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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Baraga County, Michigan

Baraga County had 7 maple operations and 2,703 taps in the 2022 Census. Around L'Anse, sap usually runs from March 21 to April 25. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 166 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 21
typical year
Season ends
Apr 25
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
44.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,703
#44 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at L'Anse right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for L'Anse, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:24 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Baraga County's season usually opens around March 21, which is 166 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    45° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    39° / 58°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    36° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    56° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    46° / 58°
    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 L'Anse

Freeze-thaw weather at L'Anse peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to May 4, which hold about 68% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 21 – Apr 250246Week of Dec 1: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.8 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 21
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at L'Anse, 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 25; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 15 and Mar 30. Earliest Feb 16 (2012), latest Apr 11 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 28; middle half between Apr 18 and May 2. Earliest Mar 18 (2012), latest May 14 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec9%Jan5%Feb10%Mar29%Apr33%May15%

36 seasons of sap weather

Baraga County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at L'Anse was 2024 with 57 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2014 with 30. 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 20 – Apr 21, 39 sap days3920252025: Mar 27 – May 1, 42 sap days4220242024: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 57 sap days5720232023: Mar 31 – May 3, 40 sap days4020222022: Apr 4 – May 7, 41 sap days4120212021: Mar 8 – Apr 3, 52 sap days5220202020: Apr 10 – May 14, 45 sap days4520192019: Mar 31 – Apr 28, 38 sap days3820182018: Apr 3 – May 7, 47 sap days4720172017: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 51 sap days5120162016: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 46 sap days4620152015: Mar 24 – Apr 28, 37 sap days3720142014: Apr 5 – May 6, 30 sap days3020132013: Apr 10 – May 13, 39 sap days3920122012: Feb 16 – Mar 18, 51 sap days5120112011: Mar 30 – May 4, 39 sap days3920102010: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 42 sap days4220092009: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 49 sap days4920082008: Mar 30 – May 2, 39 sap days3920072007: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 31 sap days3120062006: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 34 sap days3420052005: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 45 sap days4520042004: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 49 sap days4920032003: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 43 sap days4320022002: Mar 29 – May 3, 52 sap days5220012001: Mar 22 – Apr 19, 33 sap days3320002000: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 49 sap days4919991999: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 53 sap days5319981998: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 46 sap days4619971997: Mar 29 – May 2, 46 sap days4619961996: Apr 11 – May 14, 44 sap days4419951995: Mar 28 – Apr 30, 47 sap days4719941994: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 54 sap days5419931993: Mar 27 – Apr 27, 45 sap days4519921992: Mar 28 – Apr 29, 46 sap days4619911991: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 47 sap days47
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at L'Anse. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Baraga County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Baraga County the 2022 Census found 7 farms making syrup (+250% since 2017). That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Baraga County ranks 232 by taps.

Baraga County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202272,7036200.23
20172withheldwithheld—

“Withheld” means USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing data for individual operations; the farm count is still published.

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 L'Anse (712ft), 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

Baraga County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Baraga County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 21 near L'Anse and the season winds down around April 25. 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 16 and as late as Apr 11.
How much maple syrup does Baraga County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 7 maple operations in Baraga County with 2,703 taps producing 620 gallons of syrup, ranking 44 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Baraga County get in a season?
On average 44.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at L'Anse, of which about 10.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (57 sap days); the leanest was 2014 (30).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at L'Anse (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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