Michael, left, and Jacob Parks, 8, get ready to try their pancakes at the Pancake & Maple Bonanza on Sunday morning at the Buffalo Creek Nature Park. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

BUFFALO TWP — Visitors of Buffalo Creek Nature Park were surrounded by syrup sources as they ate their pancake breakfasts Sunday, Feb. 26, morning.

While the maple syrup they poured onto their pancakes did not actually come from the trees populating the park, the Pancake & Maple Bonanza gave attendees a good reason to visit the area and the Babcock Nature Center.

“We're always looking for people to come and discover us,” said Karen Stein, center manager of Buffalo Creek Nature Park. “You're going to enjoy some syrup and what goes into syrup. They're going to get a taste of pancakes, sausages, drinks and just enjoy the morning in the park.”

Stein said the event serves as a good way to bring people to the park and its indoor facility, but it was also a primer for another event series the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania is planning for March, Maple Madness.

Frances Stein of Evans City makes pancakes at the Buffalo Creek Nature Park Sunday morning for the Pancake & Maple Bonanza to support the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

According to Stein, Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve in Fox Chapel used to do Maple Madness events, and the Audubon Society is bringing it back, so its staff can educate more people about the process of making syrup.

Maple Madness will take place March 11 at Buffalo Creek, March 18 at Beechwood and March 25 at Succop Nature Park. Each day has several sessions each where park staff members will talk about the maple harvesting process.

“It's basically you're taking a walk through the whole maple-ing process,” Stein said. “It takes you through the different time periods of how they turned sap into syrup. There is no food there, but you come and see the much bigger process.”

The pancake bonanza was a chance for people to just enjoy the food and the nature around them.

Shannon, Michael and Jacob Parks traveled from their home in Sarver to see learn about the maple-making process.

“We wanted to see how the syrup is made,” Shannon said.

The event also required the aid of several volunteers who helped serve breakfast and demonstrate the process of making syrup.

“I wanted to help support the Audubon Society,” said Frances Stein, a volunteer from Evans City at the event.

There are two more pancake bonanzas, March 12 and March 19, at Succop Nature Park, which cost $12 for members and $15 for nonmembers; children age 3 and under are free.

Karen Stein, center manager of Buffalo Creek Nature Park tends to the evaporator to boil off the water in the maple sap to make syrup Sunday morning at the park. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

For more information on the upcoming pancake bonanzas and Maple Madness events, visit aswp.org. Stein said registration is required for each event.

Shannon Parks, left, along with Michael and Jacob Parks, 8, from Sarver attended the Pancake & Maple Bonanza on Sunday at Buffalo Creek Nature Park to see how maple syrup is made. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

An evaporator is like a grill that boils off the water in sap, which then becomes maple syrup. It was used Sunday morning at Buffalo Creek Nature Park at the Pancake & Maple Bonanza event to demonstrate the maple syrup process. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle