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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Kent County, Michigan

Kent County had 30 maple operations and 5,979 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Grand Rapids, sap usually runs from February 26 to March 31. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 143 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 26
typical year
Season ends
Mar 31
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
37.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
5,979
#33 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Grand Rapids right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Grand Rapids, MI

Updated Oct 6, 11:03 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Kent County's season usually opens around February 26, which is 143 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    56° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    55° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    55° / 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 Grand Rapids

Freeze-thaw weather at Grand Rapids 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: Feb 26 – Mar 310246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 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: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 26
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Grand Rapids, 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 2; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 23 and Mar 10. Earliest Feb 3 (2024), latest Mar 17 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 3; middle half between Mar 25 and Apr 10. Earliest Mar 2 (2024), latest Apr 21 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan11%Feb17%Mar35%Apr19%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Kent County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Grand Rapids was 2018 with 57 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: Feb 13 – Mar 19, 33 sap days3320252025: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 31 sap days3120242024: Feb 3 – Mar 2, 32 sap days3220232023: Feb 20 – Mar 20, 43 sap days4320222022: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 37 sap days3720202020: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 52 sap days5220192019: Mar 7 – Apr 2, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 57 sap days5720172017: Feb 13 – Mar 18, 35 sap days3520162016: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 41 sap days4120152015: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 40 sap days4020122012: Feb 11 – Mar 12, 42 sap days4220112011: Mar 9 – Apr 3, 20 sap days2020102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 29 sap days2920092009: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 36 sap days3620082008: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 21 – Mar 21, 30 sap days3020062006: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 34 sap days3420052005: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 30 sap days3020042004: Feb 27 – Mar 25, 45 sap days4520032003: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 24 sap days2420022002: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 56 sap days5620012001: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 30 sap days3020002000: Mar 1 – Mar 15, 38 sap days3819991999: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 51 sap days5119981998: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 33 sap days3319971997: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 34 sap days3419961996: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 48 sap days4819951995: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 42 sap days4219941994: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 40 sap days4019931993: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 42 sap days4219911991: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 36 sap days36
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Grand Rapids. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Kent County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Kent County the 2022 Census found 30 farms making syrup (+114% since 2017), with taps +3% and syrup output -30% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Kent County ranks 179 by taps.

Kent County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022305,9799410.16
2017145,8201,3530.23

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 Grand Rapids (659ft), 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

Kent County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Kent County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 26 near Grand Rapids and the season winds down around March 31. 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 3 and as late as Mar 17.
How much maple syrup does Kent County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 30 maple operations in Kent County with 5,979 taps producing 941 gallons of syrup, ranking 33 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Kent County get in a season?
On average 37.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Grand Rapids, of which about 13.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (57 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Grand Rapids (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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