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Minnesota · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Crow Wing County, Minnesota

Crow Wing County had 6 maple operations and 995 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Brainerd, sap usually runs from March 8 to April 11. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 153 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 8
typical year
Season ends
Apr 11
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
37.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
995
#15 of 41 in MN

Sap-flow outlook at Brainerd right now

Full Minnesota forecast →

Forecast for Brainerd, MN

Updated Oct 6, 10:51 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Crow Wing County's season usually opens around March 8, which is 153 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    46° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    41° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    53° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    56° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    46° / 52°
    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 Brainerd

Freeze-thaw weather at Brainerd peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 20, which hold about 60% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 8 – Apr 110246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.9 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: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 8
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Brainerd, 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 18; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 10 and Mar 24. Earliest Feb 17 (2012), latest Apr 5 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 20; middle half between Apr 11 and Apr 26. Earliest Mar 17 (2012), latest May 10 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec9%Jan6%Feb12%Mar35%Apr34%May4%

36 seasons of sap weather

Crow Wing County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Brainerd was 2002 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2014 with 21. 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 12 – Apr 11, 46 sap days4620252025: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 42 sap days4220242024: Mar 10 – Apr 7, 43 sap days4320232023: Mar 30 – Apr 26, 24 sap days2420222022: Apr 1 – Apr 29, 33 sap days3320212021: Mar 6 – Apr 2, 48 sap days4820202020: Mar 24 – Apr 24, 41 sap days4120192019: Mar 22 – Apr 20, 34 sap days3420182018: Mar 30 – Apr 28, 43 sap days4320172017: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3020162016: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 39 sap days3920152015: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 36 sap days3620142014: Mar 28 – Apr 26, 21 sap days2120132013: Apr 5 – May 10, 32 sap days3220122012: Feb 17 – Mar 17, 40 sap days4020112011: Mar 24 – Apr 24, 34 sap days3420102010: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 29 sap days2920092009: Mar 19 – Apr 15, 29 sap days2920082008: Mar 30 – May 1, 37 sap days3720072007: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 36 sap days3620062006: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 27 sap days2720052005: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 40 sap days4020042004: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 43 sap days4320032003: Mar 22 – Apr 12, 29 sap days2920022002: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 53 sap days5320012001: Mar 24 – Apr 24, 27 sap days2720002000: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 52 sap days5219991999: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 51 sap days5119981998: Mar 17 – Apr 11, 29 sap days2919971997: Mar 23 – Apr 24, 30 sap days3019961996: Apr 1 – May 4, 38 sap days3819951995: Mar 21 – Apr 24, 39 sap days3919941994: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 41 sap days4119931993: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 37 sap days3719921992: Mar 26 – Apr 28, 39 sap days3919911991: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 46 sap days46
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Brainerd. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Crow Wing County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Crow Wing County the 2022 Census found 6 farms making syrup (-14% since 2017), with taps +84% and syrup output +256% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.28 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.15 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Crow Wing County ranks 284 by taps.

Crow Wing County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202269952810.28
20177540790.15

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 Brainerd (1,194ft), 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 Minnesota's USDA record (3 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 — Minnesota, 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

Crow Wing County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Crow Wing County, Minnesota?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 8 near Brainerd and the season winds down around April 11. 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 17 and as late as Apr 5.
How much maple syrup does Crow Wing County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 6 maple operations in Crow Wing County with 995 taps producing 281 gallons of syrup, ranking 15 of 41 Minnesota's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Crow Wing County get in a season?
On average 37.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Brainerd, of which about 8.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2014 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Brainerd (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Minnesota. 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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