Elmhurst Outdoors is a family-run maple sugar farm in Erbs Cove on New Brunswick's Kingston Peninsula, outside Saint John, and one of the few maple farms I've visited that is worth the trip outside sugaring season. My buddy Sujeet and I visited in October 2025 on a Canada and New England cruise, but the farm runs maple sugaring tours in spring, ski and snowshoe trails in winter, and paddling and hikes the rest of the year, so it works for a long weekend guys getaway all year long.
If you want to see the sap running and the evaporator going, spring is the window, and it moves a little every year. Aquila Tours and Cruise Atlantic Canada invited us on this tour during a visit to Saint John on Norwegian Getaway, part of a guys trip cruise. I've been to several different maple farms before, but outside of spring they are pretty dormant, and it's usually just a tour of equipment that isn't being used, followed by a tasting of their product from bottles that I could have bought by going to the grocery store or buying it on Amazon. Elmhurst was different and I really truly enjoyed the experience. This tour can be booked directly but is also widely available on most cruise ships as an excursion that you can book on board. Baja Mexico cruises typically feature short itineraries that include a stop in Ensenada and either San Diego or Catalina Island. Set sail on a vibrant journey through the stunning coastlines of Mexico, where sun-soaked days and lively nights await. Experience the unique charm of each port while enjoying the luxurious amenities onboard. Eating right and staying fit is easier than you think on a cruise if you choose to make smart choices. Promoted by FlowAds Gig and Denise Keirstead have been welcoming visitors to their maple operation since 1994, and on our tour, Gig took us up the hill to see part of the farm itself where he had created stations that walked through the history of Indigenous traditions, antique machinery and how they turn the sap into sugar today. If all you care about is seeing some fall Canada colors though - this is a great opportunity to do it. On the other hand, if you're a nerd like I am, you're in luck, because Gig is an amazing resource on the whole process. The first station covers how maple sugaring started. Indigenous peoples in this part of North America collected maple sap and boiled it down long before European settlers arrived, and the tour starts with their methods before moving on to metal equipment. Why we picked it: a grill you can actually carry to the campsite, the tailgate or the cabin without borrowing a truck. Stainless, no propane tank to wrestle, and hot enough to cook for four guys rather than reheat for one. Promoted by FlowAds Next come the tools that replaced the old methods: big iron kettles hung over a fire, then flat wood-fired evaporator pans on a brick firebox. Seeing the equipment up close puts the numbers in perspective. Sap comes out of the tree at roughly 2 percent sugar, and it takes about 40 liters to make a single liter of syrup. This was the first time I really got to see what the lines look like. Blue tubing runs tree to tree through the sugar bush, the stand of maple trees the farm taps for sap, and carries sap downhill to collection, replacing the old routine of emptying a metal bucket at every tap. Gig also had a board of pressed leaves from the Fundy Model Forest showing the five maples that grow in the region, striped, mountain, sugar, silver and red, with the sugar maple being the main tree tapped for syrup. This all made it pretty exciting for anyone who enjoys learning about where our food comes from and I could see this being a really cool part of the adventure for anyone planning a bachelor party in Saint John since you could do this maple tour, a food tour in the city, grab some beers at the Moosehead brewery, do a fishing charter etc. Unfortunately, we were only in town for a few hours, but I can't wait to come back and hopefully stay longer than just visiting as part of a cruise. The walk ends in the sugar shack, where the modern stainless evaporator does in hours what the kettles took days to do. Seeing the old pans and the new rig on the same hill made the whole process easy to follow, even with nothing running in October. After the walk you head back down to the lodge. First up is maple candy: warm syrup dripped over "snow," which in October means shaved ice from their freezer, then twirled around a wooden stick as it cools down and gets firm like taffy. In spring they pour it on real snow and that would be a cool experience to see. Then it's pancakes and sausage with pure maple syrup, plus hot coffee or tea. It's a simple farm breakfast, and after an hour walking the hill in cool fall weather, it was exactly what we wanted. The sign at the road lists all three: maple sugar farm, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing. Pick your season based on what you want out of the trip. Because the farm runs all year, it fits a New Brunswick guys trip in any season: March for sugaring, February for skiing, fall for the color. From Saint John, the drive heads northeast through the suburbs to Gondola Point, where you cross the Kennebecasis River on the Gondola Point Ferry. It's a cable ferry: the boat pulls itself across on an underwater cable, a system invented by local captain William Pitt and first installed at this crossing in 1903. The crossing is free, takes about five minutes and runs around the clock. On a cruise, you can skip the driving. Norwegian sells the trip as its Maple Sugar Shack and Tasting excursion (about 3.5 hours, from about $120 per adult), run locally by Aquila Tours with a guide narrating the ride out, and Holland America sells its own version. On our sailing, it was sold out a week before we arrived, so book it as soon as your line opens excursions. The walk is about half a mile on gravel, dirt and grass, and a good part of it is uphill to the sugar shack, so wear real shoes. If you're flying in or road-tripping, book directly with Elmhurst Outdoors and confirm hours before you go, since a small family operation sets its schedule around the season and the weather. The farm takes a morning, so build the weekend around Saint John: Elmhurst first, then back into the city in the afternoon for a stop at Moosehead Brewery, Canada's oldest independent brewery. If the maple history hooks you the way it hooked me, the Canada and New England cruise route is worth a look too, especially if you've already done Alaska. I made that case in an Alaska cruise alternative for guys who want a different coastline. Why we picked it: seven days of glaciers with the sailing done overnight, so you wake up somewhere new without losing a day to travel. The northbound run ends in Anchorage if you want to add land time. Promoted by FlowAds Promoted by FlowAdsWhat Do You Call Your "Guys Trips"?
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Walking The Elmhurst Maple Woods With Gig Keirstead To See How Syrup Is Made
Indigenous Maple Traditions
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Iron Kettles And Antique Evaporator Pans
Tubing Lines And The Modern Sugar Shack
Maple Taffy On "Snow" Followed by Pancakes And Sausage At The Elmhurst Lodge
When To Visit Elmhurst Outdoors For Sugaring, Skiing Or Fall Color
Getting To The Kingston Peninsula From Saint John By Ferry Or Cruise Excursion
Pair Elmhurst With Moosehead For A Saint John Weekend With The Guys
7-Day Voyage of the Glaciers (Northbound)
