Bendix Woods County Park may have to cut the maple syrup season short

SAINT JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. — Maple syrup season has a very short production window, ranging from mid-February to the last couple weeks of March. The 2026 season may be even shorter due to the above average temperatures we have been seeing here in Michiana.

Hannah Branchick,  a Naturalist at Bennedix Woods County Park, says, "So for the maple sap to run in the trees, we have to have above freezing temperatures during the day and below freezing temperatures at night."

The first tap was in mid-February, and the end of the season is typically the last couple weeks of March.

Each year it is very difficult to predict how much sap will flow out of the trees, to be used for syrup.

Branchick explains, "We let Mother Nature determine how much sap they send down here with us. And so, we tap our trees here on site, cook it on site, bottle it on site, and sell it on site. Everything is done here on site."

The trees need to be around 40 years old before they can start producing the sap needed for syrup, but on the bright side those trees can be tapped every single year.

Last season was a top five year for the park's syrup production, but this year is not looking to top that because of the warm temperatures across Michiana.