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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Mason County, Michigan

Mason County had 10 maple operations and 10,426 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Ludington, sap usually runs from March 6 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 151 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 6
typical year
Season ends
Apr 6
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
28.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
10,426
#18 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Ludington right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Ludington, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:11 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Mason County's season usually opens around March 6, which is 151 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    55° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    47° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    56° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 64°
    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 Ludington

Freeze-thaw weather at Ludington peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Mar 30, which hold about 31% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 6 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.8 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: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 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: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 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 ~Mar 6
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Ludington, 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 10; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 2 and Mar 18. Earliest Feb 8 (2024), latest Mar 27 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Apr 1 and Apr 15. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 30 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan11%Feb16%Mar33%Apr20%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Mason County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Ludington was 2002 with 43 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 14. 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, 25 sap days2520252025: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 32 sap days3220242024: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 32 sap days3220232023: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 41 sap days4120222022: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 33 sap days3320212021: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 34 sap days3420202020: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 43 sap days4320192019: Mar 15 – Apr 11, 30 sap days3020182018: Mar 27 – Apr 30, 37 sap days3720172017: Feb 26 – Apr 1, 26 sap days2620162016: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 28 sap days2820152015: Mar 11 – Apr 5, 19 sap days1920142014: Mar 23 – Apr 19, 22 sap days2220132013: Mar 22 – Apr 22, 26 sap days2620122012: Feb 12 – Mar 12, 33 sap days3320112011: Mar 13 – Apr 2, 14 sap days1420102010: Mar 4 – Mar 27, 15 sap days1520092009: Mar 13 – Apr 13, 32 sap days3220082008: Mar 26 – Apr 16, 17 sap days1720072007: Feb 24 – Mar 21, 21 sap days2120062006: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 19 sap days1920052005: Mar 22 – Apr 4, 21 sap days2120042004: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3020032003: Mar 26 – Apr 13, 21 sap days2120022002: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 43 sap days4320012001: Mar 9 – Apr 4, 20 sap days2020002000: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 35 sap days3519991999: Mar 1 – Mar 30, 40 sap days4019981998: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 28 sap days2819971997: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2819961996: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 34 sap days3419951995: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 33 sap days3319941994: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 35 sap days3519931993: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 29 sap days2919921992: Mar 17 – Apr 15, 30 sap days3019911991: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 30 sap days30
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Ludington. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Mason County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Mason County the 2022 Census found 10 farms making syrup (-29% since 2017), with taps +273% and syrup output +16% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.12 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.38 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Mason County ranks 134 by taps.

Mason County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221010,4261,2380.12
2017142,7931,0710.38

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 Ludington (597ft), 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

Mason County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Mason County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 6 near Ludington and the season winds down around April 6. 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 8 and as late as Mar 27.
How much maple syrup does Mason County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 10 maple operations in Mason County with 10,426 taps producing 1,238 gallons of syrup, ranking 18 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Mason County get in a season?
On average 28.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Ludington, of which about 12.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (43 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (14).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Ludington (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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