From Humble Beginnings
Hillegas Sugar Camp is based in Somerset County, Pennsylvania and is a proud producer of pure maple syrup. Kyle Hillegas started the operation at the age of 8, after finding some buckets in his great grandfather’s basement. Since then, Kyle and his wife Rebecca have grown the operation each year, working alongside Kyle’s brother, Brandon.
For the past 30 years, they have grown from a small operation with a couple of taps in their parent’s backyard, to 9,000 taps in four different production locations.
Today, the Hillegas family produces maple syrup, sugar, candy and many more maple products, all available year-round.
Pure Pennsylvania Maple
Sap collected at Hillegas Sugar Camp runs through a reverse osmosis (RO) system, which first increases the sugar content in the sap by removing some of the water that does not contain sugar, then the RO unit helps remove small particulate matter from the sap.
After the sap has passed through the RO unit, it moves to a holding tank to await boiling. Once the sap has reached the proper temperature and the correct density, they remove it from the evaporator and run it through a filter press. The filter press removes any sugar sands or impurities that present in the syrup. From the filter press, they pump the syrup into barrels and heat seal until bottled.
Hillegas Sugar Camp produces approximately 3,000 gallons of maple syrup annually.
Diversifying the Operation
Russ Hillegas, Kyle’s father, originally owned the White Horse Mountain Farm where the Hillegas Sugar Camp is located.
As a fourth-generation farmer, Russ works to diversify the family business by raising Angus cross-bread cattle for market at has his own cow/calf operation. When he is not working his full-time job or maintaining the farm, Russ manages the electrical, plumbing and general handyman duties for the sugar camp.
Each member of the Hillegas family is highly involved in the family business and are proud to partner with Horizon Farm Credit to continue to grow.
