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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Orange County, New York

Orange County had 9 maple operations and 30,255 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Goshen, sap usually runs from February 17 to March 25. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 134 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 17
typical year
Season ends
Mar 25
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
49.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
30,255
#24 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Goshen right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Goshen, NY

Updated Oct 6, 3:07 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    33° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    46° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    45° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 68°
    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 Goshen

Freeze-thaw weather at Goshen peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 23, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 17 – Mar 250246Week of Dec 1: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 17
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Goshen, 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 Feb 21; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 7 and Feb 25. Earliest Jan 20 (2023), latest Mar 10 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 25; middle half between Mar 12 and Mar 30. Earliest Feb 23 (2023), latest Apr 10 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan17%Feb23%Mar29%Apr9%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Orange County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Goshen was 2002 with 68 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 29. 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 19 – Mar 25, 47 sap days4720252025: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 48 sap days4820242024: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 48 sap days4820232023: Jan 20 – Feb 23, 60 sap days6020222022: Feb 13 – Mar 15, 39 sap days3920212021: Feb 21 – Mar 23, 50 sap days5020202020: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 58 sap days5820192019: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 53 sap days5320182018: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 53 sap days5320172017: Jan 25 – Feb 28, 42 sap days4220162016: Feb 5 – Mar 9, 51 sap days5120152015: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 33 sap days3320142014: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 46 sap days4620132013: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 49 sap days4920122012: Feb 6 – Mar 12, 60 sap days6020112011: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 37 sap days3720102010: Feb 13 – Mar 17, 32 sap days3220092009: Feb 24 – Mar 26, 48 sap days4820082008: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 60 sap days6020072007: Feb 20 – Mar 22, 51 sap days5120062006: Feb 7 – Mar 9, 55 sap days5520052005: Mar 1 – Mar 26, 45 sap days4520042004: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 46 sap days4620032003: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 29 sap days2920022002: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 68 sap days6820012001: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 46 sap days4620002000: Feb 6 – Mar 8, 51 sap days5119991999: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 56 sap days5619981998: Jan 26 – Feb 27, 50 sap days5019971997: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 60 sap days6019961996: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 45 sap days4519951995: Feb 9 – Mar 12, 54 sap days5419941994: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 40 sap days4019931993: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 46 sap days4619921992: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 56 sap days5619911991: Feb 12 – Mar 17, 55 sap days55
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Goshen. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Orange County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Orange County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (-50% since 2017), with taps +227% and syrup output +100% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.18 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.30 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Orange County ranks 75 by taps.

Orange County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022930,2555,5100.18
2017189,2632,7510.30

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 Goshen (463ft), 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 New York'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 — New York, 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

Orange County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Orange County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 17 near Goshen and the season winds down around March 25. 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 Jan 20 and as late as Mar 10.
How much maple syrup does Orange County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Orange County with 30,255 taps producing 5,510 gallons of syrup, ranking 24 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Orange County get in a season?
On average 49.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Goshen, of which about 18.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (68 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (29).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Goshen (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for New York. 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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