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Maine · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Lincoln County, Maine

Lincoln County had 8 maple operations and 3,100 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Wiscasset, sap usually runs from March 2 to April 8. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 147 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 2
typical year
Season ends
Apr 8
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
48.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
3,100
#14 of 16 in ME

Sap-flow outlook at Wiscasset right now

Full Maine forecast →

Forecast for Wiscasset, ME

Updated Oct 6, 6:54 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Lincoln County's season usually opens around March 2, which is 147 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    43° / 58°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    41° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    41° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 69°
    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 Wiscasset

Freeze-thaw weather at Wiscasset peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 48% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 2 – Apr 80246Week of Dec 1: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 2
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Wiscasset, 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 Mar 11; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 3 and Mar 15. Earliest Feb 17 (2012), latest Mar 20 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Apr 12; middle half between Apr 4 and Apr 16. Earliest Mar 17 (2012), latest Apr 21 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan13%Feb17%Mar28%Apr19%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Lincoln County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Wiscasset was 1999 with 63 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 1993 with 35. 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: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 40 sap days4020252025: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 39 sap days3920242024: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 45 sap days4520232023: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 59 sap days5920222022: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 45 sap days4520212021: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 42 sap days4220202020: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 61 sap days6120192019: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 49 sap days4920182018: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 54 sap days5420172017: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 50 sap days5020162016: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 60 sap days6020152015: Mar 20 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3620142014: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 37 sap days3720132013: Mar 7 – Apr 7, 56 sap days5620122012: Feb 17 – Mar 17, 57 sap days5720112011: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 42 sap days4220102010: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 42 sap days4220092009: Mar 14 – Apr 17, 40 sap days4020082008: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 48 sap days4820072007: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 52 sap days5220062006: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 49 sap days4920052005: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 46 sap days4620042004: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 52 sap days5220032003: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 38 sap days3820022002: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 59 sap days5920012001: Mar 20 – Apr 21, 47 sap days4720002000: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 48 sap days4819991999: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 63 sap days6319981998: Feb 24 – Mar 26, 46 sap days4619971997: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 54 sap days5419961996: Mar 13 – Apr 14, 42 sap days4219951995: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 53 sap days5319941994: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 42 sap days4219931993: Mar 13 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3519921992: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 50 sap days5019911991: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 58 sap days58
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Wiscasset. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Lincoln County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Lincoln County the 2022 Census found 8 farms making syrup (-50% since 2017), with taps -25% and syrup output -58% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.10 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.17 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Lincoln County ranks 227 by taps.

Lincoln County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202283,1003000.10
2017164,1607180.17

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 Wiscasset (39ft), 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 Maine's USDA record (12 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 — Maine, 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

Lincoln County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Lincoln County, Maine?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 2 near Wiscasset and the season winds down around April 8. 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 17 and as late as Mar 20.
How much maple syrup does Lincoln County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 8 maple operations in Lincoln County with 3,100 taps producing 300 gallons of syrup, ranking 14 of 16 Maine's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Lincoln County get in a season?
On average 48.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Wiscasset, of which about 18.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (63 sap days); the leanest was 1993 (35).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Wiscasset (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Maine. 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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