yes, that means you my readers is the states) they have an online store that ships internationally. —-> FULTON’S ONLINE MAPLE SHOPPE

Fulton’s Pancake House & Sugar Bush
291 Concession 6 Road, Pakenham, ON K0A 2X0 – (613) 256-3867
Spring Season 2013 – February 16th – April 21st

• CASH only accepted in the restaurant. ATM on site. Visa, MC, Debit, cash accepted in Maple Shoppe.
• Open Daily 9 am – 4 pm 
• Free admission and parking
• Please leave all pets at home.
• Special activities run between 10 am – 2 pm on weekends and selected dates.

– The Beer Gypsy