Skip to main content

GreaterUpperValley.com

Trip Advisor’s 2016 Certificate of Excellence Goes to Sugarbush Farms

Jun 14, 2016 11:41AM ● By Finn Mc Farland
Nestled in the hills of Woodstock is the 550-acre Sugarbush Farm where the Luce family has been crafting award-winning cheeses and maple syrup for nearly four generations. It was 1945 when Jack and Marion Ayres purchased the farm and put it on the map with their unique way of packaging cheese. They were the first in Vermont to seal their handcrafted cheese in wax so it could be shipped without refrigeration. Fifty years later, the American Cheese Society awarded Sugarbush Farm a blue ribbon for the best smoked cheese in the nation. Today, three generations of the family are carrying on the family tradition.

Open year-round with free admission, Sugarbush Farm recently received Trip Advisor’s 2016 Certificate of Excellence. Visitors can tour the sugarhouse and sample four grades of maple syrup crafted from the 7,000 trees the farm taps each year. Peek into the workroom where each cheese is packaged by hand; you can even sample all 15 varieties made on the farm. Kids will enjoy meeting the farm animals, including cows, horses, chickens, and goats.

There is always something happening at Sugarbush Farm.  During spring and summer, you may find them busy plowing, planting, or cutting hay.  In autumn, the beautiful Vermont foliage attracts many visitors to the farm. In early winter, the holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year for mail orders to be prepared and shipped. And with winter easing its grip, March and April are busy times with sugaring as they tap the sugar maple trees, collect the sap, and boil it down for fancy maple syrup. The farm is a perfect place for visitors to learn about the entire process even when sugaring is done, as the sugarhouse is open year-round.

Sugarbush Farm has offered mail order for over 60 years, and today offers a wide selection of cheeses, syrups, and other foods you can order online. They are open from 8am–5pm on weekdays and 9am–5pm on weekends. To learn more about Sugarbush Farm, visit www.sugarbushfarm.com.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to Image's free newsletter to catch every headline