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

Maple sugaring in Essex County, Vermont

Essex County had 27 maple operations and 586,750 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Guildhall, sap usually runs from March 8 to April 18. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 153 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 8
typical year
Season ends
Apr 18
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
46.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
586,750
#6 of 12 in VT

Sap-flow outlook at Guildhall right now

Full Vermont forecast →

Forecast for Guildhall, VT

Updated Oct 6, 2:25 AM EDT

1 sap day in the next 6

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    27° / 62°

    8h below · 16h above

    Sap likely
  2. ThuOct 8
    43° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    Run tapering
  3. FriOct 9
    38° / 55°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    36° / 55°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    36° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    45° / 67°
    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 Guildhall

Freeze-thaw weather at Guildhall peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 20, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 8 – Apr 180246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 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: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 4.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 4.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 4.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.3 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 8
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Guildhall, 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 19; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 14 and Mar 24. Earliest Mar 2 (2010), latest Mar 28 (1992).
Closing signal
Median Apr 21; middle half between Apr 15 and Apr 25. Earliest Apr 5 (2010), latest May 1 (1992).
Sap days by month
Dec12%Jan6%Feb11%Mar29%Apr33%May9%

36 seasons of sap weather

Essex County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Guildhall was 1999 with 63 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 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: Mar 12 – Apr 13, 41 sap days4120252025: Mar 18 – Apr 21, 41 sap days4120242024: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 50 sap days5020232023: Mar 14 – Apr 11, 59 sap days5920222022: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 52 sap days5220212021: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 40 sap days4020202020: Mar 26 – Apr 30, 60 sap days6020192019: Mar 21 – Apr 19, 41 sap days4120182018: Mar 27 – Apr 24, 50 sap days5020172017: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 35 sap days3520162016: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 62 sap days6220152015: Mar 28 – Apr 25, 29 sap days2920142014: Mar 24 – Apr 25, 39 sap days3920132013: Mar 23 – Apr 27, 44 sap days4420122012: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 47 sap days4720112011: Mar 24 – Apr 23, 33 sap days3320102010: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 37 sap days3720092009: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 54 sap days5420082008: Mar 19 – Apr 19, 44 sap days4420072007: Mar 24 – Apr 26, 51 sap days5120062006: Mar 12 – Apr 12, 48 sap days4820052005: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 49 sap days4920042004: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 43 sap days4320032003: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 31 sap days3120022002: Mar 14 – Apr 12, 52 sap days5220012001: Mar 28 – Apr 30, 41 sap days4120002000: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 54 sap days5419991999: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 63 sap days6319981998: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 45 sap days4519971997: Mar 27 – Apr 30, 50 sap days5019961996: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 47 sap days4719951995: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 58 sap days5819941994: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 52 sap days5219931993: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 35 sap days3519921992: Mar 28 – May 1, 50 sap days5019911991: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 58 sap days58
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Guildhall. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Essex County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Essex County the 2022 Census found 27 farms making syrup (+35% since 2017), with taps +14% and syrup output +93% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.36 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.21 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Essex County ranks 7 by taps.

Essex County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202227586,750209,9810.36
201720514,520108,6300.21

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 Guildhall (932ft), 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

Essex County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Essex County, Vermont?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 8 near Guildhall and the season winds down around April 18. 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 Mar 2 and as late as Mar 28.
How much maple syrup does Essex County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 27 maple operations in Essex County with 586,750 taps producing 209,981 gallons of syrup, ranking 6 of 12 Vermont's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Essex County get in a season?
On average 46.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Guildhall, of which about 10.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (63 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (29).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Guildhall (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.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Essex 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