When to tap maple trees in Indiana
Maple season in Indiana usually opens early February and winds down mid-March. Here's the long-run pattern, the year-by-year record, and what the forecast says right now.
- Opens
- February 10
- Closes
- March 12
- Recent openings ranged
- Feb 9 – Feb 18 (2016–2018)
- Typical length
- About 31 days
Forecast for LaGrange
Updated Sep 26, 6:44 AM EDT
It's the off-season. Sap needs freezing nights, and there are none in sight. Indiana's season usually opens around February 10 — 137 days from now.
No freeze-thaw days in the forecast
Blue = below 32°F · Amber = thaw · dashed line = freezing
- SunSep 27No freeze, no run70°high44°low0h frozen
24h thawed - MonSep 28No freeze, no run72°high46°low0h frozen
24h thawed - TueSep 29No freeze, no run73°high48°low0h frozen
24h thawed - WedSep 30No freeze, no run69°high57°low0h frozen
24h thawed - ThuOct 1No freeze, no run70°high61°low0h frozen
24h thawed - FriOct 2No freeze, no run68°high58°low0h frozen
21h thawed
Data: National Weather Service. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.
Sap runs on a temperature swing, not a date. A night below freezing loads the tree; a day above freezing pushes sap out of the taphole. Field research treats a low under about 30°F followed by a high over about 37°F as a real freeze-thaw day, and big runs almost always come on days like that.
So watch the 10-day forecast. When you see a string of nights in the 20s and afternoons in the 40s, get your taps in a day or two ahead. Tap south-facing slopes first — they warm and run earlier.
Only three NASS seasons exist for Indiana (estimates ran 2016–2018), so treat the median as indicative rather than a long-term normal. Dates are NASS approximate state averages.
Seasons are shifting. In New England and New York, the sugaring season now begins about 8 days earlier and ends about 11 days earlier than it did 40 years earlier, leaving it roughly 3 days (about 10%) shorter, according to UVM Proctor Maple Research Center survey records analyzed in 2007.
Plan your season
Sources
- USDA NASS — United States Maple Syrup Production, June 13, 2018 (average open/close dates 2016–2018) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
- USDA NASS — United States Maple Syrup Production, June 12, 2019 (average open/close dates 2017–2019) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
- USDA NASS — Crop Production, June 2020 — maple syrup tables (average open/close dates 2018–2020) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
- USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture, County Data — Table 37. Maple Syrup: 2022 and 2017 (Indiana) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
- Statement of Timothy D. Perkins, Ph.D., Director, UVM Proctor Maple Research Center — Global Warming Mountaintop 'Summit': Economic Impacts on New England (June 4, 2007) — U.S. House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
Common questions
- When is maple syrup season in Indiana?
- Usually from early February to mid-March — about 4 weeks. The exact start moves by weeks from year to year with the weather.
- When should I tap my trees in Indiana?
- Tap just before the first good run: when the forecast shows nights below freezing and days climbing to around 40°F. In a typical year that's around February 10. Tapholes dry up within 6 to 10 weeks, so tapping far too early can cost you the late runs.
- What weather makes sap run?
- Freezing nights and thawing days. Field research counts a freeze-thaw day as a low under about 30°F and a high over about 37°F; nights in the 20s and days in the 40s are the classic sap days.
Get a heads-up when Indiana's sap will run
LuckySap checks the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day — then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone.
