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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Antrim County, Michigan

Antrim County had 11 maple operations and 17,134 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Bellaire, sap usually runs from March 10 to April 13. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 155 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 10
typical year
Season ends
Apr 13
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
39.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
17,134
#11 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Bellaire right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Bellaire, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:42 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Antrim County's season usually opens around March 10, which is 155 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    55° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    46° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    39° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    55° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 66°
    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 Bellaire

Freeze-thaw weather at Bellaire peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 20, which hold about 58% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 10 – Apr 130246Week of Dec 1: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.2 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 10
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Bellaire, 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 14; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 7 and Mar 20. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Mar 29 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 16; middle half between Apr 9 and Apr 21. Earliest Mar 16 (2012), latest Apr 30 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec12%Jan7%Feb13%Mar31%Apr31%May6%

36 seasons of sap weather

Antrim County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Bellaire was 2020 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 28. 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 10 – Apr 12, 42 sap days4220252025: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 45 sap days4520242024: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 44 sap days4420232023: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4520222022: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 37 sap days3720212021: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 46 sap days4620202020: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 53 sap days5320192019: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 38 sap days3820182018: Mar 29 – Apr 30, 46 sap days4620172017: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 33 sap days3320162016: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 34 sap days3420152015: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 27 – Apr 27, 35 sap days3520132013: Mar 26 – Apr 26, 39 sap days3920122012: Feb 14 – Mar 16, 50 sap days5020112011: Mar 23 – Apr 24, 30 sap days3020102010: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 39 sap days3920092009: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 42 sap days4220082008: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 28 sap days2820072007: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 34 sap days3420062006: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 35 sap days3520052005: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3520042004: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 44 sap days4420032003: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 39 sap days3920022002: Mar 12 – Apr 13, 49 sap days4920012001: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2820002000: Mar 4 – Mar 19, 50 sap days5019991999: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 44 sap days4419981998: Feb 27 – Mar 25, 36 sap days3619971997: Mar 24 – Apr 26, 37 sap days3719961996: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 40 sap days4019951995: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 44 sap days4419941994: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 51 sap days5119931993: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 39 sap days3919921992: Mar 22 – Apr 16, 39 sap days3919911991: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 36 sap days36
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Bellaire. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Antrim County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Antrim County the 2022 Census found 11 farms making syrup (-31% since 2017), with taps +58% and syrup output +142% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.25 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.16 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Antrim County ranks 101 by taps.

Antrim County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221117,1344,2600.25
20171610,8481,7570.16

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 Bellaire (659ft), 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 Michigan'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 — Michigan, 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

Antrim County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Antrim County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 10 near Bellaire and the season winds down around April 13. 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 14 and as late as Mar 29.
How much maple syrup does Antrim County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 11 maple operations in Antrim County with 17,134 taps producing 4,260 gallons of syrup, ranking 11 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Antrim County get in a season?
On average 39.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Bellaire, of which about 11.5 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (28).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Bellaire (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Michigan. 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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