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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Grand Traverse County had 26 maple operations and 26,288 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Traverse City, sap usually runs from March 9 to April 12. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 154 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 9
typical year
Season ends
Apr 12
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
33.7
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
26,288
#8 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Traverse City right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Traverse City, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:42 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Grand Traverse County's season usually opens around March 9, which is 154 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    55° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    46° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 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 Traverse City

Freeze-thaw weather at Traverse City peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 45% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 9 – Apr 120246Week of Dec 1: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.0 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: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.4 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: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 9
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Traverse City, 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 13; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 2 and Mar 17. Earliest Feb 10 (2024), latest Mar 27 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 15; middle half between Apr 5 and Apr 18. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 30 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan9%Feb15%Mar34%Apr24%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Grand Traverse County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Traverse City was 2020 with 50 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 20. 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 8 – Apr 11, 34 sap days3420252025: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 39 sap days3920242024: Feb 10 – Mar 13, 34 sap days3420232023: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 41 sap days4120222022: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 27 sap days2720212021: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 39 sap days3920202020: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 50 sap days5020192019: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 27 – Apr 30, 43 sap days4320172017: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 25 sap days2520162016: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 29 sap days2920152015: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 26 sap days2620142014: Mar 25 – Apr 27, 24 sap days2420132013: Mar 24 – Apr 22, 34 sap days3420122012: Feb 13 – Mar 12, 41 sap days4120112011: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 20 sap days2020102010: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 31 sap days3120092009: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 35 sap days3520082008: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 22 sap days2220072007: Feb 25 – Mar 22, 30 sap days3020062006: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 27 sap days2720052005: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3620042004: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 41 sap days4120032003: Mar 14 – Apr 14, 32 sap days3220022002: Mar 12 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4520012001: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 27 sap days2720002000: Feb 16 – Mar 20, 38 sap days3819991999: Mar 2 – Mar 28, 37 sap days3719981998: Feb 23 – Mar 25, 31 sap days3119971997: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 29 sap days2919961996: Mar 18 – Apr 18, 36 sap days3619951995: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 35 sap days3519941994: Mar 15 – Apr 12, 42 sap days4219931993: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 32 sap days3219921992: Mar 24 – Apr 15, 34 sap days3419911991: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 32 sap days32
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Traverse City. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Grand Traverse County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Grand Traverse County the 2022 Census found 26 farms making syrup (+8% since 2017), with taps -8% and syrup output +62% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.53 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.30 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Grand Traverse County ranks 83 by taps.

Grand Traverse County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222626,28814,0070.53
20172428,4388,6590.30

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 Traverse City (627ft), 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

Grand Traverse County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Grand Traverse County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 9 near Traverse City 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 10 and as late as Mar 27.
How much maple syrup does Grand Traverse County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 26 maple operations in Grand Traverse County with 26,288 taps producing 14,007 gallons of syrup, ranking 8 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Grand Traverse County get in a season?
On average 33.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Traverse City, 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 2020 (50 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Traverse City (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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