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Indiana · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Elkhart County, Indiana

Elkhart County had 43 maple operations and 15,301 taps in the 2022 Census, number 2 in Indiana. Around Goshen, sap usually runs from February 15 to March 18. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 132 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 15
typical year
Season ends
Mar 18
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
35.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
15,301
#2 of 42 in IN

Sap-flow outlook at Goshen right now

Full Indiana forecast →

Forecast for Goshen, IN

Updated Oct 6, 9:30 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Elkhart County's season usually opens around February 15, which is 132 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    54° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    48° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    55° / 78°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 75°
    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 Goshen

Freeze-thaw weather at Goshen peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Mar 30, which hold about 47% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 15 – Mar 180246Week of Dec 1: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 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 15
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Goshen, 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 19; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 8 and Mar 1. Earliest Jan 19 (2017), latest Mar 11 (2008).
Closing signal
Median Mar 23; middle half between Mar 10 and Mar 31. Earliest Feb 17 (2017), latest Apr 6 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan13%Feb20%Mar33%Apr12%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Elkhart County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Goshen was 2018 with 52 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 22. 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 10 – Mar 3, 33 sap days3320252025: Feb 13 – Mar 18, 38 sap days3820242024: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 39 sap days3920232023: Jan 29 – Mar 5, 35 sap days3520222022: Feb 16 – Mar 14, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 34 sap days3420202020: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 43 sap days4320192019: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 39 sap days3920182018: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 52 sap days5220172017: Jan 19 – Feb 17, 28 sap days2820162016: Feb 8 – Feb 28, 36 sap days3620152015: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 28 sap days2820142014: Mar 8 – Apr 6, 24 sap days2420132013: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 37 sap days3720122012: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 43 sap days4320112011: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 25 sap days2520102010: Mar 3 – Mar 24, 22 sap days2220092009: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 11 – Apr 4, 34 sap days3420072007: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 35 sap days3520062006: Feb 6 – Mar 8, 44 sap days4420052005: Feb 26 – Mar 29, 30 sap days3020042004: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 39 sap days3920032003: Mar 8 – Mar 26, 27 sap days2720022002: Feb 8 – Mar 13, 48 sap days4820012001: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 32 sap days3220002000: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 39 sap days3919991999: Feb 25 – Mar 30, 43 sap days4319981998: Jan 26 – Feb 26, 39 sap days3919971997: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 42 sap days4219961996: Feb 23 – Mar 29, 35 sap days3519951995: Feb 11 – Mar 11, 35 sap days3519941994: Feb 26 – Apr 1, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 30 sap days3019921992: Feb 2 – Mar 2, 37 sap days3719911991: Feb 16 – Mar 17, 41 sap days41
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Goshen. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Elkhart County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Elkhart County the 2022 Census found 43 farms making syrup (+19% since 2017), with taps +1% and syrup output +53% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.15 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Elkhart County ranks 106 by taps.

Elkhart County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20224315,3013,5570.23
20173615,1382,3290.15

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 Goshen (801ft), 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, and the typical dates shown here are scaled to Indiana's USDA record (3 years). 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 — Indiana, 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

Elkhart County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Elkhart County, Indiana?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 15 near Goshen and the season winds down around March 18. 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 Jan 19 and as late as Mar 11.
How much maple syrup does Elkhart County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 43 maple operations in Elkhart County with 15,301 taps producing 3,557 gallons of syrup, ranking 2 of 42 Indiana's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Elkhart County get in a season?
On average 35.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Goshen, of which about 13.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (52 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Goshen (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Indiana. 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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