Get ready to shake off the winter blues and welcome spring at the 2026 Pakenham Maple Run Tour, taking place on April 4 and 5 from 10am to 4pm each day. For over 20 years, the Maple Run Tour has presented the art and fine craft of a select group of Ottawa Valley artists, as well as fascinating tour stops that showcase the beauty of the countryside in and around Pakenham.
This year’s tour just happens to take place on the same weekend as the annual Maple Weekend, where producers across Ontario welcome visitors to show how some of the best maple products in the world are made. Creativity and maple syrup — it’s a Canadian thing.
And there certainly is a lot of creativity on offer! You’ll find handcrafted pottery, beautiful jewellery, unique textile art, hand dyed yarns, fine leatherwork, baking, confections, honey products, custom clothing design, artistic blacksmithing, garden sculpture, fabric and paper art, fine art originals and vibrant landscapes, woodturning, natural soaps and skin care, luminous glass art — and the list goes on.
Although art and fine craft are the heart of the tour, the stops, all of which you can visit in a day, are destinations themselves. Uniquely, Maple Run partners with local family-run businesses for a full-on touring experience. Visit and sample at Farmgate Cider with its heritage post and beam cider barn, or at Cartwright Springs craft brewery where beer is crafted from the brewery’s own spring. The Cedar Hill Christmas Tree Farm — not just for Christmas! — is also a stop, where you can wander down to the picturesque covered bridge. Visit the Paddye Mann studio, a custom clothing design studio housed in what used to be a tailor’s shop. And don’t miss Fulton’s Sugar Bush — a 6th generation family-run sugar bush where you can experience nature trails, the process of making syrup, and fresh maple taffy on snow. The doors of the historic one-room Cedar Hill schoolhouse will also be open, and this year there will also be an artist’s studio located in a charming farmhouse.
Driving from stop to stop (look for the green maple leaf signs) takes you through spectacular spring scenery and the pretty heritage village of Pakenham, with its unique stone bridge spanning the rushing Mississippi River. There you can visit Keepers, an eclectic coffee, gift, plant, house-made bakery and craft shop; or the stone-built 1840s General Store and Bakery where you can stock up on local and household goods.
Bring your family and friends and plan for a great daytrip through art, craft, history, scenery and the sweet traditions of Canada’s maple season. Check mapleruntour.com for more information, a map, artist bios, tour stop descriptions and images, and find the tour on Facebook and Instagram.
