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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Gladwin County, Michigan

Gladwin County had 17 maple operations and 3,946 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Gladwin, sap usually runs from March 5 to April 7. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 150 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 5
typical year
Season ends
Apr 7
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
46.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
3,946
#38 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Gladwin right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Gladwin, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:42 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Gladwin County's season usually opens around March 5, which is 150 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    43° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    36° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    39° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    49° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    47° / 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 Gladwin

Freeze-thaw weather at Gladwin peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 13, which hold about 51% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 5 – Apr 70246Week of Dec 1: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 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: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 5
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Gladwin, 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 9; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 2 and Mar 16. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Mar 25 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 10; middle half between Apr 4 and Apr 16. Earliest Mar 16 (2012), latest Apr 29 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan8%Feb15%Mar33%Apr26%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Gladwin County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Gladwin was 2012 with 65 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 26. 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, 41 sap days4120252025: Mar 12 – Apr 12, 47 sap days4720242024: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 55 sap days5520232023: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 59 sap days5920222022: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 44 sap days4420212021: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 51 sap days5120202020: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 63 sap days6320192019: Mar 17 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3920182018: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 60 sap days6020172017: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 37 sap days3720162016: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 51 sap days5120152015: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 39 sap days3920142014: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 35 sap days3520132013: Mar 24 – Apr 27, 52 sap days5220122012: Feb 14 – Mar 16, 65 sap days6520112011: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 36 sap days3620102010: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 48 sap days4820092009: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 51 sap days5120082008: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 38 sap days3820072007: Feb 25 – Mar 22, 36 sap days3620062006: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 48 sap days4820052005: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 37 sap days3720042004: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 48 sap days4820032003: Mar 14 – Apr 14, 36 sap days3620022002: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 53 sap days5320012001: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 26 sap days2620002000: Feb 16 – Mar 20, 40 sap days4019991999: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 51 sap days5119981998: Feb 26 – Mar 26, 52 sap days5219971997: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 43 sap days4319961996: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 45 sap days4519951995: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4519941994: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 54 sap days5419931993: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 41 sap days4119921992: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 48 sap days4819911991: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 44 sap days44
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Gladwin. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Gladwin County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Gladwin County the 2022 Census found 17 farms making syrup (+240% since 2017), with taps +239% and syrup output +188% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.22 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.26 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Gladwin County ranks 212 by taps.

Gladwin County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022173,9468710.22
201751,1633020.26

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 Gladwin (810ft), 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

Gladwin County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Gladwin County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 5 near Gladwin and the season winds down around April 7. 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 25.
How much maple syrup does Gladwin County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 17 maple operations in Gladwin County with 3,946 taps producing 871 gallons of syrup, ranking 38 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Gladwin County get in a season?
On average 46.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Gladwin, of which about 13.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (65 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Gladwin (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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