Funks Grove Maple Sirup

Thousands of maple trees grow in Funk’s Grove. During the warmer days and cold nights of February and March, sap from the sugar maple begins to run. In the 1820s, early settlers boiled the sap from sugar maples in groves throughout McLean County--a skill they learned from Native Americans in the area. Today, that tradition survives at Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup. And yes, that’s “sirup” with an “I,” a nod to the old-timey spelling.

This is a beloved sweet stop with sirups and other maple-flavored treats available for purchase. If you travel in the early spring, you will see a maze of light blue tubes collecting sap from trees, and plumes of steam coming out of a large evaporator as it boils sap into sirup. The sirup farm at Funks Grove remains a favorite stop among Route 66 travelers.