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- Highland Maple Festival
Take a step back in time to Highland County, “Virginia’s Sweet Spot.” Travel scenic back roads and majestic mountain byways to the annual Highland County Maple Festival. Since 1959, visitors have been drawn to Highland County to tour real maple sugar camps for a cultural and culinary adventure! In 1999, The Library of Congress designated The Highland County Maple Festival a “Local Legacy.” In 2014, the Governor of Virginia signed a bill into law designating the festival as the “official maple festival of Virginia.” Each year, tens of thousands of visitors are drawn to this unspoiled, rural region of Virginia to celebrate the “opening” of the trees and observe the process of maple syrup-making. Sugar camp tours provide a unique and educational experience that portrays a rapidly vanishing way of American life. In 2024, there will be 10 open sugar camps with unique techniques and stories for you to explore for free. In addition to pancake and buckwheat cake meals, famous maple doughnuts and live entertainment, over 100 high-quality juried arts and crafts vendors take part in the festival each year. We’re glad to have you share the experience!
2024 Maple Festival Information
Arts & Crafts Show
The Highland County Maple Festival Juried Arts & Crafts Show features over 100 contemporary and country artisans and crafters from around the region. Meet our artists in their booths, and learn about the process of creating these handcrafted, unique, high-quality treasures such as jewelry, hand-tooled leather, photography, pottery, wood furnishings, and so much more. Thank you for supporting local and for supporting small businesses!
The Juried Arts & Crafts Show is open from 9 am to 5 pm on Saturdays and 9 am to 4 pm on Sundays during the festival.
There is a $5 admission charge for entrance to the school gyms and The Highland Center (Ages 12 and under are FREE!) $5 gets you a collectible keychain that also allows entrance to daytime entertainment at The Highland Center in Monterey. Keychains are available for purchase with cash at entry to school gyms and The Highland Center upper level.
Maple Sugar Tours - FREE!
Visit local maple sugar camps throughout Highland County as they welcome visitors to view the process of syrup-making. The region’s higher elevations contribute to late-winter and early-spring weather patterns of warm, sunny afternoons and crisp, freezing nights – a perfect combination for maple sugar production!
The process begins with tapping maple trees to collect the clear, almost tasteless, sugar water. Gathered in buckets or by plastic tubing, the sap is boiled in kettles, pans, or evaporators until a barrel is finally reduced to a gallon of pure maple syrup.
Highland County is home to the southernmost commercial maple syrup producing industry in the United States. Our unique climate and elevation makes Highland County the prime location for maple syrup production in Virginia. Families in this area have been producing maple syrup for hundreds of years with some families even continuing the tradition into the sixth and seventh generations. The Highland County Maple Festival is the second largest Maple Festival in the country and definitely the largest south of the Mason Dixon line! At the sugar camps, you'll not only discover pure maple syrup but you'll also find barrel-aged and infused syrups, hickory syrup, birch syrup, black walnut syrup, and certified-organic syrup. There's always something new to taste!
Pick up an official map or brochure of the Maple Festival (digital versions available to the right) at your first destination in the county, and watch for signs to point you in the right direction. Warm clothing and boots are advisable for visiting the maple sugar camps.
If you find yourself in Highland County outside of our “Maple Season,” which can run from mid January through the end of March, we hope you’ll still stop in at one of our camps to learn about Highland County's pure maple syrup!
Back Creek Farms
Sat: 9 am - 5 pm, Sun: 10 am - 4 pm
7781 Upper Back Creek Road, Monterey
540-499-2302
Back Creek Farms is a 5th generation maple syrup business which has maintained traditions but added a modern twist! Using both traditional and newer methods, they not only produce pure maple syrup, but they also create infusions and barrel-aged varieties. Tastings are always available. Enjoy watching sugar water flow through tubing and into buckets around the sugar house, browse their gift shop, and walk along beautiful Back Creek. Food and beverage vendors are available onsite with ample parking. Tour buses welcome. Wheelchair accessible.
Food: Food by Dean’s Den with vegetarian and meat sandwiches, breakfast stout made with Back Creek Farms syrup, beers on tap & cider by Palefire Brewing
Owners: Valerie & Pat Lowry
Duff’s Sugar House
Sat & Sun: 9 am - 5 pm
3118 Mill Gap Road, Monterey
540-468-3094
Located at Fair Lawn Farm southwest of Monterey (4 miles south on Rt. 220, then 3 miles west on Rt. 84), Duff’s Sugar House is a small, family-run old-time sugarhouse where the trees are still “opened” by hand and the sugar water collected in buckets. Cooking is done in a wood-fired open pan and finished in an iron kettle. Hands-on participation is encouraged. Enjoy hickory and dandelion syrups, as well as onsite milled cornmeal and grits from Crooked Spur Farm. Tour buses welcome. Wheelchair accessible.
