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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Sauk County, Wisconsin

Sauk County had 27 maple operations and 15,084 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Baraboo, sap usually runs from March 7 to April 2. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 152 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 7
typical year
Season ends
Apr 2
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
42.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
15,084
#16 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Baraboo right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Baraboo, WI

Updated Oct 6, 10:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Sauk County's season usually opens around March 7, which is 152 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    45° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    50° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    58° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 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 Baraboo

Freeze-thaw weather at Baraboo 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 7 – Apr 20246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 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: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.2 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: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 4.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 7
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Baraboo, 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 4; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 25 and Mar 10. Earliest Feb 7 (2024), latest Mar 23 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 5; middle half between Mar 27 and Apr 11. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 24 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan10%Feb17%Mar35%Apr21%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Sauk County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Baraboo was 2002 with 60 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 24. 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 18 – Mar 24, 45 sap days4520252025: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 48 sap days4820242024: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 53 sap days5320232023: Mar 7 – Apr 7, 45 sap days4520222022: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 43 sap days4320212021: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 45 sap days4520202020: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 56 sap days5620192019: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 38 sap days3820182018: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 60 sap days6020172017: Feb 21 – Mar 23, 30 sap days3020162016: Feb 13 – Mar 13, 35 sap days3520152015: Mar 7 – Apr 6, 24 sap days2420142014: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 30 sap days3020132013: Mar 23 – Apr 21, 35 sap days3520122012: Feb 11 – Mar 11, 48 sap days4820112011: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 29 sap days2920102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 32 sap days3220092009: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 46 sap days4620082008: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 21 – Mar 21, 34 sap days3420062006: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 44 sap days4420052005: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 42 sap days4220042004: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 47 sap days4720032003: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 33 sap days3320022002: Mar 7 – Apr 7, 60 sap days6020012001: Mar 11 – Apr 5, 33 sap days3320002000: Feb 17 – Mar 21, 59 sap days5919991999: Feb 26 – Mar 27, 50 sap days5019981998: Feb 23 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3919971997: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 41 sap days4119961996: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 58 sap days5819951995: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 41 sap days4119941994: Mar 10 – Apr 7, 44 sap days4419931993: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 37 sap days3719921992: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 53 sap days5319911991: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 40 sap days40
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Baraboo. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Sauk County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Sauk County the 2022 Census found 27 farms making syrup (+80% since 2017), with taps +140% and syrup output +127% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.27 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.28 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Sauk County ranks 107 by taps.

Sauk County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222715,0844,0370.27
2017156,2741,7770.28

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 Baraboo (915ft), 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

Sauk County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Sauk County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 7 near Baraboo and the season winds down around April 2. 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 7 and as late as Mar 23.
How much maple syrup does Sauk County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 27 maple operations in Sauk County with 15,084 taps producing 4,037 gallons of syrup, ranking 16 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Sauk County get in a season?
On average 42.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Baraboo, of which about 11.3 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 2015 (24).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Baraboo (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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