From Karen Kwan – Special to The Toronto Star – “ WHEELS wants to inspire you to get ready to explore – but only if Covid-19 conditions make it safe to do so. Day trips and longer drives highlight great experiences & show you that Ontario is ‘Our’s to Discover’. Luckily we have maple syrup producers just a few hours outside of Toronto. Their (mostly outdoor) seasons start off in early March. So here we go.” – #1) – Richardson’s Farm and Market in Dunnville, 90 minute drive southwest from Toronto, next to Grand River near the North Shore of Lake Erie. Beside the maple goods add in butter, sugar, toffee, salad dressing and tea, plus the Farm’s fruit and veggies. Tour on your own and learn about maple syrup. Breakfast kit – pancake mix, sausages and maple syrup; – #2 – Trillium Ridge Sugar Works – a two-and-a-half drive east of Toronto on Highway #401, with a short drive north from exit # 566. 10,000 taps’ forest bathing while wandering around the sugar bush. Back to the shack to purchase some syrup, 2nd place winner at the Royal AgriculturalWinter Fair last year. “Limestone-rich soil” said the owner Terry Gervais. “It has a delicious flavour.”; – #3 – Petterlaw Creek Farms in Uxbridge, an hour’s drive north from Toronto. Tour of its’ Pancake House (if it’s open); demo for kids on tapping a tree, certified organic syrup operation, sugar bush spreads over 4 forests with 40,000 taps, taster pack with 4 grades of syrup, taster pack at the store. Drive to the farm on Highway #404, then east on Regional Road #31, then north again on Concession Rd. #6; #4 – Mountsberg Sugar Bush – evening tour of the Sugar Bush, an hour’s drive west along Highway #1 from Toronto near Campbellville onThursdays to Sundays – wagon ride, local musicians, fire pit, families want to visit daytime Maple Town, sheep, donkeys and goats in the animal barn, scavenger hunts, and a nautural playground, etc.; – #5 – Wheeler’s Maple Products, three-and-a-half drive east of Toronto in Lanark Highlands. Maple products, sugar camp, a museum, homemade sausages. And farm sights.