Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Kentucky · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Crittenden County, Kentucky

Crittenden County had 7 maple operations and 2,930 taps in the 2022 Census, the most of any county in Kentucky. Around Marion, sap usually runs from January 15 to February 9. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 101 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Jan 15
weather estimate
Season ends
Feb 9
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
34.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,930
#1 of 25 in KY

Sap-flow outlook at Marion right now

Full Kentucky forecast →

Forecast for Marion, KY

Updated Oct 6, 6:21 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Crittenden County's season usually opens around January 15, which is 101 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    52° / 80°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    57° / 80°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    54° / 78°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    55° / 80°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    60° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    58° / 78°
    No refreeze forecast

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

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Marion

Freeze-thaw weather at Marion peaks in the weeks of Dec 1 to Mar 2, which hold about 90% of a season's sap days. January is the busiest month. Note: USDA publishes no season dates for Kentucky, so the typical dates here are the raw weather signal. In neighboring states with USDA records, producers reported their seasons running one to three weeks later than this rule.
Typical season: Jan 15 – Feb 90246Week of Dec 1: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Jan 15
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Marion, 1991–2026. A sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. The shaded band is the typical season.

Year-to-year spread

Opening signal
Median Jan 15; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 7 and Jan 19. Earliest Jan 1 (1999), latest Feb 6 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Feb 9; middle half between Feb 1 and Feb 18. Earliest Jan 16 (2023), latest Mar 13 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec28%Jan31%Feb25%Mar15%Apr1%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Crittenden County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Marion was 2014 with 51 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 1997 with 21. Seasons that start early tend to end early too: the trees run on the swing between freezing nights and mild days, and heat ends it.
JanFebMarAprMaysap days20262026: Jan 13 – Feb 16, 34 sap days3420252025: Jan 23 – Feb 24, 34 sap days3420242024: Jan 4 – Feb 8, 38 sap days3820232023: Jan 6 – Jan 16, 40 sap days4020222022: Jan 25 – Mar 1, 43 sap days4320212021: Jan 25 – Feb 22, 38 sap days3820202020: Jan 1 – Jan 26, 34 sap days3420192019: Jan 22 – Feb 1, 30 sap days3020182018: Jan 19 – Feb 18, 31 sap days3120173020162016: Jan 16 – Feb 18, 28 sap days2820152015: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 30 sap days3020142014: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 51 sap days5120132013: Jan 3 – Feb 4, 39 sap days3920122012: Jan 14 – Jan 29, 22 sap days2220112011: Jan 16 – Feb 13, 32 sap days3220102010: Jan 26 – Feb 28, 33 sap days3320092009: Jan 7 – Feb 6, 38 sap days3820082008: Jan 12 – Feb 2, 36 sap days3620072007: Jan 18 – Feb 19, 32 sap days3220062006: Jan 15 – Jan 19, 38 sap days3820053320042004: Jan 16 – Feb 18, 43 sap days4320032003: Jan 24 – Feb 19, 33 sap days3320022002: Jan 4 – Jan 27, 41 sap days4120012001: Jan 9 – Feb 12, 42 sap days4220002000: Jan 6 – Feb 10, 32 sap days3219991999: Jan 1 – Jan 27, 32 sap days3219981998: Jan 17 – Jan 21, 26 sap days2619971997: Jan 15 – Jan 31, 21 sap days2119961996: Jan 11 – Feb 14, 38 sap days3819951995: Jan 3 – Feb 1, 38 sap days3819941994: Jan 14 – Feb 16, 30 sap days3019931993: Jan 15 – Feb 3, 36 sap days3619921992: Jan 7 – Feb 3, 31 sap days3119911991: Jan 4 – Feb 4, 38 sap days38
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Marion. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Crittenden County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Crittenden County the 2022 Census found 7 farms making syrup (+17% since 2017), with taps +40% and syrup output +159% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.12 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.06 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Crittenden County ranks 229 by taps.

Crittenden County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202272,9303420.12
201762,1001320.06

Nearby

Neighboring maple counties

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each county's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the PRISM 4-km grid cell at Marion (591ft), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. Each season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits five weeks before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. Tested against 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates, the rule lands within 5.5 days of the reported close and 6.6 days of the reported opening on average. Production figures are copied from the Census as published. Full method, calibration tables and the downloadable dataset →

Sources · 6

  1. 1.2022 Census of Agriculture, County Level Data — Kentucky, Table 37: Maple Syrup, 2022 and 2017 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
  2. 2.PRISM daily temperature grids (AN81d, 4 km), accessed 2026-10-05 · PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu
  3. 3.Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) web services · NOAA Regional Climate Centers
  4. 4.USDA NASS maple syrup reports — approximate average season opened and closed dates, 2011–2022 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  5. 5.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  6. 6.GeoNames gazetteer (cities500), CC BY 4.0 · GeoNames

FAQ

Crittenden County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Crittenden County, Kentucky?
In a typical year the sap starts running around January 15 near Marion and the season winds down around February 9. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of freezing nights and 40 °F days. In the past 36 seasons the weather signal came as early as Jan 1 and as late as Feb 6.
How much maple syrup does Crittenden County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 7 maple operations in Crittenden County with 2,930 taps producing 342 gallons of syrup, ranking 1 of 25 Kentucky's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Crittenden County get in a season?
On average 34.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Marion, of which about 11.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2014 (51 sap days); the leanest was 1997 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Marion (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Kentucky. They describe a typical year at one point in the county; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Crittenden County

LuckySap watches 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 and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play