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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Vilas County, Wisconsin

Vilas County had 8 maple operations and 2,334 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Eagle River, sap usually runs from March 26 to April 23. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 171 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 26
typical year
Season ends
Apr 23
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
39.7
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,334
#35 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Eagle River right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Eagle River, WI

Updated Oct 6, 9:36 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Vilas County's season usually opens around March 26, which is 171 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    44° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    39° / 59°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    36° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    55° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    46° / 59°
    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 Eagle River

Freeze-thaw weather at Eagle River peaks in the weeks of Mar 16 to Apr 27, which hold about 58% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 26 – Apr 230246Week of Dec 1: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 4.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.2 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 26
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Eagle River, 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 23; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 16 and Mar 30. Earliest Feb 16 (2012), latest Apr 8 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 26; middle half between Apr 16 and May 1. Earliest Mar 18 (2012), latest May 13 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec7%Jan3%Feb10%Mar30%Apr39%May10%

36 seasons of sap weather

Vilas County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Eagle River was 1995 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2014 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 18 – Apr 22, 43 sap days4320252025: Mar 25 – Apr 27, 48 sap days4820242024: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 48 sap days4820232023: Mar 31 – May 3, 37 sap days3720222022: Apr 3 – May 5, 38 sap days3820212021: Mar 6 – Apr 4, 46 sap days4620202020: Mar 31 – May 2, 44 sap days4420192019: Mar 31 – Apr 29, 34 sap days3420182018: Apr 2 – Apr 30, 36 sap days3620172017: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 39 sap days3920162016: Mar 17 – Apr 14, 34 sap days3420152015: Mar 17 – Apr 15, 37 sap days3720142014: Apr 4 – Apr 23, 25 sap days2520132013: Apr 4 – May 4, 26 sap days2620122012: Feb 16 – Mar 18, 46 sap days4620112011: Apr 2 – May 7, 41 sap days4120102010: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 37 sap days3720092009: Mar 23 – Apr 23, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 30 – May 2, 38 sap days3820072007: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 31 sap days3120062006: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 29 sap days2920052005: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 42 sap days4220042004: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 46 sap days4620032003: Mar 23 – Apr 27, 42 sap days4220022002: Mar 30 – May 3, 49 sap days4920012001: Mar 23 – Apr 27, 32 sap days3220002000: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 45 sap days4519991999: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 51 sap days5119981998: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 43 sap days4319971997: Mar 30 – May 4, 40 sap days4019961996: Apr 8 – May 13, 38 sap days3819951995: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 53 sap days5319941994: Mar 22 – Apr 22, 42 sap days4219931993: Mar 28 – Apr 27, 39 sap days3919921992: Mar 28 – Apr 29, 32 sap days3219911991: Mar 15 – Apr 12, 41 sap days41
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Eagle River. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Vilas County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Vilas County the 2022 Census found 8 farms making syrup (+14% since 2017), with taps -17% and syrup output -30% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.19 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.22 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Vilas County ranks 244 by taps.

Vilas County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202282,3344340.19
201772,8106170.22

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 Eagle River (1,634ft), 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

Vilas County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Vilas County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 26 near Eagle River and the season winds down around April 23. 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 16 and as late as Apr 8.
How much maple syrup does Vilas County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 8 maple operations in Vilas County with 2,334 taps producing 434 gallons of syrup, ranking 35 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Vilas County get in a season?
On average 39.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Eagle River, of which about 7.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1995 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2014 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Eagle River (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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