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

Maple sugaring in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County had 11 maple operations and 864 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Lancaster, sap usually runs from February 9 to March 9. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 126 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 9
typical year
Season ends
Mar 9
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
45.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
864
#28 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Lancaster right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Lancaster, PA

Updated Oct 6, 8:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Lancaster County's season usually opens around February 9, which is 126 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    42° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    50° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    49° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    52° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    57° / 72°
    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 Lancaster

Freeze-thaw weather at Lancaster 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: Feb 9 – Mar 90246Week of Dec 1: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 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: 0.8 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 ~Feb 9
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Lancaster, 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 4; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 24 and Feb 8. Earliest Jan 7 (2020), latest Mar 1 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 6; middle half between Feb 26 and Mar 13. Earliest Jan 29 (2006), latest Mar 30 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec26%Jan21%Feb26%Mar23%Apr4%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Lancaster County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Lancaster was 1991 with 57 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 4 – Mar 4, 45 sap days4520252025: Feb 6 – Mar 10, 42 sap days4220242024: Jan 20 – Feb 23, 45 sap days4520232023: Jan 8 – Feb 9, 49 sap days4920222022: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 51 sap days5120212021: Feb 6 – Mar 9, 45 sap days4520202020: Jan 7 – Feb 10, 34 sap days3420192019: Feb 8 – Mar 13, 43 sap days4320182018: Jan 21 – Feb 19, 53 sap days5320172017: Jan 14 – Feb 18, 38 sap days3820162016: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 45 sap days4520152015: Mar 1 – Mar 30, 38 sap days3820142014: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 41 sap days4120132013: Feb 5 – Mar 10, 48 sap days4820122012: Jan 19 – Feb 22, 51 sap days5120112011: Feb 8 – Mar 15, 41 sap days4120102010: Feb 8 – Mar 6, 30 sap days3020092009: Feb 10 – Mar 14, 43 sap days4320082008: Jan 29 – Mar 4, 55 sap days5520072007: Feb 6 – Mar 12, 50 sap days5020062006: Jan 17 – Jan 29, 46 sap days4620052005: Feb 2 – Mar 7, 38 sap days3820042004: Feb 9 – Mar 1, 44 sap days4420032003: Feb 19 – Mar 15, 29 sap days2920022002: Jan 16 – Feb 20, 53 sap days5320012001: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 46 sap days4620002000: Jan 29 – Mar 5, 45 sap days4519991999: Jan 27 – Feb 28, 53 sap days5319981998: Jan 11 – Feb 11, 51 sap days5119971997: Jan 25 – Feb 27, 49 sap days4919961996: Feb 10 – Mar 15, 38 sap days3819951995: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 49 sap days4919941994: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 37 sap days3719931993: Feb 21 – Mar 23, 51 sap days5119921992: Jan 30 – Mar 3, 56 sap days5619911991: Jan 26 – Mar 1, 57 sap days57
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Lancaster. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Lancaster County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Lancaster County the 2022 Census found 11 farms making syrup (0% since 2017), with taps +187% and syrup output +78% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.13 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.21 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Lancaster County ranks 290 by taps.

Lancaster County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022118641140.13
201711301640.21

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 Lancaster (305ft), 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 Pennsylvania'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 — Pennsylvania, 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

Lancaster County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 9 near Lancaster 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 7 and as late as Mar 1.
How much maple syrup does Lancaster County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 11 maple operations in Lancaster County with 864 taps producing 114 gallons of syrup, ranking 28 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Lancaster County get in a season?
On average 45.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Lancaster, of which about 20.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1991 (57 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (29).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Lancaster (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Pennsylvania. 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 Lancaster 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