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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Leelanau County, Michigan

Leelanau County had 39 maple operations and 6,448 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Leland, sap usually runs from March 12 to April 12. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 157 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 12
typical year
Season ends
Apr 12
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
30.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
6,448
#29 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Leland right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Leland, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:42 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Leelanau County's season usually opens around March 12, which is 157 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    59° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    53° / 59°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    51° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    49° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    58° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 63°
    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 Leland

Freeze-thaw weather at Leland peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 20, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 12 – Apr 120246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.4 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: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 12
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Leland, 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 16; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 8 and Mar 23. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Mar 30 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 15; middle half between Apr 7 and Apr 23. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest May 3 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec13%Jan9%Feb14%Mar33%Apr28%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Leelanau County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Leland was 1994 with 46 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2007 with 19. 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 10 – Apr 11, 31 sap days3120252025: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 36 sap days3620242024: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 32 sap days3220232023: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 42 sap days4220222022: Mar 25 – Apr 28, 28 sap days2820212021: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 32 sap days3220202020: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 42 sap days4220192019: Mar 21 – Apr 24, 32 sap days3220182018: Mar 28 – Apr 30, 36 sap days3620172017: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 27 sap days2720162016: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 26 sap days2620152015: Mar 16 – Apr 15, 21 sap days2120142014: Mar 29 – Apr 27, 27 sap days2720132013: Mar 26 – Apr 22, 29 sap days2920122012: Feb 14 – Mar 12, 33 sap days3320112011: Mar 24 – Apr 24, 25 sap days2520102010: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 27 sap days2720092009: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 28 sap days2820082008: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 19 sap days1920072007: Mar 9 – Mar 22, 19 sap days1920062006: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 24 sap days2420052005: Mar 21 – Apr 8, 26 sap days2620042004: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 32 sap days3220032003: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 25 sap days2520022002: Mar 12 – Apr 10, 33 sap days3320012001: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 27 sap days2720002000: Feb 18 – Mar 20, 34 sap days3419991999: Mar 5 – Mar 30, 36 sap days3619981998: Feb 27 – Mar 25, 27 sap days2719971997: Mar 25 – Apr 26, 30 sap days3019961996: Mar 30 – May 3, 36 sap days3619951995: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 34 sap days3419941994: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 46 sap days4619931993: Mar 24 – Apr 27, 33 sap days3319921992: Mar 25 – Apr 15, 32 sap days3219911991: Mar 4 – Apr 3, 29 sap days29
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Leland. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Leelanau County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Leelanau County the 2022 Census found 39 farms making syrup (+129% since 2017), with taps -32% and syrup output -32% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.24 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.24 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Leelanau County ranks 169 by taps.

Leelanau County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022396,4481,5370.24
2017179,4912,2550.24

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 Leland (604ft), 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

Leelanau County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Leelanau County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 12 near Leland 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 14 and as late as Mar 30.
How much maple syrup does Leelanau County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 39 maple operations in Leelanau County with 6,448 taps producing 1,537 gallons of syrup, ranking 29 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Leelanau County get in a season?
On average 30.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Leland, of which about 12.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1994 (46 sap days); the leanest was 2007 (19).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Leland (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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