Anyone in Burke VT know of sugar bush in Burke Hollow?

Hi everyone,

My wife and I have been looking for property in the northeast kingdom of VT, for recreation and retirement. As a hobby producer in MA with 150 taps, I plan to continue in retirement, so our criteria in VT of course includes having at least that many sugar maple taps, but I'd like to have more like 300-500. I don't plan to get bigger so I don't need any more than that. There's a beautiful piece of land on the market in Burke, VT, on Burke Hollow Rd across from the Burke Town School. It's 156 acres, has a great VAST trail through it from end to the other. On the north side it almost reaches Sugar House Rd, but not quite. With a road name like that, I figured there must be a lot of sugar maple nearby. I walked a little of the property last weekend, but not enough to get a sense of potential sugar bush. So I thought maybe some of you may live near there and could speak to the size of the sugar bush there. I only walked the VAST trail and a little bit off it, and didn't see alot of sugars. There are some trees I'm not that familiar with whose lower bark resembles maples, but the higher parts don't, and I think those may be quaking aspen. So, does anyone know if this lot has much of a sugar bush?

Tom

We love Burke. It's a great little community with a lot to offer.

The best way to assess the potential for 300 to 500 sugar maple trees is to walk the property and look for clusters of maple trees. Start with walking the property lines and find the survey pins. This will help you understand the extent of the property. I also recommend looking at Google Earth and specifically spring-time images when the sugar maples look exactly like broccoli tops. Then you can zero in a potential sugar bush. Hopefully you'll find something with with gradient to your ideal sugarhouse location.

Ken

Been up in the area many times over the years, but not that particular road. I would be surprised from what I have seen if you didn’t have quite a bunch of maples. There is several people sugaring in that area so maybe reach out to them and ask if they know your lot or the neighboring lots to get a sense.

Taptap - I agree, walking it is best and my preference. I started last weeknd but ran out of time. I live 3 hours away so it will have to wait til I’m up there next, but I thought meantime somebody local might give me some indication if it’s worth the time, since I didn’t see many sugars on the portion I did walk. Like BAP, I’m thinking there are other local sugar makers nearby who might know that property. I thought someone here on MT might respond but if not then I think next time up I’ll drive along Sugar House rd and stop to ask anyone with a Maple Products sign out. Good luck this season!

I suggest reaching out to the seller to see if there is a forest management plan for the property as if there is it will likely be able to provide some insight as to whether or not there is much of a maple component. The listing I found says the property was logged about 10 years ago, so you may be able to find out if there is a forester that may be familiar with the property.

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Originally Posted by GeneralStark

I suggest reaching out to the seller to see if there is a forest management plan for the property as if there is it will likely be able to provide some insight as to whether or not there is much of a maple component. The listing I found says the property was logged about 10 years ago, so you may be able to find out if there is a forester that may be familiar with the property.

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General - I actually really enjoy reading these Forester reports, but this parcel isn’t in current use so there isn’t one. The reports are an awesome resource if available, as they spell out pretty clearly the quantity, age, and health by species. Some even estimate # of taps.

Yes, parcels in current use are required to have a plan, but plenty of parcels not in current use will also have one. Judging by the aerial photography, the parcel you're interested in was definitely logged pretty heavily. Perhaps the owners were in need of some cash and now they're really looking to cash in...

There's quite a bit of softwood, especially lower in the valley closer to the river. I think you or someone else is going to have to walk it. Following the vast trail north should give you a better sense of the maple potential as that will get you into the upland area which is where the maples are more likely to be in heavier density.

I checked out your property on Google Earth. It seems obvious that you don't have a heavy concentration of mature sugar maples. There might be soft maples but that you'd need to check from the ground. I looked at my most robust sugar maple bush and it's very obvious on the Earth maps for May and June imagery. My location is 44-23'-48.5" N and 73-04'16.01"W. The concentrated area is no more than 500x500 ft square. Check it out on Google Earth.

Ken