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Maine · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Piscataquis County, Maine

Piscataquis County had 13 maple operations and 22,400 taps in the 2022 Census, number 3 in Maine. Around Dover-Foxcroft, sap usually runs from March 13 to April 17. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 158 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 13
typical year
Season ends
Apr 17
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
45.7
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
22,400
#3 of 16 in ME

Sap-flow outlook at Dover-Foxcroft right now

Full Maine forecast →

Forecast for Dover-Foxcroft, ME

Updated Oct 6, 6:02 AM EDT

1 sap day in the next 6

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    30° / 57°

    3h below · 21h above

    Sap likely
  2. ThuOct 8
    42° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    Run tapering
  3. FriOct 9
    39° / 59°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    37° / 58°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    36° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    46° / 68°
    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 Dover-Foxcroft

Freeze-thaw weather at Dover-Foxcroft peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 20, which hold about 57% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 13 – Apr 170246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.6 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: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.1 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: 4.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 4.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 4.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 13
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Dover-Foxcroft, 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 22; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 17 and Mar 26. Earliest Feb 28 (2010), latest Mar 31 (1992).
Closing signal
Median Apr 21; middle half between Apr 18 and Apr 27. Earliest Mar 29 (2010), latest May 3 (1997).
Sap days by month
Dec13%Jan7%Feb11%Mar31%Apr34%May4%

36 seasons of sap weather

Piscataquis County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Dover-Foxcroft was 1999 with 66 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2014 with 29. 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 13 – Apr 12, 44 sap days4420252025: Mar 19 – Apr 18, 38 sap days3820242024: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 51 sap days5120232023: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 60 sap days6020222022: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 54 sap days5420212021: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 33 sap days3320202020: Mar 26 – Apr 30, 62 sap days6220192019: Mar 23 – Apr 18, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 25 – Apr 23, 48 sap days4820172017: Mar 18 – Apr 18, 39 sap days3920162016: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 53 sap days5320152015: Mar 27 – Apr 24, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 25 – Apr 20, 29 sap days2920132013: Mar 21 – Apr 24, 55 sap days5520122012: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 50 sap days5020112011: Mar 25 – Apr 23, 42 sap days4220102010: Feb 28 – Mar 29, 45 sap days4520092009: Mar 21 – Apr 21, 43 sap days4320082008: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 46 sap days4620072007: Mar 26 – Apr 27, 55 sap days5520062006: Mar 12 – Apr 11, 45 sap days4520052005: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 50 sap days5020042004: Mar 28 – May 1, 51 sap days5120032003: Mar 28 – May 1, 38 sap days3820022002: Mar 26 – Apr 30, 46 sap days4620012001: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 39 sap days3920002000: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 48 sap days4819991999: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 66 sap days6619981998: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4019971997: Mar 30 – May 3, 42 sap days4219961996: Mar 23 – Apr 21, 43 sap days4319951995: Mar 26 – Apr 27, 47 sap days4719941994: Mar 28 – Apr 29, 47 sap days4719931993: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 40 sap days4019921992: Mar 31 – Apr 30, 39 sap days3919911991: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 53 sap days53
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Dover-Foxcroft. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Piscataquis County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Piscataquis County the 2022 Census found 13 farms making syrup (-38% since 2017), with taps -32% and syrup output +10% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.17 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.10 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Piscataquis County ranks 87 by taps.

Piscataquis County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221322,4003,7700.17
20172132,9903,4140.10

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 Dover-Foxcroft (453ft), 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

Piscataquis County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Piscataquis County, Maine?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 13 near Dover-Foxcroft and the season winds down around April 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 Feb 28 and as late as Mar 31.
How much maple syrup does Piscataquis County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 13 maple operations in Piscataquis County with 22,400 taps producing 3,770 gallons of syrup, ranking 3 of 16 Maine's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Piscataquis County get in a season?
On average 45.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Dover-Foxcroft, of which about 13.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (66 sap days); the leanest was 2014 (29).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Dover-Foxcroft (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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