When to tap maple trees in Minnesota
Maple season in Minnesota usually opens early March and winds down early April. Here's the long-run pattern, the year-by-year record, and what the forecast says right now.
- Opens
- March 6
- Closes
- April 6
- Recent openings ranged
- Mar 4 – Mar 21 (2016–2018)
- Typical length
- About 31 days
Forecast for North Branch
Updated Sep 26, 8:51 AM EDT
It's the off-season. Sap needs freezing nights, and there are none in sight. Minnesota's season usually opens around March 6 — 161 days from now.
No freeze-thaw days in the forecast
Blue = below 32°F · Amber = thaw · dashed line = freezing
- SunSep 27No freeze, no run68°high54°low0h frozen
24h thawed - MonSep 28No freeze, no run71°high51°low0h frozen
24h thawed - TueSep 29No freeze, no run67°high56°low0h frozen
24h thawed - WedSep 30No freeze, no run68°high53°low0h frozen
24h thawed - ThuOct 1No freeze, no run65°high52°low0h frozen
24h thawed - FriOct 2No freeze, no run64°high46°low0h frozen
20h 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 (2016–2018). Minnesota DNR agrees: sap weather typically comes in March, though trees can sometimes be tapped as early as mid-February or as late as April; the season ends when temperatures stay above freezing and buds appear.
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)
- How to Tap Maple Trees and Make Maple Syrup — Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
- USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture, County Data — Table 37. Maple Syrup: 2022 and 2017 (Minnesota) — 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 Minnesota?
- Usually from early March to early April — about 4 weeks. The exact start moves by weeks from year to year with the weather.
- When should I tap my trees in Minnesota?
- 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 March 6. 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 Minnesota'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.
