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Kentucky · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Hardin County, Kentucky

Hardin County had 5 maple operations and 606 taps in the 2022 Census, number 4 in Kentucky. Around Elizabethtown, sap usually runs from January 17 to February 17. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 103 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Jan 17
weather estimate
Season ends
Feb 17
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
46.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
606
#4 of 25 in KY

Sap-flow outlook at Elizabethtown right now

Full Kentucky forecast →

Forecast for Elizabethtown, KY

Updated Oct 6, 9:56 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Hardin County's season usually opens around January 17, which is 103 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    50° / 82°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    55° / 82°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    51° / 79°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    53° / 82°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    58° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    57° / 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 Elizabethtown

Freeze-thaw weather at Elizabethtown peaks in the weeks of Jan 5 to Mar 9, which hold about 61% of a season's sap days. January 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 17 – Feb 170246Week of Dec 1: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.3 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 17
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Elizabethtown, 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 17; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 12 and Jan 22. Earliest Jan 4 (2002), latest Feb 7 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Feb 17; middle half between Feb 8 and Feb 25. Earliest Jan 19 (2006), latest Mar 12 (2003).
Sap days by month
Dec24%Jan26%Feb25%Mar20%Apr4%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Hardin County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Elizabethtown was 2013 with 60 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2026 with 33. 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 15 – Feb 17, 33 sap days3320252025: Jan 23 – Feb 25, 43 sap days4320242024: Jan 5 – Feb 8, 40 sap days4020233420222022: Jan 27 – Mar 1, 48 sap days4820212021: Jan 29 – Mar 5, 47 sap days4720202020: Jan 5 – Jan 31, 43 sap days4320192019: Jan 22 – Feb 3, 47 sap days4720182018: Jan 19 – Feb 14, 46 sap days4620173820162016: Jan 18 – Feb 19, 40 sap days4020152015: Feb 7 – Mar 9, 43 sap days4320142014: Feb 4 – Mar 10, 58 sap days5820132013: Jan 6 – Feb 10, 60 sap days6020122012: Jan 4 – Jan 31, 53 sap days5320112011: Jan 21 – Feb 24, 36 sap days3620102010: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 40 sap days4020092009: Jan 22 – Feb 25, 41 sap days4120082008: Jan 12 – Feb 8, 46 sap days4620072007: Jan 18 – Feb 20, 41 sap days4120062006: Jan 15 – Jan 19, 47 sap days4720054520042004: Jan 25 – Mar 1, 58 sap days5820032003: Feb 6 – Mar 12, 36 sap days3620022002: Jan 4 – Feb 7, 53 sap days5320012001: Jan 16 – Feb 19, 53 sap days5320002000: Jan 13 – Feb 17, 47 sap days4719991999: Jan 8 – Jan 27, 53 sap days5319981998: Jan 14 – Jan 28, 40 sap days4019971997: Jan 15 – Feb 12, 44 sap days4419961996: Jan 19 – Feb 19, 47 sap days4719951995: Jan 17 – Feb 20, 48 sap days4819941994: Jan 18 – Feb 18, 52 sap days5219931993: Jan 8 – Feb 10, 57 sap days5719921992: Jan 12 – Feb 11, 59 sap days5919911991: Jan 14 – Feb 17, 47 sap days47
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Elizabethtown. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Hardin County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Hardin County the 2022 Census found 5 farms making syrup, with taps null and syrup output null over the same five years. That works out to about 0.14 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Hardin County ranks 305 by taps.

Hardin County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225606830.14
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 Elizabethtown (748ft), 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

Hardin County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Hardin County, Kentucky?
In a typical year the sap starts running around January 17 near Elizabethtown and the season winds down around February 17. 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 4 and as late as Feb 7.
How much maple syrup does Hardin County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 5 maple operations in Hardin County with 606 taps producing 83 gallons of syrup, ranking 4 of 25 Kentucky's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Hardin County get in a season?
On average 46.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Elizabethtown, of which about 12.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2013 (60 sap days); the leanest was 2026 (33).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Elizabethtown (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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