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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Charlevoix County, Michigan

Charlevoix County had 12 maple operations and 38,900 taps in the 2022 Census, number 3 in Michigan. Around Charlevoix, sap usually runs from March 13 to April 12. 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 12
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
27.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
38,900
#3 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Charlevoix right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Charlevoix, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:42 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Charlevoix County's season usually opens around March 13, which is 158 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    58° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 58°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    48° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    48° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 62°
    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 Charlevoix

Freeze-thaw weather at Charlevoix peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 46% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 13 – Apr 120246Week of Dec 1: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 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 Charlevoix, 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 17; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 9 and Mar 25. Earliest Feb 20 (2012), latest Apr 2 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 15; middle half between Apr 10 and Apr 23. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest May 3 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan10%Feb15%Mar33%Apr25%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Charlevoix County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Charlevoix was 1994 with 37 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 17. 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, 28 sap days2820252025: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 35 sap days3520242024: Mar 2 – Mar 31, 26 sap days2620232023: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 36 sap days3620222022: Mar 26 – Apr 28, 25 sap days2520212021: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 31 sap days3120202020: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 35 sap days3520192019: Mar 24 – Apr 24, 29 sap days2920182018: Mar 30 – Apr 26, 29 sap days2920172017: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 26 sap days2620162016: Mar 22 – Apr 14, 22 sap days2220152015: Mar 17 – Apr 15, 17 sap days1720142014: Mar 31 – Apr 27, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 26 – Apr 22, 30 sap days3020122012: Feb 20 – Mar 12, 30 sap days3020112011: Mar 26 – Apr 21, 21 sap days2120102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 22 sap days2220092009: Mar 19 – Apr 13, 26 sap days2620082008: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 21 sap days2120072007: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 21 sap days2120062006: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 24 sap days2420052005: Mar 9 – Mar 29, 21 sap days2120042004: Mar 16 – Apr 14, 30 sap days3020032003: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 28 sap days2820022002: Mar 12 – Apr 10, 28 sap days2820012001: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 18 sap days1820002000: Mar 4 – Mar 20, 27 sap days2719991999: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 27 sap days2719981998: Feb 27 – Mar 25, 21 sap days2119971997: Mar 26 – Apr 26, 24 sap days2419961996: Apr 2 – May 3, 37 sap days3719951995: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 36 sap days3619941994: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 37 sap days3719931993: Mar 26 – Apr 27, 28 sap days2819921992: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 25 sap days2519911991: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 29 sap days29
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Charlevoix. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Charlevoix County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Charlevoix County the 2022 Census found 12 farms making syrup (-40% since 2017), with taps -1% and syrup output +44% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.50 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.34 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Charlevoix County ranks 67 by taps.

Charlevoix County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221238,90019,4050.50
20172039,30513,4520.34

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 Charlevoix (600ft), 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

Charlevoix County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Charlevoix County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 13 near Charlevoix and the season winds down around April 12. 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 20 and as late as Apr 2.
How much maple syrup does Charlevoix County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 12 maple operations in Charlevoix County with 38,900 taps producing 19,405 gallons of syrup, ranking 3 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Charlevoix County get in a season?
On average 27.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Charlevoix, 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 1994 (37 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (17).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Charlevoix (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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