When to tap maple trees in Vermont

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

Typical season
Opens
March 2
Closes
April 12
Recent openings ranged
Feb 23 – Mar 22 (2011–2022)
Typical length
About 37 days
Sap-flow outlook right now

Forecast for St. Albans

Updated Sep 26, 2:21 AM EDT

It's the off-season. Sap needs freezing nights, and there are none in sight. Vermont's season usually opens around March 2 — 157 days from now.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

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

  1. SunSep 27
    67°high
    53°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  2. MonSep 28
    62°high
    53°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  3. TueSep 29
    62°high
    53°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  4. WedSep 30
    69°high
    52°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  5. ThuOct 1
    71°high
    56°low
    0h frozen
    24h thawed
    No freeze, no run
  6. FriOct 2
    68°high
    57°low
    0h frozen
    20h 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 Vermont sap forecast →
Vermont seasons, 2011–2022
JanFebMarAprMaymedian start Mar 220112011: Mar 9 – Apr 1420122012: Feb 25 – Mar 2220132013: Mar 3 – Apr 1320142014: Mar 20 – Apr 1720152015: Mar 22 – Apr 1720162016: Feb 24 – Apr 820172017: Feb 23 – Apr 1020182018: Feb 23 – Apr 1620192019: Mar 12 – Apr 1520202020: Feb 28 – Apr 620212021: Mar 8 – Apr 520222022: Feb 28 – Apr 9
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. Vermont made 3.11 million of the 5.86 million gallons of U.S. maple syrup in 2024 (NASS).

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 NASS — Crop Production, June 2021 — maple syrup tables (average open/close dates 2019–2021) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  10. USDA NASS — Crop Production, June 2022 — maple syrup tables (average open/close dates 2020–2022) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  11. USDA NASS — Crop Production, June 2023 — maple syrup tables (average open/close dates 2021–2022; discontinued 2023) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  12. USDA NASS — Crop Production, June 2024 — maple syrup tables (2022–2024 production) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  13. Large-scale, Commercial Maple Production Operations (memo to House Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife, Jan 31 2019) — Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
  14. USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture, County Data — Table 37. Maple Syrup: 2022 and 2017 (Vermont) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
  15. 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 Vermont?
Usually from early March to mid-April — about 5 weeks. The exact start moves by weeks from year to year with the weather.
When should I tap my trees in Vermont?
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 2. 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
ConnecticutIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyMaineMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMissouriNew HampshireNew YorkOhioPennsylvaniaWest VirginiaWisconsin

Get a heads-up when Vermont's sap will run

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