Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Ohio · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Hamilton County, Ohio

Hamilton County had 11 maple operations and 310 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Cincinnati, sap usually runs from January 31 to March 9. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 117 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Jan 31
typical year
Season ends
Mar 9
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
40.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
310
#48 of 63 in OH

Sap-flow outlook at Cincinnati right now

Full Ohio forecast →

Forecast for Cincinnati, OH

Updated Oct 6, 4:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Hamilton County's season usually opens around January 31, which is 117 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    48° / 80°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    55° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    49° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    50° / 79°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    57° / 79°
    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 Cincinnati

Freeze-thaw weather at Cincinnati peaks in the weeks of Dec 1 to Mar 23, which hold about 96% of a season's sap days. December is the busiest month.
Typical season: Jan 31 – Mar 90246Week of Dec 1: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Jan 31
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Cincinnati, 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 Jan 26; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 16 and Feb 3. Earliest Jan 1 (2006), latest Feb 15 (1995).
Closing signal
Median Feb 27; middle half between Feb 13 and Mar 7. Earliest Jan 27 (2020), latest Mar 19 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec26%Jan22%Feb25%Mar23%Apr4%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Hamilton County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Cincinnati was 2002 with 52 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 25. 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: Jan 23 – Feb 25, 30 sap days3020252025: Feb 2 – Mar 7, 31 sap days3120242024: Jan 8 – Feb 8, 41 sap days4120232023: Jan 7 – Feb 5, 42 sap days4220222022: Jan 31 – Mar 5, 47 sap days4720212021: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 40 sap days4020202020: Jan 2 – Jan 27, 45 sap days4520192019: Jan 22 – Feb 20, 42 sap days4220182018: Jan 19 – Feb 14, 46 sap days4620172017: Jan 9 – Feb 6, 39 sap days3920162016: Jan 25 – Feb 28, 33 sap days3320152015: Feb 11 – Mar 18, 34 sap days3420142014: Feb 12 – Mar 19, 34 sap days3420132013: Feb 4 – Mar 10, 50 sap days5020122012: Jan 12 – Feb 7, 42 sap days4220112011: Jan 30 – Mar 3, 30 sap days3020102010: Feb 10 – Mar 8, 25 sap days2520092009: Jan 31 – Mar 5, 37 sap days3720082008: Jan 26 – Mar 1, 39 sap days3920072007: Feb 2 – Mar 9, 40 sap days4020062006: Jan 1 – Jan 28, 47 sap days4720052005: Feb 1 – Feb 6, 40 sap days4020042004: Jan 30 – Mar 1, 50 sap days5020032003: Feb 12 – Mar 15, 29 sap days2920022002: Jan 12 – Feb 16, 52 sap days5220012001: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 42 sap days4220002000: Jan 20 – Feb 22, 46 sap days4619991999: Jan 11 – Feb 6, 50 sap days5019981998: Jan 12 – Feb 11, 46 sap days4619971997: Jan 17 – Feb 20, 39 sap days3919961996: Jan 23 – Feb 19, 44 sap days4419951995: Feb 15 – Feb 26, 33 sap days3319941994: Feb 4 – Mar 5, 38 sap days3819931993: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 38 sap days3819921992: Jan 18 – Feb 13, 50 sap days5019911991: Jan 24 – Feb 28, 38 sap days38
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Cincinnati. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Hamilton County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Hamilton County the 2022 Census found 11 farms making syrup (+22% since 2017), with taps -6% and syrup output -4% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Hamilton County ranks 328 by taps.

Hamilton County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202211310720.23
20179331750.23

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 Cincinnati (696ft), 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 Ohio's USDA record (8 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 — Ohio, 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

Hamilton County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Hamilton County, Ohio?
In a typical year the sap starts running around January 31 near Cincinnati and the season winds down around March 9. 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 1 and as late as Feb 15.
How much maple syrup does Hamilton County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 11 maple operations in Hamilton County with 310 taps producing 72 gallons of syrup, ranking 48 of 63 Ohio's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Hamilton County get in a season?
On average 40.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Cincinnati, of which about 13.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (52 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Cincinnati (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Ohio. They describe a typical year at one point in the county; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Hamilton County

LuckySap watches the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play