Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
West Virginia · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Randolph County, West Virginia

Randolph County had 8 maple operations in the 2022 Census (tap totals withheld). Around Elkins, sap usually runs from February 12 to March 22. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 129 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 12
typical year
Season ends
Mar 22
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
58.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
withheld
8 farms

Sap-flow outlook at Elkins right now

Full West Virginia forecast →

Forecast for Elkins, WV

Updated Oct 6, 9:50 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Randolph County's season usually opens around February 12, which is 129 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    37° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    51° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 70°
    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 Elkins

Freeze-thaw weather at Elkins peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Apr 6, which hold about 57% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 12 – Mar 220246Week of Dec 1: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 12
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Elkins, 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 Feb 5; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 25 and Feb 10. Earliest Jan 8 (1999), latest Feb 25 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Mar 11; middle half between Feb 27 and Mar 15. Earliest Feb 7 (2017), latest Mar 31 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan18%Feb22%Mar24%Apr11%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Randolph County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Elkins was 1999 with 72 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 35. 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 30 – Mar 3, 47 sap days4720252025: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 50 sap days5020242024: Jan 20 – Feb 22, 57 sap days5720232023: Jan 10 – Feb 14, 67 sap days6720222022: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 64 sap days6420212021: Feb 10 – Mar 16, 58 sap days5820202020: Jan 8 – Feb 10, 52 sap days5220192019: Jan 25 – Mar 1, 57 sap days5720182018: Jan 17 – Feb 18, 59 sap days5920172017: Jan 30 – Feb 7, 45 sap days4520162016: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 56 sap days5620152015: Feb 19 – Mar 24, 53 sap days5320142014: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 62 sap days6220132013: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 57 sap days5720122012: Jan 27 – Mar 3, 72 sap days7220112011: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 48 sap days4820102010: Feb 16 – Mar 20, 35 sap days3520092009: Feb 4 – Mar 6, 56 sap days5620082008: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 67 sap days6720072007: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 55 sap days5520062006: Jan 21 – Feb 25, 68 sap days6820052005: Jan 9 – Feb 8, 50 sap days5020042004: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 65 sap days6520032003: Feb 14 – Mar 15, 53 sap days5320022002: Jan 27 – Mar 2, 68 sap days6820012001: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 62 sap days6220002000: Jan 25 – Mar 1, 69 sap days6919991999: Jan 8 – Feb 12, 72 sap days7219981998: Jan 23 – Feb 27, 60 sap days6019971997: Jan 23 – Feb 27, 70 sap days7019961996: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 52 sap days5219951995: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 63 sap days6319941994: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 56 sap days5619931993: Feb 18 – Mar 22, 53 sap days5319921992: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 63 sap days6319911991: Feb 11 – Mar 18, 64 sap days64
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Elkins. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Randolph County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Randolph County the 2022 Census found 8 farms making syrup (+100% since 2017).

Randolph County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20228withheldwithheld—
20174withheldwithheld—

“Withheld” means USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing data for individual operations; the farm count is still published.

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 Elkins (2,067ft), 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, and the typical dates shown here are scaled to West Virginia's USDA record (3 years). 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 — West Virginia, 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

Randolph County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Randolph County, West Virginia?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 12 near Elkins and the season winds down around March 22. 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 8 and as late as Feb 25.
How much maple syrup does Randolph County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 8 maple operations in Randolph County; USDA withheld the county's tap and gallon totals to avoid disclosing individual farms.
How many sap days does Randolph County get in a season?
On average 58.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Elkins, of which about 12.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (72 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (35).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Elkins (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for West Virginia. 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 Randolph 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