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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Mackinac County, Michigan

Mackinac County had 7 maple operations and 40,791 taps in the 2022 Census, number 2 in Michigan. Around Saint Ignace, sap usually runs from March 24 to April 22. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 169 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 24
typical year
Season ends
Apr 22
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
26.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
40,791
#2 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Saint Ignace right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Saint Ignace, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:42 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Mackinac County's season usually opens around March 24, which is 169 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    44° / 58°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    55° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 62°
    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 Saint Ignace

Freeze-thaw weather at Saint Ignace peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 20, which hold about 59% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 24 – Apr 220246Week of Dec 1: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 24
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Saint Ignace, 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 28; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 18 and Mar 31. Earliest Mar 3 (2010), latest Apr 10 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 25; middle half between Apr 16 and Apr 30. Earliest Mar 28 (2012), latest May 14 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec14%Jan6%Feb9%Mar31%Apr37%May4%

36 seasons of sap weather

Mackinac County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Saint Ignace was 2020 with 41 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 16. 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 25 – Apr 21, 23 sap days2320252025: Mar 28 – Apr 30, 28 sap days2820242024: Mar 12 – Apr 2, 27 sap days2720232023: Mar 28 – Apr 27, 26 sap days2620222022: Apr 3 – Apr 30, 21 sap days2120212021: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 30 sap days3020202020: Apr 3 – Apr 26, 41 sap days4120192019: Apr 4 – May 8, 33 sap days3320182018: Apr 3 – Apr 30, 33 sap days3320172017: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 20 sap days2020162016: Mar 28 – Apr 24, 18 sap days1820152015: Mar 28 – Apr 26, 16 sap days1620142014: Apr 7 – May 6, 20 sap days2020132013: Mar 30 – Apr 22, 24 sap days2420122012: Mar 3 – Mar 28, 31 sap days3120112011: Apr 1 – Apr 25, 27 sap days2720102010: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 20 sap days2020092009: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 27 sap days2720082008: Mar 31 – Apr 16, 21 sap days2120072007: Mar 18 – Apr 15, 22 sap days2220062006: Mar 12 – Apr 10, 21 sap days2120052005: Mar 14 – Apr 13, 27 sap days2720042004: Mar 23 – Apr 25, 35 sap days3520032003: Mar 26 – Apr 30, 28 sap days2820022002: Mar 26 – Apr 27, 35 sap days3520012001: Mar 25 – Apr 28, 24 sap days2420002000: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 25 sap days2519991999: Mar 15 – Apr 13, 31 sap days3119981998: Apr 4 – Apr 11, 21 sap days2119971997: Mar 31 – May 2, 23 sap days2319961996: Apr 10 – May 14, 28 sap days2819951995: Mar 27 – Apr 23, 39 sap days3919941994: Mar 30 – May 2, 38 sap days3819931993: Mar 31 – Apr 27, 30 sap days3019921992: Apr 3 – May 7, 21 sap days2119911991: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 32 sap days32
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Saint Ignace. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Mackinac County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Mackinac County the 2022 Census found 7 farms making syrup (+40% since 2017), with taps -7% and syrup output null over the same five years. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Mackinac County ranks 64 by taps.

Mackinac County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022740,791withheld—
2017543,80014,8260.34

“Withheld” means USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing data for individual operations; the farm count is still published.

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 Saint Ignace (581ft), 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

Mackinac County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Mackinac County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 24 near Saint Ignace and the season winds down around April 22. 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 Mar 3 and as late as Apr 10.
How much maple syrup does Mackinac County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 7 maple operations in Mackinac County; USDA withheld the county's tap and gallon totals to avoid disclosing individual farms.
How many sap days does Mackinac County get in a season?
On average 26.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Saint Ignace, of which about 11.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (41 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (16).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Saint Ignace (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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