Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Maine · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in York County, Maine

York County had 33 maple operations and 13,598 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Alfred, sap usually runs from February 25 to April 5. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 142 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 25
typical year
Season ends
Apr 5
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
52.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
13,598
#9 of 16 in ME

Sap-flow outlook at Alfred right now

Full Maine forecast →

Forecast for Alfred, ME

Updated Oct 6, 6:54 AM EDT

1 sap day in the next 6

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    30° / 63°

    4h below · 20h above

    Sap likely
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    Run tapering
  3. FriOct 9
    46° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    42° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 70°
    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 Alfred

Freeze-thaw weather at Alfred peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 47% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 25 – Apr 50246Week of Dec 1: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.5 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: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 25
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Alfred, 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 6; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 1 and Mar 12. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Mar 19 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Apr 3 and Apr 14. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 21 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan13%Feb18%Mar28%Apr19%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

York County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Alfred was 2016 with 68 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 34. 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 5 – Apr 9, 44 sap days4420252025: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 37 sap days3720242024: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 51 sap days5120232023: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 68 sap days6820222022: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 53 sap days5320212021: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 48 sap days4820202020: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 61 sap days6120192019: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 50 sap days5020182018: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 57 sap days5720172017: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 46 sap days4620162016: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 68 sap days6820152015: Mar 19 – Apr 19, 39 sap days3920142014: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 41 sap days4120132013: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 59 sap days5920122012: Feb 15 – Mar 13, 65 sap days6520112011: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 45 sap days4520102010: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 45 sap days4520092009: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 42 sap days4220082008: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 57 sap days5720072007: Mar 12 – Apr 13, 56 sap days5620062006: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 55 sap days5520052005: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 57 sap days5720042004: Mar 12 – Apr 13, 61 sap days6120032003: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 34 sap days3420022002: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 63 sap days6320012001: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 47 sap days4720002000: Feb 22 – Mar 26, 47 sap days4719991999: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 65 sap days6519981998: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 60 sap days6019971997: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 54 sap days5419961996: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 45 sap days4519951995: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 55 sap days5519941994: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 41 sap days4119921992: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 57 sap days5719911991: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 65 sap days65
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Alfred. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

York County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In York County the 2022 Census found 33 farms making syrup (-23% since 2017), with taps -41% and syrup output -48% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.26 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, York County ranks 114 by taps.

York County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20223313,5983,0930.23
20174323,2035,9830.26

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 Alfred (249ft), 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

York County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in York County, Maine?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 25 near Alfred and the season winds down around April 5. 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 15 and as late as Mar 19.
How much maple syrup does York County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 33 maple operations in York County with 13,598 taps producing 3,093 gallons of syrup, ranking 9 of 16 Maine's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does York County get in a season?
On average 52.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Alfred, of which about 15.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2016 (68 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (34).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Alfred (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.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in York County

LuckySap watches the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play