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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Portage County, Wisconsin

Portage County had 26 maple operations and 7,840 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Stevens Point, sap usually runs from March 15 to April 9. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 160 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 15
typical year
Season ends
Apr 9
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
35.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
7,840
#21 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Stevens Point right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Stevens Point, WI

Updated Oct 6, 9:36 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Portage County's season usually opens around March 15, which is 160 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    49° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    44° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    40° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    49° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    59° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 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 Stevens Point

Freeze-thaw weather at Stevens Point peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 51% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 15 – Apr 90246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.7 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: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 15
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Stevens Point, 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 12; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 4 and Mar 19. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Mar 30 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 12; middle half between Apr 3 and Apr 18. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 29 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec12%Jan6%Feb15%Mar37%Apr27%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Portage County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Stevens Point was 2002 with 52 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 1998 with 25. 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 4 – Apr 8, 34 sap days3420252025: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 39 sap days3920242024: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 50 sap days5020232023: Mar 11 – Apr 8, 39 sap days3920222022: Mar 21 – Apr 17, 31 sap days3120212021: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 47 sap days4720202020: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 44 sap days4420192019: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 31 sap days3120182018: Mar 29 – Apr 29, 47 sap days4720172017: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3020162016: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 31 sap days3120152015: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 34 sap days3420142014: Mar 25 – Apr 23, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 30 – Apr 25, 27 sap days2720122012: Feb 14 – Mar 12, 39 sap days3920112011: Mar 21 – Apr 22, 32 sap days3220102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 32 sap days3220092009: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 35 sap days3520082008: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 25 sap days2520072007: Feb 25 – Mar 21, 32 sap days3220062006: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 28 sap days2820052005: Mar 6 – Apr 3, 34 sap days3420042004: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 41 sap days4120032003: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 32 sap days3220022002: Mar 12 – Apr 7, 52 sap days5220012001: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 26 sap days2620002000: Feb 21 – Mar 21, 38 sap days3819991999: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 41 sap days4119981998: Feb 28 – Mar 24, 25 sap days2519971997: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 28 sap days2819961996: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 39 sap days3919951995: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 36 sap days3619941994: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 37 sap days3719931993: Mar 23 – Apr 27, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 19 – Apr 15, 36 sap days3619911991: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 36 sap days36
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Stevens Point. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Portage County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Portage County the 2022 Census found 26 farms making syrup (+24% since 2017), with taps +132% and syrup output +187% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.19 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Portage County ranks 155 by taps.

Portage County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022267,8401,8290.23
2017213,3856370.19

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 Stevens Point (1,099ft), 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

Portage County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Portage County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 15 near Stevens Point 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 14 and as late as Mar 30.
How much maple syrup does Portage County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 26 maple operations in Portage County with 7,840 taps producing 1,829 gallons of syrup, ranking 21 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Portage County get in a season?
On average 35.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Stevens Point, of which about 10.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (52 sap days); the leanest was 1998 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Stevens Point (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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