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Vermont · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Franklin County, Vermont

Franklin County had 275 maple operations and 2,436,351 taps in the 2022 Census, the most of any county in Vermont. Around Saint Albans, sap usually runs from March 2 to April 9. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 147 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 2
typical year
Season ends
Apr 9
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
33.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2.4 million
#1 of 12 in VT

Sap-flow outlook at Saint Albans right now

Full Vermont forecast →

Forecast for Saint Albans, VT

Updated Oct 6, 2:25 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Franklin County's season usually opens around March 2, which is 147 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    37° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 56°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 56°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    44° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 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 Saint Albans

Freeze-thaw weather at Saint Albans peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, which hold about 44% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 2 – Apr 90246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 2
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Saint Albans, 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 13; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 4 and Mar 16. Earliest Feb 16 (1995), latest Mar 22 (1997).
Closing signal
Median Apr 12; middle half between Apr 4 and Apr 17. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 23 (1997).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan10%Feb15%Mar31%Apr25%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Franklin County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Saint Albans was 2005 with 43 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 22. 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 12, 27 sap days2720252025: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 28 sap days2820242024: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 35 sap days3520232023: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 39 sap days3920222022: Mar 7 – Apr 4, 35 sap days3520212021: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 27 sap days2720202020: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 37 sap days3720192019: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 40 sap days4020172017: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 32 sap days3220162016: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 43 sap days4320152015: Mar 22 – Apr 16, 22 sap days2220142014: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 40 sap days4020122012: Feb 16 – Mar 12, 39 sap days3920112011: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 24 sap days2420102010: Feb 27 – Mar 28, 25 sap days2520092009: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 31 sap days3120072007: Mar 16 – Apr 12, 32 sap days3220062006: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 25 sap days2520052005: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 43 sap days4320042004: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 29 sap days2920032003: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 27 sap days2720022002: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 35 sap days3520012001: Mar 20 – Apr 21, 32 sap days3220002000: Mar 2 – Mar 28, 27 sap days2719991999: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 40 sap days4019981998: Mar 2 – Mar 26, 33 sap days3319971997: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 40 sap days4019961996: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3619951995: Feb 16 – Mar 19, 42 sap days4219941994: Mar 21 – Apr 19, 32 sap days3219931993: Mar 15 – Apr 8, 31 sap days3119921992: Mar 21 – Apr 20, 40 sap days4019911991: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Saint Albans. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Franklin County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Franklin County the 2022 Census found 275 farms making syrup (+6% since 2017), with taps +16% and syrup output +13% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.38 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.39 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Franklin County ranks 1 by taps.

Franklin County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222752,436,351913,8020.38
20172592,099,849811,2170.39

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 Saint Albans (554ft), 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

Franklin County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Franklin County, Vermont?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 2 near Saint Albans and the season winds down around April 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 Feb 16 and as late as Mar 22.
How much maple syrup does Franklin County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 275 maple operations in Franklin County with 2,436,351 taps producing 913,802 gallons of syrup, ranking 1 of 12 Vermont's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Franklin County get in a season?
On average 33.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Saint Albans, 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 2005 (43 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Saint Albans (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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