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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Jackson County, Wisconsin

Jackson County had 13 maple operations and 4,990 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Black River Falls, sap usually runs from March 12 to April 7. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 157 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 12
typical year
Season ends
Apr 7
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
45.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
4,990
#27 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Black River Falls right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Black River Falls, WI

Updated Oct 6, 9:06 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Jackson County's season usually opens around March 12, which is 157 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    48° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    43° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    39° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    51° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    60° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 65°
    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 Black River Falls

Freeze-thaw weather at Black River Falls 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 12 – Apr 70246Week of Dec 1: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.4 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: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 4.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 4.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 12
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Black River Falls, 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 9; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 28 and Mar 15. Earliest Feb 13 (2012), latest Mar 30 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 10; middle half between Apr 1 and Apr 16. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 30 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec14%Jan8%Feb15%Mar35%Apr25%May4%

36 seasons of sap weather

Jackson County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Black River Falls was 2024 with 69 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 30. 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 23 – Mar 29, 51 sap days5120252025: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 53 sap days5320242024: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 69 sap days6920232023: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 57 sap days5720222022: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 52 sap days5220212021: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 61 sap days6120202020: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 64 sap days6420192019: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 38 sap days3820182018: Mar 28 – Apr 30, 67 sap days6720172017: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 41 sap days4120162016: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 48 sap days4820152015: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 39 sap days3920142014: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 37 sap days3720132013: Mar 30 – Apr 26, 39 sap days3920122012: Feb 13 – Mar 11, 47 sap days4720112011: Mar 13 – Apr 12, 36 sap days3620102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 33 sap days3320092009: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 44 sap days4420082008: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3620072007: Feb 25 – Mar 23, 39 sap days3920062006: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3520052005: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 38 sap days3820042004: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 48 sap days4820032003: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 41 sap days4120022002: Mar 11 – Apr 7, 60 sap days6020012001: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 30 sap days3020002000: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 44 sap days4419991999: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 45 sap days4519981998: Feb 26 – Mar 25, 37 sap days3719971997: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 38 sap days3819961996: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 47 sap days4719951995: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 43 sap days4319941994: Mar 12 – Apr 11, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 41 sap days4119921992: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 52 sap days5219911991: Mar 2 – Apr 1, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Black River Falls. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Jackson County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Jackson County the 2022 Census found 13 farms making syrup (+117% since 2017), with taps +962% and syrup output +1643% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.10 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Jackson County ranks 190 by taps.

Jackson County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022134,9908020.16
20176470460.10

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 Black River Falls (833ft), 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

Jackson County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Jackson County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 12 near Black River Falls and the season winds down around April 7. 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 13 and as late as Mar 30.
How much maple syrup does Jackson County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 13 maple operations in Jackson County with 4,990 taps producing 802 gallons of syrup, ranking 27 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Jackson County get in a season?
On average 45.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Black River Falls, of which about 9.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (69 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (30).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Black River Falls (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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