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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Hillsdale County, Michigan

Hillsdale County had 11 maple operations and 2,572 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Hillsdale, sap usually runs from February 20 to March 26. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 137 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 20
typical year
Season ends
Mar 26
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
39
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,572
#45 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Hillsdale right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Hillsdale, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:30 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Hillsdale County's season usually opens around February 20, which is 137 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    51° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    52° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 73°
    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 Hillsdale

Freeze-thaw weather at Hillsdale peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 20 – Mar 260246Week of Dec 1: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 20
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Hillsdale, 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 Feb 24; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 20 and Mar 5. Earliest Jan 30 (2017), latest Mar 11 (1993).
Closing signal
Median Mar 29; middle half between Mar 23 and Apr 5. Earliest Mar 3 (2024), latest Apr 14 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan11%Feb20%Mar33%Apr16%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Hillsdale County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Hillsdale was 2018 with 54 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 25. 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 10 – Mar 15, 38 sap days3820252025: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 38 sap days3820242024: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 43 sap days4320232023: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 49 sap days4920222022: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 49 sap days4920212021: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 41 sap days4120202020: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 48 sap days4820192019: Mar 3 – Apr 2, 37 sap days3720182018: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 54 sap days5420172017: Jan 30 – Mar 6, 29 sap days2920162016: Feb 10 – Mar 14, 48 sap days4820152015: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 26 sap days2620142014: Mar 10 – Apr 7, 27 sap days2720132013: Mar 11 – Apr 5, 41 sap days4120122012: Feb 9 – Mar 12, 46 sap days4620112011: Mar 6 – Apr 3, 25 sap days2520102010: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 28 sap days2820092009: Feb 21 – Mar 24, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 32 sap days3220062006: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 38 sap days3820052005: Mar 2 – Mar 27, 29 sap days2920042004: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 34 sap days3420032003: Mar 8 – Apr 1, 25 sap days2520022002: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 48 sap days4820012001: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 37 sap days3720002000: Feb 9 – Mar 7, 39 sap days3919991999: Mar 1 – Mar 29, 41 sap days4119981998: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 43 sap days4319971997: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 46 sap days4619961996: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 48 sap days4819951995: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 48 sap days4819941994: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 42 sap days4219911991: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 40 sap days40
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Hillsdale. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Hillsdale County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Hillsdale County the 2022 Census found 11 farms making syrup (+120% since 2017), with taps -68% and syrup output -59% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.20 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.16 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Hillsdale County ranks 236 by taps.

Hillsdale County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022112,5725270.20
201758,1111,2780.16

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 Hillsdale (1,102ft), 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

Hillsdale County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Hillsdale County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 20 near Hillsdale and the season winds down around March 26. 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 Jan 30 and as late as Mar 11.
How much maple syrup does Hillsdale County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 11 maple operations in Hillsdale County with 2,572 taps producing 527 gallons of syrup, ranking 45 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Hillsdale County get in a season?
On average 39 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Hillsdale, 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 2018 (54 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Hillsdale (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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