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Kentucky · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Boone County, Kentucky

Boone County had 8 maple operations and 185 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Burlington, sap usually runs from January 29 to February 27. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 115 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Jan 29
weather estimate
Season ends
Feb 27
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
38.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
185
#7 of 25 in KY

Sap-flow outlook at Burlington right now

Full Kentucky forecast →

Forecast for Burlington, KY

Updated Oct 6, 4:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Boone County's season usually opens around January 29, which is 115 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    46° / 79°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    54° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    48° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    49° / 79°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    56° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    56° / 78°
    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 Burlington

Freeze-thaw weather at Burlington peaks in the weeks of Dec 1 to Mar 23, which hold about 95% of a season's sap days. December is the busiest month. Note: USDA publishes no season dates for Kentucky, 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: Jan 29 – Feb 270246Week of Dec 1: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 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 ~Jan 29
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Burlington, 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 Jan 29; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 19 and Feb 3. Earliest Jan 6 (2020), latest Feb 28 (2003).
Closing signal
Median Feb 27; middle half between Feb 14 and Mar 8. Earliest Jan 27 (2020), latest Mar 20 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec25%Jan22%Feb25%Mar24%Apr4%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Boone County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Burlington was 2004 with 50 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 26. 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: Jan 24 – Feb 25, 33 sap days3320252025: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 34 sap days3420242024: Jan 9 – Feb 13, 38 sap days3820232023: Jan 7 – Feb 6, 37 sap days3720222022: Jan 31 – Mar 5, 44 sap days4420212021: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 32 sap days3220202020: Jan 6 – Jan 27, 39 sap days3920192019: Jan 22 – Feb 20, 39 sap days3920182018: Jan 19 – Feb 14, 43 sap days4320172017: Jan 30 – Jan 31, 35 sap days3520162016: Jan 25 – Feb 28, 33 sap days3320152015: Feb 10 – Mar 8, 28 sap days2820142014: Feb 12 – Mar 18, 32 sap days3220132013: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 47 sap days4720122012: Jan 12 – Feb 7, 45 sap days4520112011: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 29 sap days2920102010: Feb 10 – Mar 8, 28 sap days2820092009: Jan 31 – Mar 5, 37 sap days3720082008: Jan 27 – Mar 1, 37 sap days3720072007: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 39 sap days3920062006: Jan 15 – Jan 28, 40 sap days4020052005: Feb 1 – Feb 6, 40 sap days4020042004: Jan 30 – Mar 1, 50 sap days5020032003: Feb 28 – Mar 15, 26 sap days2620022002: Jan 11 – Feb 15, 48 sap days4820012001: Feb 5 – Mar 11, 42 sap days4220002000: Jan 21 – Feb 22, 46 sap days4619991999: Jan 11 – Feb 6, 48 sap days4819981998: Jan 12 – Feb 14, 42 sap days4219971997: Jan 22 – Feb 26, 42 sap days4219961996: Jan 23 – Feb 19, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 15 – Feb 26, 33 sap days3319941994: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 36 sap days3619931993: Feb 16 – Mar 20, 36 sap days3619921992: Jan 18 – Feb 13, 47 sap days4719911991: Jan 25 – Feb 28, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Burlington. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Boone County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Boone County the 2022 Census found 8 farms making syrup, with taps null and syrup output null over the same five years. That works out to about 0.09 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Boone County ranks 345 by taps.

Boone County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20228185160.09
2017000—

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 Burlington (860ft), 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 — Kentucky, 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

Boone County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Boone County, Kentucky?
In a typical year the sap starts running around January 29 near Burlington and the season winds down around February 27. 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 6 and as late as Feb 28.
How much maple syrup does Boone County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 8 maple operations in Boone County with 185 taps producing 16 gallons of syrup, ranking 7 of 25 Kentucky's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Boone County get in a season?
On average 38.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Burlington, of which about 13.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2004 (50 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Burlington (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Kentucky. 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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