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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Crawford County, Wisconsin

Crawford County had 5 maple operations in the 2022 Census (tap totals withheld). Around Prairie du Chien, sap usually runs from March 3 to March 30. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 148 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 3
typical year
Season ends
Mar 30
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
38.7
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
withheld
5 farms

Sap-flow outlook at Prairie du Chien right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Prairie du Chien, WI

Updated Oct 6, 9:06 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Crawford County's season usually opens around March 3, which is 148 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    54° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    60° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    57° / 68°
    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 Prairie du Chien

Freeze-thaw weather at Prairie du Chien peaks in the weeks of Feb 23 to Apr 6, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 3 – Mar 300246Week of Dec 1: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 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 ~Mar 3
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Prairie du Chien, 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 28; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 22 and Mar 6. Earliest Feb 2 (2024), latest Mar 22 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 2; middle half between Mar 25 and Apr 8. Earliest Mar 8 (2024), latest Apr 21 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec18%Jan12%Feb18%Mar36%Apr17%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Crawford County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Prairie du Chien was 2002 with 60 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 20. 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 14 – Mar 19, 44 sap days4420252025: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 40 sap days4020242024: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 48 sap days4820232023: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 48 sap days4820222022: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 46 sap days4620212021: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 42 sap days4220202020: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 54 sap days5420192019: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 20 – Apr 21, 55 sap days5520172017: Feb 20 – Mar 23, 31 sap days3120162016: Feb 18 – Mar 19, 36 sap days3620152015: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 26 sap days2620142014: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 34 sap days3420132013: Mar 22 – Apr 21, 37 sap days3720122012: Feb 11 – Mar 11, 47 sap days4720112011: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 29 sap days2920102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 20 sap days2020092009: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 42 sap days4220082008: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 26 sap days2620072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 38 sap days3820062006: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 51 sap days5120052005: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 43 sap days4320042004: Feb 25 – Mar 24, 43 sap days4320032003: Feb 26 – Apr 1, 33 sap days3320022002: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 60 sap days6020012001: Mar 9 – Apr 4, 29 sap days2920002000: Feb 28 – Mar 16, 45 sap days4519991999: Feb 25 – Mar 27, 40 sap days4019981998: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 25 sap days2519971997: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 37 sap days3719961996: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 27 sap days2719941994: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 37 sap days3719931993: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 28 sap days2819921992: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 42 sap days4219911991: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 34 sap days34
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Prairie du Chien. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Crawford County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Crawford County the 2022 Census found 5 farms making syrup (-17% since 2017).

Crawford County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225withheldwithheld—
20176181310.17

“Withheld” means USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing data for individual operations; the farm count is still published.

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 Prairie du Chien (761ft), 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

Crawford County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Crawford County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 3 near Prairie du Chien and the season winds down around March 30. 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 2 and as late as Mar 22.
How much maple syrup does Crawford County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 5 maple operations in Crawford County; USDA withheld the county's tap and gallon totals to avoid disclosing individual farms.
How many sap days does Crawford County get in a season?
On average 38.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Prairie du Chien, of which about 12.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (60 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Prairie du Chien (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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