When to tap maple trees in West Virginia
- Opens
- Feb 4
- typical
- Closes
- Mar 12
- typical
- Typical length
- 32days
- Seasons on record
- 3
- 2016–2018
County by county
When the sap runs across West Virginia
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Typical opening date of the sap season, week by week across this state’s range
- Jan 26–Feb 1
- Feb 2–8
- Feb 9–15
- Feb 16–18
- fewer than 5 maple farms
16 places with an atlas page. Typical season opening, earliest: Cabell County, WV, Jan 26; Lincoln County, WV, Jan 27; Grant County, WV, Jan 29; latest: Pocahontas County, WV, Feb 18; Randolph County, WV, Feb 12; Preston County, WV, Feb 8. Most sap days a season: Pocahontas County, WV, 67; Monroe County, WV, 62; Doddridge County, WV, 60. Maple taps in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, on a five-step scale fitted to West Virginia: under 170, 170–300, 300–1,300, 1,300–3,700, 3,700+; the most: Preston County, WV (14,655), Grant County, WV (5,658), Lincoln County, WV (3,675), Summers County, WV (3,400), Pocahontas County, WV (2,418). Maple farms in the same census, in five steps: under 5, 5–7, 7–9, 9–10, 10+; the most: Grant County, WV (19), Monroe County, WV (15), Upshur County, WV (12). Syrup made, in US gallons: Preston County, WV (2,637 gal), Grant County, WV (1,025 gal), Summers County, WV (916 gal). Tappable maples (FIA estimates of sugar maples 10 in and up on forest land, US counties only): under 700,000, 700,000–960,000, 960,000–1.1 million, 1.1–2 million, 2 million+; the most: Randolph County, WV (about 4.4 million ± 18%), Pocahontas County, WV (about 3.9 million ± 17%), Grant County, WV (about 2.0 million ± 36%). 3 counties' estimates are too uncertain to show (sampling error over 50%). 1 county has none tallied on the inventory plots (not a zero). Each shaded place links to its page; every state and province page lists its places in a table.
| Cabell | Jan 26 – Mar 2 | 47 | 116 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln | Jan 27 – Mar 4 | 57 | 3,675 |
| Grant | Jan 29 – Mar 8 | 59 | 5,658 |
| Fayette | Jan 30 – Mar 5 | 49 | 300 |
| Monroe | Feb 1 – Mar 9 | 62 | 942 |
| Summers | Feb 1 – Mar 8 | 50 | 3,400 |
| Wood | Feb 1 – Mar 10 | 47 | 159 |
| Berkeley | Feb 5 – Mar 14 | 52 | 210 |
| Marion | Feb 5 – Mar 12 | 46 | 97 |
| Upshur | Feb 5 – Mar 13 | 51 | 1,289 |
| Doddridge | Feb 6 – Mar 15 | 60 | 169 |
| Ritchie | Feb 6 – Mar 14 | 55 | 208 |
| Barbour | Feb 7 – Mar 15 | 52 | 726 |
| Preston | Feb 8 – Mar 17 | 49 | 14,655 |
| Randolph | Feb 12 – Mar 22 | 59 | withheld |
| Pocahontas | Feb 18 – Mar 27 | 67 | 2,418 |
Sap-flow outlook right now
Full West Virginia forecast →Forecast for Kingwood
Updated Nov 10, 1:21 AM EST
3 sap days in the next 6
freeze thaw 32°F
- WedNov 1140° / 62°
0h below · 24h above
No refreeze forecast - ThuNov 1243° / 49°
0h below · 24h above
No refreeze forecast - FriNov 1332° / 39°
2h below · 18h above
No refreeze forecast - SatNov 1428° / 39°
12h below · 10h above
Sap likely - SunNov 1526° / 43°
10h below · 13h above
Classic sap day - MonNov 1626° / 47°Classic sap day
Data: National Weather Service. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.
Season history
West Virginia maple seasons, 2016–2018
| Year | Opened | Closed | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Feb 4 | Mar 14 | 38 |
| 2017 | Feb 3 | Mar 7 | 32 |
| 2016 | Feb 9 | Mar 12 | 32 |
Timing your taps
How to know it's time in West Virginia
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. South-facing slopes warm first and usually run earlier.
Only three NASS seasons exist for West Virginia (estimates ran 2016–2018), so treat the median as indicative. It has the earliest median opening date of any NASS state.
West Virginia made 11,000 gallons of maple syrup in 2026, 0.2% of the US crop (USDA NASS). See every state’s crop.
Seasons are shifting. Cornell researchers found that start dates for tapping maples in the Northeast are about a week earlier than in 1970, and projected they could arrive about a month earlier by 2100 — e.g., around Feb 1 instead of Mar 1 in Montpelier, Vermont (Skinner, DeGaetano & Chabot, Climatic Change, 2010).
Where West Virginia's sugaring happens
- KingwoodPreston County has 14,655 of West Virginia's 71,699 taps (20.4%), the most of any county with published figures (2022 Census of Agriculture).
FAQ
West Virginia tapping questions
- When is maple syrup season in West Virginia?
- Usually from early February to mid-March, about 5 weeks. The exact start moves by weeks from year to year with the weather.
- When should I tap my trees in West Virginia?
- 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 February 4. Tapholes dry up within 6 to 10 weeks, so tapping far too early can cost you the late runs.
- What's the earliest maple season has started in West Virginia?
- In USDA records for 2016–2018, the earliest average opening was February 3 (2017) and the latest was February 9 (2016), a spread of 6 days.
West Virginia
More for West Virginia sugarmakers
LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android
Get a heads-up when West Virginia'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 and Android.
