Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Gratiot County, Michigan

Gratiot County had 14 maple operations and 1,638 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Ithaca, sap usually runs from March 1 to April 2. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 146 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 1
typical year
Season ends
Apr 2
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
37.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,638
#49 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Ithaca right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Ithaca, MI

Updated Oct 6, 11:03 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Gratiot County's season usually opens around March 1, which is 146 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    54° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    47° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 70°
    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 Ithaca

Freeze-thaw weather at Ithaca peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 47% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 1 – Apr 20246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.5 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: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 1
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Ithaca, 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 5; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 27 and Mar 10. Earliest Feb 7 (2024), latest Mar 18 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 5; middle half between Mar 30 and Apr 13. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 22 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan9%Feb16%Mar36%Apr21%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Gratiot County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Ithaca was 2002 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2005 with 24. 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: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 36 sap days3620252025: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 36 sap days3620242024: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 33 sap days3320232023: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 50 sap days5020222022: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 38 sap days3820212021: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 40 sap days4020202020: Feb 27 – Mar 26, 45 sap days4520192019: Mar 6 – Apr 2, 28 sap days2820182018: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 47 sap days4720172017: Feb 19 – Mar 24, 33 sap days3320162016: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 41 sap days4120152015: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120142014: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 43 sap days4320122012: Feb 12 – Mar 12, 44 sap days4420112011: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 24 sap days2420102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 34 sap days3420092009: Mar 2 – Mar 30, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 28 sap days2820072007: Mar 9 – Mar 22, 25 sap days2520062006: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 36 sap days3620052005: Mar 5 – Mar 29, 24 sap days2420042004: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 42 sap days4220032003: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 31 sap days3120022002: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 53 sap days5320012001: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 27 sap days2720002000: Feb 28 – Mar 15, 37 sap days3719991999: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 47 sap days4719981998: Feb 24 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3919971997: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 37 sap days3719961996: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 45 sap days4519951995: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 45 sap days4519941994: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 46 sap days4619931993: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 38 sap days3819921992: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 44 sap days4419911991: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Ithaca. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Gratiot County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Gratiot County the 2022 Census found 14 farms making syrup (+75% since 2017), with taps +63% and syrup output -30% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.13 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.29 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Gratiot County ranks 260 by taps.

Gratiot County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022141,6382040.13
201781,0062900.29

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 Ithaca (771ft), 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

Gratiot County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Gratiot County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 1 near Ithaca and the season winds down around April 2. 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 7 and as late as Mar 18.
How much maple syrup does Gratiot County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 14 maple operations in Gratiot County with 1,638 taps producing 204 gallons of syrup, ranking 49 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Gratiot County get in a season?
On average 37.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Ithaca, of which about 13.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2005 (24).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Ithaca (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.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Gratiot County

LuckySap watches the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play