When to tap maple trees in Massachusetts

Maple season in Massachusetts usually opens late February and winds down early April. Here's the long-run pattern, the year-by-year record, and what the forecast says right now.

Typical season
Opens
February 24
Closes
April 3
Recent openings ranged
Feb 18 – Mar 14 (2011–2018)
Typical length
About 32 days
Sap-flow outlook right now

Forecast for Ashfield

Updated Sep 26, 7:49 AM EDT

It's the off-season. Sap needs freezing nights, and there are none in sight. Massachusetts's season usually opens around February 24 — 151 days from now.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

Blue = below 32°F · Amber = thaw · dashed line = freezing

  1. SunSep 27
    53°high
    49°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  2. MonSep 28
    56°high
    51°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  3. TueSep 29
    64°high
    52°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  4. WedSep 30
    68°high
    53°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  5. ThuOct 1
    69°high
    54°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  6. FriOct 2
    68°high
    55°low
    0h frozen
    21h thawed
    No freeze, no run

Data: National Weather Service. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

Full Massachusetts sap forecast →
Massachusetts seasons, 2011–2018
JanFebMarAprMaymedian start Feb 2420112011: Mar 4 – Apr 420122012: Feb 19 – Mar 1420132013: Feb 26 – Apr 320142014: Mar 9 – Apr 920152015: Mar 14 – Apr 1120162016: Feb 21 – Mar 2420172017: Feb 19 – Apr 220182018: Feb 18 – Apr 1
Each bar is one season, from the approximate average opening date to closing date reported by USDA NASS.
How to know it's time

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.

Dates are USDA NASS approximate state averages. NASS dropped Massachusetts from its maple program after 2018, so there is no newer per-year data.

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

  1. USDA NASS — Maple Syrup Production — news release, June 2013 (average open/close dates 2011–2013) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  2. USDA NASS — Maple Syrup Production — news release, June 2014 (average open/close dates 2012–2014) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  3. USDA NASS — United States Maple Syrup Production, June 11, 2015 (average open/close dates 2013–2015) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  4. USDA NASS — United States Maple Syrup Production, June 15, 2016 (average open/close dates 2014–2016) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  5. USDA NASS — United States Maple Syrup Production, June 14, 2017 (average open/close dates 2015–2017) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  6. 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)
  7. 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)
  8. 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)
  9. USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture, County Data — Table 37. Maple Syrup: 2022 and 2017 (Massachusetts) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
  10. 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 Massachusetts?
Usually from late February to early April — about 5 weeks. The exact start moves by weeks from year to year with the weather.
When should I tap my trees in Massachusetts?
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 24. 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.
Other states
ConnecticutIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyMaineMichiganMinnesotaMissouriNew HampshireNew YorkOhioPennsylvaniaVermontWest VirginiaWisconsin

Get a heads-up when Massachusetts'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.

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