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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Bayfield County, Wisconsin

Bayfield County had 17 maple operations and 4,634 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Washburn, sap usually runs from March 24 to April 18. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 169 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 24
typical year
Season ends
Apr 18
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
34.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
4,634
#30 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Washburn right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Washburn, WI

Updated Oct 6, 10:51 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Bayfield County's season usually opens around March 24, which is 169 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    49° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    44° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    49° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    58° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    49° / 56°
    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 Washburn

Freeze-thaw weather at Washburn peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 27, which hold about 58% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 24 – Apr 180246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.2 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 24
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Washburn, 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 21; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 11 and Mar 29. Earliest Feb 16 (2012), latest Apr 8 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 21; middle half between Apr 12 and Apr 29. Earliest Mar 18 (2012), latest May 13 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec11%Jan5%Feb13%Mar30%Apr32%May8%

36 seasons of sap weather

Bayfield County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Washburn was 2020 with 47 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 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 19 – Apr 21, 36 sap days3620252025: Mar 21 – Apr 21, 39 sap days3920242024: Mar 11 – Apr 8, 44 sap days4420232023: Apr 1 – May 3, 35 sap days3520222022: Apr 4 – May 6, 28 sap days2820212021: Mar 10 – Apr 3, 42 sap days4220202020: Mar 29 – Apr 27, 47 sap days4720192019: Mar 29 – May 3, 35 sap days3520182018: Apr 1 – Apr 29, 36 sap days3620172017: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 39 sap days3920162016: Mar 16 – Apr 14, 31 sap days3120152015: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 28 sap days2820142014: Apr 5 – Apr 24, 21 sap days2120132013: Apr 8 – May 13, 30 sap days3020122012: Feb 16 – Mar 18, 34 sap days3420112011: Mar 21 – Apr 21, 31 sap days3120102010: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 35 sap days3520092009: Mar 20 – Apr 16, 28 sap days2820082008: Mar 31 – May 5, 35 sap days3520072007: Mar 18 – Apr 18, 27 sap days2720062006: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 25 sap days2520052005: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3620042004: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 40 sap days4020032003: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 35 sap days3520022002: Mar 25 – Apr 27, 46 sap days4620012001: Mar 23 – Apr 18, 21 sap days2120002000: Feb 27 – Apr 1, 45 sap days4519991999: Mar 14 – Apr 13, 41 sap days4119981998: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 28 sap days2819971997: Mar 28 – May 2, 29 sap days2919961996: Apr 5 – May 7, 35 sap days3519951995: Mar 29 – May 2, 43 sap days4319941994: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 40 sap days4019931993: Mar 30 – Apr 27, 36 sap days3619921992: Mar 29 – Apr 29, 34 sap days3419911991: Mar 14 – Apr 12, 36 sap days36
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Washburn. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Bayfield County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Bayfield County the 2022 Census found 17 farms making syrup (-23% since 2017), with taps -33% and syrup output -22% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.18 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.16 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Bayfield County ranks 199 by taps.

Bayfield County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022174,6348520.18
2017226,9271,0900.16

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 Washburn (610ft), 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 Wisconsin'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 — Wisconsin, 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

Bayfield County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Bayfield County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 24 near Washburn 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 Feb 16 and as late as Apr 8.
How much maple syrup does Bayfield County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 17 maple operations in Bayfield County with 4,634 taps producing 852 gallons of syrup, ranking 30 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Bayfield County get in a season?
On average 34.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Washburn, of which about 11 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (47 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Washburn (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Wisconsin. 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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