Food: Crooked Spur Farm, hot sandwiches, soup, apple butter, smoked cheese
Owners: Tim & Terry Duff
Eagle's Sugar Camp
Sat & Sun: 8 am - 5 pm .
5503 Jack Mountain Road, Doe Hill
540-396-6126
Follow signs to Eagle's Sugar Camp, located north of McDowell (off Rt. 654 on Jack Mountain Road) in Doe Hill. Syrup producers for more than 221 years, the Eagles still use open-pan, wood-fired evaporators, as well as the latest advanced computerized oil-fired evaporators. Observe sugar water collected in buckets. Browse local arts & crafts, local honey, maple products, buckwheat, cornmeal, and baked goods. Enjoy home-cooked food, as well as maple-glazed doughnuts. Tour buses welcome. Wheelchair accessible. CASH/CHECK ONLY
Food: Home-cooked food, Maple-glazed Doughnuts
Owners: Jay & Betty Eagle
Laurel Fork Sapsuckers
Sat: 9 am - 5 pm, Sun: 9 am - 4 pm
10677 Mountain Turnpike, Hightown
540-290-1676
laurelforksapsuckers@yahoo.com
Located 10 miles west of Monterey on Rt. 250 off Clay Hise Lane, Laurel Fork Sapsuckers is a family-run sugar camp and Virginia's 2019 Tree Farm of the Year recipient. Enjoy a 3/4 mile loop trail with interpretative signs explaining maple syrup research projects and forest management practices used to increase syrup yields. View various wood-fired methods of evaporating sugar water into maple syrup, including traditional and modern. Food is available with vegetarian options, as well as maple syrup, infused syrups, maple vinegar, ramp salt, and apple butter. Free samples are available. Owners: Ronnie & Sandy Moyers. CASH/CHECK ONLY
Food: Maple BLT, vegetarian chili, pinto beans, cornbread, mac & cheese
Owners: Ronnie & Sandy Moyers
Mill Gap Farms
Sat: 9 am - 5 pm, Sun: 9 am - 3 pm
2760 Mill Gap Road, Monterey
540-468-2882
Located within sight of Duff's Sugar House, Mill Gap Farms is the first and only producer that is certified Organic by the USDA in Virginia. Anything but old fashioned, they utilize the latest technology from Vermont and Quebec, including electronic monitoring of their maple trees, to produce delicious maple syrup. At the family farm, you can visit Merino, Finn, and Suffolk sheep along with chickens, alpacas, cattle, ducks, and turkeys. Enjoy our fresh organic coffee, roasted here on our farm along with maple cotton candy and a beautiful view of the southern Blue Grass Valley. Tour buses welcome. Wheelchair accessible.
Food: Maple cotton candy, syrup tastings, freshly roasted coffee, soft drinks
Owners: Kevin & Emily Conner
Puffenbarger’s Sugar Orchard
Sat & Sun: 8 am - 5 pm
www.puffenbargersugarorchard.com
17 Maple Syrup Lane, Blue Grass
540-474-5712
On Rt. 637 {Maple Sugar Road) southwest of Blue Grass is Puffenbarger's Sugar Orchard. A vacuum pump is used to increase the flow of sugar water, and miles of plastic tubing make it easier to gather. The process of maple syrup-making is started by reverse osmosis and finished by oil-fired evaporators. Syrup and food available. Tour buses welcome. Wheelchair accessible.
Food: Maple syrup & sugar candy, maple fudge, hot dogs, BBQ
Owners: Doug & Terri Puffenbarger
Rexrode's Sugar Orchard
Sat: 9 am - 5 pm, Sun: 9 am - 4 pm
www.facebook.com/RexrodesSugarOrchard
1564 Maple Sugar Road, Monterey
540-468-2351
Located north of Hightown on Rt. 637 {Maple Sugar Road), Rexrode's Sugar Orchard features large maple trees over 200-years-old. The Rexrodes use the wood-fired "open pan" system of evaporation with miles of plastic tubing to gather the sugar water for their maple products. Tour buses welcome. Wheelchair accessible. CASH/CHECK ONLY
Food: Maple cotton candy and more
Owner: Derek Rexrode
Southernmost Maple
Sat: 8 am - 6 pm, *Closed Sundays.
7738 Big Valley Road, Bolar
540-468-2682
Located 15 miles south of Monterey on Rt. 607 (off Rt. 220 on Big Valley Road,) sugar water is gathered with hundreds of buckets and miles of plastic tubing that funnel the sugar water into a piggyback evaporator. A rustic country store carries maple products, flour, honey, jellies, and baked goods. Food includes maple pit-cooked BBQ, Maple Doughnuts, and pork skins. Enjoy breakfast with buckwheat cakes and pancakes, lunch, and dinner with inside seating, vendors and crafts, and bluegrass music at noon on Saturdays. Food options are available Fridays. There are indoor restrooms. Tour buses welcome. Wheelchair accessible.
