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Illinois · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in DeKalb County, Illinois

DeKalb County had 5 maple operations and 63 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Sycamore, sap usually runs from February 25 to March 28. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 142 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 25
weather estimate
Season ends
Mar 28
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
35.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
63
#6 of 26 in IL

Sap-flow outlook at Sycamore right now

Full Illinois forecast →

Forecast for Sycamore, IL

Updated Oct 6, 10:36 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. DeKalb County's season usually opens around February 25, which is 142 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    54° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    47° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    51° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 79°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    55° / 74°
    No refreeze forecast

Data: National Weather Service. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Sycamore

Freeze-thaw weather at Sycamore peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Mar 30, which hold about 49% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month. Note: USDA publishes no season dates for Illinois, so the typical dates here are the raw weather signal. In neighboring states with USDA records, producers reported their seasons running one to three weeks later than this rule.
Typical season: Feb 25 – Mar 280246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 25
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Sycamore, 1991–2026. A sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. The shaded band is the typical season.

Year-to-year spread

Opening signal
Median Feb 25; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 19 and Mar 4. Earliest Feb 3 (2024), latest Mar 13 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 28; middle half between Mar 21 and Apr 2. Earliest Mar 3 (2024), latest Apr 16 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan12%Feb19%Mar35%Apr13%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

DeKalb County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Sycamore was 2018 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 17. Seasons that start early tend to end early too: the trees run on the swing between freezing nights and mild days, and heat ends it.
JanFebMarAprMaysap days20262026: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 40 sap days4020252025: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 31 sap days3120242024: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 41 sap days4120232023: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 51 sap days5120222022: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 44 sap days4420212021: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 33 sap days3320202020: Feb 26 – Mar 27, 45 sap days4520192019: Mar 3 – Apr 2, 41 sap days4120182018: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 53 sap days5320172017: Feb 6 – Mar 5, 29 sap days2920162016: Feb 10 – Mar 8, 33 sap days3320152015: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 24 sap days2420142014: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 30 sap days3020132013: Mar 11 – Apr 5, 38 sap days3820122012: Feb 9 – Mar 12, 45 sap days4520112011: Mar 4 – Apr 1, 24 sap days2420102010: Mar 4 – Mar 30, 17 sap days1720092009: Feb 19 – Mar 21, 30 sap days3020082008: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 32 sap days3220072007: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 34 sap days3420062006: Feb 24 – Mar 27, 42 sap days4220052005: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 30 sap days3020042004: Feb 22 – Mar 24, 42 sap days4220032003: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 30 sap days3020022002: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 50 sap days5020012001: Mar 5 – Apr 2, 30 sap days3020002000: Feb 28 – Mar 5, 42 sap days4219991999: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 43 sap days4319981998: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 28 sap days2819971997: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 36 sap days3619961996: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 42 sap days4219951995: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 31 sap days3119941994: Feb 27 – Mar 31, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 11 – Apr 6, 29 sap days2919921992: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 40 sap days4019911991: Feb 20 – Mar 16, 32 sap days32
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Sycamore. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

DeKalb County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In DeKalb County the 2022 Census found 5 farms making syrup (0% since 2017), with taps -30% and syrup output -21% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.35 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.31 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, DeKalb County ranks 368 by taps.

DeKalb County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022563220.35
2017590280.31

Nearby

Neighboring maple counties

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each county's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the PRISM 4-km grid cell at Sycamore (853ft), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. Each season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits five weeks before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. Tested against 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates, the rule lands within 5.5 days of the reported close and 6.6 days of the reported opening on average. Production figures are copied from the Census as published. Full method, calibration tables and the downloadable dataset →

Sources · 6

  1. 1.2022 Census of Agriculture, County Level Data — Illinois, Table 37: Maple Syrup, 2022 and 2017 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
  2. 2.PRISM daily temperature grids (AN81d, 4 km), accessed 2026-10-05 · PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu
  3. 3.Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) web services · NOAA Regional Climate Centers
  4. 4.USDA NASS maple syrup reports — approximate average season opened and closed dates, 2011–2022 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  5. 5.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  6. 6.GeoNames gazetteer (cities500), CC BY 4.0 · GeoNames

FAQ

DeKalb County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in DeKalb County, Illinois?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 25 near Sycamore and the season winds down around March 28. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of freezing nights and 40 °F days. In the past 36 seasons the weather signal came as early as Feb 3 and as late as Mar 13.
How much maple syrup does DeKalb County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 5 maple operations in DeKalb County with 63 taps producing 22 gallons of syrup, ranking 6 of 26 Illinois' counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does DeKalb County get in a season?
On average 35.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Sycamore, of which about 13.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (17).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Sycamore (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Illinois. They describe a typical year at one point in the county; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

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