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Vermont · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Chittenden County, Vermont

Chittenden County had 134 maple operations and 746,287 taps in the 2022 Census, number 4 in Vermont. Around Burlington, sap usually runs from February 25 to April 4. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 142 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 25
typical year
Season ends
Apr 4
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
32.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
746,287
#4 of 12 in VT

Sap-flow outlook at Burlington right now

Full Vermont forecast →

Forecast for Burlington, VT

Updated Oct 6, 2:25 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Chittenden County's season usually opens around February 25, which is 142 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    38° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 58°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 57°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    44° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 64°
    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 Burlington

Freeze-thaw weather at Burlington peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 42% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 25 – Apr 40246Week of Dec 1: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 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 25
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Burlington, 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 Mar 8; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 1 and Mar 13. Earliest Feb 14 (1995), latest Mar 21 (1994).
Closing signal
Median Apr 7; middle half between Mar 31 and Apr 12. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 20 (1997).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan12%Feb16%Mar31%Apr19%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Chittenden County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Burlington was 1999 with 46 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 21. 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: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 24 sap days2420252025: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 32 sap days3220242024: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 34 sap days3420232023: Mar 4 – Apr 3, 32 sap days3220222022: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 34 sap days3420212021: Mar 16 – Mar 30, 23 sap days2320202020: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 33 sap days3320192019: Mar 12 – Apr 11, 30 sap days3020182018: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 32 sap days3220172017: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 32 sap days3220162016: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 46 sap days4620152015: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 21 sap days2120142014: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 30 sap days3020132013: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 36 sap days3620122012: Feb 14 – Mar 12, 41 sap days4120112011: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 21 sap days2120102010: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 28 sap days2820092009: Mar 5 – Apr 1, 36 sap days3620082008: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 35 sap days3520072007: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 29 sap days2920062006: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 30 sap days3020052005: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 38 sap days3820042004: Mar 12 – Apr 13, 28 sap days2820032003: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 30 sap days3020022002: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 38 sap days3820012001: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 31 sap days3120002000: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 32 sap days3219991999: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 46 sap days4619981998: Feb 25 – Mar 26, 33 sap days3319971997: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 33 sap days3319961996: Mar 15 – Apr 7, 32 sap days3219951995: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 40 sap days4019941994: Mar 21 – Apr 12, 24 sap days2419931993: Mar 12 – Apr 7, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 36 sap days3619911991: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Burlington. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Chittenden County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Chittenden County the 2022 Census found 134 farms making syrup (-8% since 2017), with taps +97% and syrup output +118% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.37 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.34 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Chittenden County ranks 5 by taps.

Chittenden County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022134746,287279,3070.37
2017145378,646128,3230.34

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 Burlington (223ft), 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 Vermont'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 — Vermont, 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

Chittenden County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Chittenden County, Vermont?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 25 near Burlington and the season winds down around April 4. 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 Feb 14 and as late as Mar 21.
How much maple syrup does Chittenden County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 134 maple operations in Chittenden County with 746,287 taps producing 279,307 gallons of syrup, ranking 4 of 12 Vermont's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Chittenden County get in a season?
On average 32.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Burlington, of which about 10.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (46 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Burlington (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Vermont. 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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