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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Door County, Wisconsin

Door County had 5 maple operations and 5,851 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Sturgeon Bay, sap usually runs from March 18 to April 10. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 163 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 18
typical year
Season ends
Apr 10
about 3 weeks
Sap days / season
31.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
5,851
#25 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Sturgeon Bay right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Sturgeon Bay, WI

Updated Oct 6, 9:36 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Door County's season usually opens around March 18, which is 163 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    51° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    45° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    49° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    56° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 63°
    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 Sturgeon Bay

Freeze-thaw weather at Sturgeon Bay peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 47% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 18 – Apr 100246Week of Dec 1: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.4 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: 1.3 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: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 18
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Sturgeon Bay, 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 15; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 6 and Mar 22. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Mar 29 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 13; middle half between Apr 7 and Apr 20. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest May 3 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan8%Feb15%Mar34%Apr24%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Door County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Sturgeon Bay was 2002 with 43 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2014 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: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 26 sap days2620252025: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 38 sap days3820242024: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 38 sap days3820232023: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 43 sap days4320222022: Mar 26 – Apr 28, 27 sap days2720212021: Mar 4 – Apr 3, 36 sap days3620202020: Mar 23 – Apr 24, 41 sap days4120192019: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 32 sap days3220182018: Mar 29 – Apr 29, 40 sap days4020172017: Mar 5 – Apr 1, 27 sap days2720162016: Mar 19 – Apr 13, 32 sap days3220152015: Mar 14 – Apr 11, 25 sap days2520142014: Mar 29 – Apr 23, 20 sap days2020132013: Mar 28 – Apr 24, 32 sap days3220122012: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 41 sap days4120112011: Mar 23 – Apr 21, 27 sap days2720102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 25 sap days2520092009: Mar 15 – Apr 13, 30 sap days3020082008: Mar 21 – Apr 15, 21 sap days2120072007: Feb 26 – Mar 21, 27 sap days2720062006: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 24 sap days2420052005: Mar 10 – Apr 4, 23 sap days2320042004: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3920032003: Mar 16 – Apr 14, 30 sap days3020022002: Mar 14 – Apr 7, 43 sap days4320012001: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 28 sap days2820002000: Feb 20 – Mar 20, 37 sap days3719991999: Mar 5 – Mar 27, 35 sap days3519981998: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 24 sap days2419971997: Mar 22 – Apr 21, 26 sap days2619961996: Mar 29 – May 3, 34 sap days3419951995: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 34 sap days3419941994: Mar 16 – Apr 11, 34 sap days3419931993: Mar 24 – Apr 27, 24 sap days2419921992: Mar 23 – Apr 15, 29 sap days2919911991: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 28 sap days28
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Sturgeon Bay. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Door County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Door County the 2022 Census found 5 farms making syrup (-29% since 2017), with taps +58% and syrup output +57% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.26 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.27 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Door County ranks 182 by taps.

Door County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202255,8511,5400.26
201773,7009830.27

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 Sturgeon Bay (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

Door County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Door County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 18 near Sturgeon Bay and the season winds down around April 10. 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 15 and as late as Mar 29.
How much maple syrup does Door County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 5 maple operations in Door County with 5,851 taps producing 1,540 gallons of syrup, ranking 25 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Door County get in a season?
On average 31.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Sturgeon Bay, of which about 12.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (43 sap days); the leanest was 2014 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Sturgeon Bay (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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