Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Muskoka, Ontario

Muskoka is a district municipality in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 20 farms reporting maple taps here (taps withheld by Statistics Canada). Around Huntsville, sap usually runs from March 21 to April 23. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 165 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 21
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 23
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
36.9
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
withheld
by Statistics Canada

Sap-flow outlook at Huntsville right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Huntsville, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Muskoka's season usually opens around March 21, which is 165 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    7° / 15°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    6° / 13°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    2° / 20°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    13° / 24°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    11° / 18°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    10° / 14°
    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 Huntsville

Freeze-thaw weather at Huntsville peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 20, which hold about 59% of a season's sap days. April 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 21 – Apr 230246Week of Dec 1: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.2 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 21
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Huntsville, 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 21; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 17 and Mar 26. Earliest Feb 18 (2012), latest Apr 2 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 23; middle half between Apr 17 and Apr 29. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest May 5 (1992).
Sap days by month
Dec9%Jan5%Feb9%Mar30%Apr38%May9%

35 seasons of sap weather

Muskoka seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Huntsville was 2020 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2008 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 days20252025: Mar 24 – Apr 23, 34 sap days3420242024: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 34 sap days3420232023: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 41 sap days4120222022: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 36 sap days3620212021: Mar 8 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420202020: Mar 29 – Apr 29, 53 sap days5320192019: Mar 30 – Apr 29, 31 sap days3120182018: Apr 1 – Apr 30, 37 sap days3720172017: Mar 18 – Apr 18, 38 sap days3820162016: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 50 sap days5020152015: Mar 26 – Apr 25, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 29 – Apr 28, 30 sap days3020132013: Mar 25 – Apr 25, 29 sap days2920122012: Feb 18 – Mar 13, 37 sap days3720112011: Mar 26 – Apr 30, 31 sap days3120102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 40 sap days4020092009: Mar 21 – Apr 24, 41 sap days4120082008: Mar 31 – Apr 16, 25 sap days2520072007: Mar 18 – Apr 21, 41 sap days4120062006: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 34 sap days3420052005: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 40 sap days4020042004: Mar 19 – Apr 17, 33 sap days3320032003: Mar 23 – Apr 27, 29 sap days2920022002: Mar 14 – Apr 10, 42 sap days4220012001: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 34 sap days3420002000: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 41 sap days4119991999: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 49 sap days4919981998: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 36 sap days3619971997: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 38 sap days3819961996: Apr 2 – May 4, 39 sap days3919951995: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 47 sap days4719941994: Mar 23 – Apr 23, 42 sap days4219931993: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 30 sap days3019921992: Apr 1 – May 5, 31 sap days3119911991: Mar 18 – Apr 14, 37 sap days37
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Huntsville. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Muskoka 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 20 in Muskoka; in 2016, 33 farms and 32,980 taps.

Over the five years the farm count changed −39%. 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.

Muskoka maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
202120withheld by Statistics Canada
20163332,980
  • "Withheld by Statistics Canada": Statistics Canada suppressed the value as too unreliable to publish (F). The farm count is still published.

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 Huntsville, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 319 m (1,047 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

Muskoka sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Muskoka, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 21 near Huntsville and the season winds down around April 23. 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 18 and as late as Apr 2.
How much maple syrup does Muskoka produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 20 farms reporting maple taps in Muskoka; the tap count was withheld by Statistics Canada.
How many sap days does Muskoka get in a season?
On average 36.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Huntsville, of which about 11.3 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 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2008 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Huntsville (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.

Ontario

More for Ontario sugarmakers

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Know when the sap will run in Muskoka

LuckySap turns the forecast for your trees into a day-by-day sap-flow outlook, can ping you the evening before a strong sap day, and keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play