Cunningham Falls State Park ranger Travis Anthony shows the different stages of maple syrup production to visitors at the Maple Syrup Festival on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

THURMONT, Md. — Thousands of people throughout the region will be flocking to Cunningham Falls State Park this month, to attend the Maple Syrup Festival.

The annual event highlights the history of maple syrup production in the region — an industry that has almost died out in the modern day. Through giving demonstrations of the maple syrup making process at the festival every year, park ranger Travis Anthony said he hopes to see interest in the industry grow.

“There used to be way more producers in the state of Maryland,” Anthony said. “At one point, Maryland used to be one of the top 10 maple syrup producers. But in recent years, many maple syrup producers have been retiring or have not been able to produce as much syrup as they used to, so now there’s really only one big producer in the state of Maryland.”

That producer, S&S Maple Camp, has a booth at the festival every year, where various grades of maple syrup, along with maple candy and maple cream, are sold.

According to Anthony, this was his third year leading the maple syrup boiling demonstrations in the festival’s Sugar Shack. Prior to that, he served for as a festival volunteer. He said that he has noticed, recently, an uptick in interest in maple syrup production.

Forty gallon jugs demonstrate how much sap has to be collected to make one gallon of syrup, during the Maple Syrup Festival on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

“The festival has been getting more attention in the last couple of years, definitely,” Anthony said.

There are, he noted, a number of hobbyists in the state, including Chris Pigula, who could be found volunteering his time in the Sugar Shack on Saturday.

“Making maple syrup is very doable for the average person, but the big challenge with it, is you have to have enough volume to make it worthwhile,” Pigula said. “One gentleman I was talking with tapped one tree and only got, at the most, six ounces. You have to have 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. It’s a lot!”

Pigula said he has volunteered at the festival for the last 30 years. He caught the maple syrup-making bug about five years into that.

“I learned about it here and then decided to start making it myself,” Pigula said, mentioning he makes most of his syrup out of red maple sap, rather than sugar maple sap.

A family walks along a log in Cunningham Falls State Park on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

The sap from over 20 different species of tree can be used to make syrup, although sugar maple sap is the most popular, due to its higher sugar content. Sugar maples, like in Maryland, are native to this state and thus, maple syrup production has a strong history in West Virginia — so much so, that the sugar maple is the official state tree and remains a popular industry there to this day. Currently, over 50 farms in the state are verified members of the West Virginia Maple Syrup Producers Association.

According to Anthony, the Maple Syrup Festival serves a two-fold purpose.

“We see it more as an educational thing for the general public, though it’s also a means of fundraising for the park,” Anthony said, mentioning the festival is organized by the Friends of Cunningham Falls and Gambrill State Parks. “It’s mutually beneficial, both for us and for everyone else. And it’s something we look forward to every year!”

The first weekend of the Maple Syrup Festival was held on Saturday and Sunday. The second, and final, weekend of the festival will be held on March 15-16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A hot pancake and sausage breakfast will be held on each day, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Other activities at the festival will include: hay rides past sugar maples being tapped for sap, a children’s activity station, a festival merchandise area, live music on March 16 and a half-mile hike to Cunningham Falls, which is the tallest waterfall in Maryland. A sign language interpreter will be stationed at the Sugar Shack on March 16. A suggested $5 donation per-person is requested at the entrance, along with additional fees for the breakfast.

S&S Maple Camp, in Corriganville, Md., sells maple syrup products at the annual Maple Syrup Festival at Cunningham Falls State Park on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

Tapping equipment are connected to a sugar maple tree in Cunningham Falls State Park on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston