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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario

Kawartha Lakes is a census division in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 66 farms reporting maple taps and 35,042 taps here. Around Lindsay, sap usually runs from March 14 to April 16. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 158 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 14
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 16
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
32.7
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
35,042
#18 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at Lindsay right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Lindsay, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Kawartha Lakes's season usually opens around March 14, which is 158 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    8° / 17°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    5° / 15°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    2° / 19°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    13° / 24°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    10° / 20°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    11° / 15°
    No refreeze forecast

Data: Environment and Climate Change Canada. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Lindsay

Freeze-thaw weather at Lindsay peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, which hold about 48% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month. Typical dates are a weather estimate (no official season record for this province): the median of this division's own weather signals.
Typical season: Mar 14 – Apr 160246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.1 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: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 14
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Lindsay, 1991–2025 (Daymet temperatures). A sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (37.4 °F). The shaded band is the typical season.

Year-to-year spread

Opening signal
Median Mar 14; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 9 and Mar 20. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Mar 30 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Apr 16; middle half between Apr 10 and Apr 18. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 27 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan7%Feb14%Mar32%Apr29%May3%

35 seasons of sap weather

Kawartha Lakes seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Lindsay was 2020 with 54 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 20. 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 days20252025: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 29 sap days2920242024: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 33 sap days3320232023: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 43 sap days4320222022: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 41 sap days4120212021: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 35 sap days3520202020: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 54 sap days5420192019: Mar 19 – Apr 17, 32 sap days3220182018: Mar 28 – Apr 27, 44 sap days4420172017: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 33 sap days3320162016: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4020152015: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 28 sap days2820142014: Mar 30 – Apr 24, 21 sap days2120132013: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 36 sap days3620122012: Feb 15 – Mar 13, 47 sap days4720112011: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 22 sap days2220102010: Feb 27 – Mar 31, 35 sap days3520092009: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 27 – Apr 16, 21 sap days2120072007: Mar 21 – Apr 11, 22 sap days2220062006: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 29 sap days2920052005: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3620042004: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 27 sap days2720032003: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 20 sap days2020022002: Mar 11 – Apr 7, 39 sap days3920012001: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 25 sap days2520002000: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 30 sap days3019991999: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 43 sap days4319981998: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 30 sap days3019971997: Mar 22 – Apr 18, 27 sap days2719961996: Mar 23 – Apr 25, 33 sap days3319951995: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 41 sap days4119941994: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 13 – Apr 14, 22 sap days2219921992: Mar 22 – Apr 16, 25 sap days2519911991: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 32 sap days32
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Lindsay. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Kawartha Lakes in the Census of Agriculture

Statistics Canada counts the farms that report maple taps in its Census of Agriculture every five years. In 2021 it counted 66 in Kawartha Lakes, with 35,042 taps; in 2016, 98 farms and 29,268 taps. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Kawartha Lakes ranks 18th, and 83rd of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed −33% and taps +20%. Statistics Canada cautions that 2021 and 2016 are not strictly comparable: the census-farm definition changed in 2021, and farms were assigned to their main location more strictly.

Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division, so the Canadian pages show farms and taps, not gallons or litres.

Kawartha Lakes maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
20216635,042E
20169829,268
  • E Statistics Canada quality grade: use with caution.

Nearby

Neighboring maple divisions

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each division's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the Daymet 1-km grid cell at Lindsay, the division's largest population centre in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 258 m (846 ft). Each day is scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (37.4 °F). A season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits 35 days before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. The rule was calibrated on 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates in the US and is applied here unchanged. Ontario has no official season record, so the typical dates are a weather estimate. Production figures are copied from Statistics Canada as published. Full method, the Daymet checks and the Quebec validation → Run a sugarhouse here? Put this sap forecast on your own website →

Sources · 7

  1. 1.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2021 (Table 32-10-0362-01) · Statistics Canada
  2. 2.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2011 and 2016 (Table 32-10-0423-01) · Statistics Canada
  3. 3.Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1 · ORNL DAAC
  4. 4.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  5. 5.2021 Census cartographic boundary files (census divisions, population centres) · Statistics Canada
  6. 6.Population and dwelling counts, 2021 Census (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) · Statistics Canada
Show 1 more
  1. 7.GeoNames geographical database (CA) · GeoNames

Licences and attribution

  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture 2021 and 2016 (Tables 32-10-0362-01 and 32-10-0423-01), 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) and 2021 Census cartographic boundary files. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
  • Thornton, M.M., R. Shrestha, Y. Wei, P.E. Thornton, S-C. Kao, and B.E. Wilson. 2022. Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2129
  • Place coordinates: GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0.

FAQ

Kawartha Lakes sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 14 near Lindsay and the season winds down around April 16. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of nights below −1 °C and days above +3 °C. In the past 35 seasons the weather signal came as early as Feb 15 and as late as Mar 30.
How much maple syrup does Kawartha Lakes produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 66 farms reporting 35,042 maple taps in Kawartha Lakes, number 18 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Kawartha Lakes get in a season?
On average 32.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Lindsay, of which about 13.5 are textbook days with a night between about −7 and −2 °C and a day between 4 and 9 °C. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (54 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Lindsay (Daymet 1-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast. Ontario has no official season record, so they are a weather estimate. They describe a typical year at one point in the division; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

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