Food: Maple pit-cooked BBQ, maple doughnuts, pork skins, breakfast, lunch, & dinner
Owners: Mike Puffenbarger & family
Sugar Tree Country Store & Sugar House
Sat: 9 am - 5 pm, *Closed Sundays
185 Mansion House Road, McDowell
540-396-3469
Located near the center of McDowell, this operation employs a modern reverse osmosis concentrator and oil-fired evaporator. View antique maple-producing tools on display. This country store features local gifts, maple products, apple butter, birch syrup, pottery, jams, cookbooks, old-fashioned homemade bar soap, handmade rugs, and much more. Tour buses welcome. Wheelchair accessible (Sugar house can be reached via wheelchair, but general store cannot).
Food: Brunswick stew, maple doughnuts, & more
Owners: Glenn & Fern Heatwole
Tonoloway Farm
Sat: 9 am - 5 pm, Sun: 9 am - 4 pm
9943 Highland Turnpike, McDowell
540-396-3328
Located on the steep slopes of Bullpasture Mountain, Tonoloway Farm is famous for tapping black walnut trees in addition to producing hickory syrup, apple cider syrup, and classic maple syrup for a diverse taste of our Appalachian forests. Tonoloway's unique new sugaring workshop is constructed of heavy timbers from the surrounding forests, and visitors are welcome to hike on the farm and enjoy panoramic mountain views over McDowell. Limited parking is available onsite, with plenty of additional parking along Rt. 250 for those ready to enjoy a short hike to the sugarhouse. Tour buses welcome (parking along Rt. 250 and short hike to camp). Wheelchair accessible (limited parking close to sugar camp to avoid short uphill hike).
Owners: Christoph & Lauren Herby
2024 Entertainment
Music
Unless noted below, performances held at the at The Highland Center at 61 Highland Center Drive in Monterey are sponsored by the Highland County Arts Council and The Highland County Chamber of Commerce. Daily 10 am and 2 pm shows are $5 at entry, which provides a collectible Maple Festival keychain that also gets you into the Arts & Crafts at the school gyms.
Saturday, March 16
Mudhole Control (Old Time) at 10 am
Square Dance featuring Mudhole Control and local callers Ellen and Eugene Ratcliffe at 2 pm
www.facebook.com/p/Mudhole-Control-100085097830122
The Highland Center Auditorium
61 Highland Center Drive, Monterey, VA 24465
10 am and 2 pm
Admission: $5 or Maple Festival Keychain
At 10 am, Mudhole Control will entertain visitors for some heel stomping fun! Mudhole Control is an Old Time Music Band made up of members from Greenbrier and Pocahontas Counties, WV. JR Loudermilk is well known for his work in old time and bluegrass music. He is a prominent figure within the music community and can be seen at many music festivals backing fiddle and banjo contestants with his talented guitar playing. He began playing with Mudhole Control while founding members of the band his dad Charlie Loudermilk and Junior Spencer were at the helm. The current band line-up includes his cousins Eric and Carl “Pudge” Spencer. Eric is well known for his lead and tenor singing and solid guitar work. Pudge Spencer will join JR and Eric with his great baritone voice, which has been a feature of Mudhole Control for years. Their family harmonies have entertained in West Virginia and the South for decades.
Jerry “Cannonball” Loudermilk, JR’s brother has played bass for Mudhole Control for decades. His rhythmic driving bass is the cornerstone of the bands toe tapping get you out of your seat and moving style. Newest members to join the band from Pocahontas County are Steven Casto on banjo and Benjamin Davis on fiddle. Both have won numerous awards at music festivals and are well respected by fellow musicians for their musical tenacity. They were mentored by Charlie Loudermilk and by Junior Spencer on their respective instruments before the senior members of the band handed over the reins to them.
Mudhole Control music takes us back to a simpler time and place with sounds tastefully fitting to score the past and present, and with substance that can grab not just the ear but the heart of any astute listener.
At 2 pm, watch or learn to square dance with the addition of experienced local callers Ellen and Eugene Ratcliffe. Don't be shy - join in!
Live bluegrass music also starts at noon on Maple Festival Saturdays at Southernmost Maple at 7738 Big Valley Road in Bolar.
Fees: Almost everything at the county-wide festival has free entry! There is a $5 admission charge for entrance to the arts & crafts in the school gyms and The Highland Center (Ages 12 and under are FREE!) $5 gets you a collectible keychain that also allows entrance to daytime entertainment at The Highland Center in Monterey. Keychains are available for purchase with cash at entry to school gyms and The Highland Center upper level.
Date: March 9 - 10 & 16 - 17, 2024
Hours: Saturdays 9 am - 5 pm and Sundays 9 am - 4 pm for the majority of the festival, including the Arts & Crafts/Food Vendors.
Get an early start, beginning at 7:00 am for all-you-can eat pancake and buckwheat cake meals at certain areas on Saturdays and Sundays.
Location: Various Venues in Monterey
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