Wild Mushroom Forays

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• Wild Mushroom Foray at Salt Point with Gregg Miller

  • Start
    Sat, November 04, 2023
  •  
    10:00 AM
  • End
    Sat, February 03, 2024
  •  
    1:00 PM
  • Location
    Salt Point State Park - Woodside Campground, 25050 CA-1, Jenner, CA 95450

  Register

  Salt Point Wild Mushroom Foray  

  Join our guided foray to learn where and when to look for wild mushrooms at Salt Point State Park.   

  Your foray leader Gregg Miller will meet everyone at the Woodside Campgrounds Day Use Area, and will guide the group to various locations within the park to find and identify wild mushrooms, as well as plants, trees, and other ecological features of the park.

  What you will learn:

  • Habitats and timeframes for finding wild mushrooms
  • Indicator plants and tree species that accompany wild mushrooms
  • Mushroom family groups, and some important look-alike's 
  • Proper cooking instructions (Don't eat raw mushrooms!)
  • Storage and dehydration tips
  • Wild Mushroom collecting regulations and limits, and protected areas in the park
    
    

  Starting Point:

  We start at the Salt Point State Park Woodside Campground at 10:00am.  From there, the foray leader may want to drive to a different area of the park (in your own cars).  Be prepared for moderate hiking, cool weather, and possible rain.   Salt Point state park has a Day Use Fee of $8.00 per vehicle, which allows you to visit any park for the rest of the day.  

  This guided hike will take approximately 3 hours, and you may want to bring a light lunch or snack for the trails.  Your foray leader has many years of mushroom hunting experience, and will teach you the basics and try to answer everyone's questions.  There are thousands of species of fungi in the park, so plenty to talk about.  There are many choice edible species, as well as look-alikes, and of course many that should be left alone.

  There are many new phone apps and online resources for mushroom identification, as well as updated books and guides.  We'll cover those during the foray.  Mushroom Identification can take years to learn, and many mushrooms look similar.  You will learn about families of mushrooms, and most folks do best learning to positively identify one or two mushroom species per foray.  There's always something new to learn every time you take a walk in the woods!

  We also highly recommend downloading a GPS app on your phone like GAIA or AllTrails to track your location in the forest, so you don't get lost or turned around. 

  The iNaturalist app can help you record and identify mushrooms, plants, birds, insects, or any living thing you may find.

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• Wild Mushroom Foray at Pt. Reyes with Ken Buegeleisen

  • Start
    Sat, November 25, 2023
  •  
    10:00 AM
  • End
    Sat, February 10, 2024
  •  
    1:00 PM
  • Location
    1 Bear Valley Visitor Center Access Road, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
  • Registered
    18 registrants

  Register

  Point Reyes National Park
  wild mushroom foray 

  Join our guided foray to learn where and when to look for wild mushrooms at Point Reyes National Seashore.  Your foray leader Ken Buegeleisen will meet everyone at the Bear Valley visitor center at 10am, and will guide the group to various locations within the park to find and identify wild mushrooms, and other ecological features of the park.

  What you will learn:

  • Habitats and timeframes for finding wild mushrooms (mushrooms need rain!)
  • Indicator trees and plants that accompany wild mushrooms
  • Mushroom family groups, and some important look-alike's 
  • Proper cooking instructions (Don't eat raw mushrooms!)
  • Storage and dehydration tips
  • Wild Mushroom collecting regulations and limits, and protected areas in the park

  We start at the Bear Valley Visitor Center at 10:00am.  From there, your foray leader will lead the group (in your own cars) to various locations in the park.  We try take you to trails with relatively easy hiking, but be prepared for variable weather, and possible rain.  

  Mother Nature will decide if we find any choice edible mushrooms, but the winter rains bring lots of mushrooms in general, so plenty to talk about.  Maybe you'll be lucky and find a prize chanterelle or porcini!  We can discuss mushroom family groups, learn how to handle poisonous mushrooms, and demonstrate recommended resources for mushroom identification. 
  
  We usually go to 2 or 3 spots in the park, and walk for an hour at each spot.  Bring a lunch for the trail, or snacks, and water.  Good hiking shoes or boots are best, sometimes the trails are slippery.  

  We also highly recommend downloading a GPS app on your phone like GAIA or AllTrails to track your walk in the forest, so you don't get lost or turned around. 

  The iNaturalist app can help you record and identify mushrooms and plants you may find.

  I also recommend the book Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast for identification of mushrooms on the West Coast

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• Max Hunter - Commercial Mushroom Collection Forays

  • Start
    Sat, December 02, 2023
  •  
    10:00 AM
  • End
    Mon, July 15, 2024
  •  
    2:00 PM

  Register

  Forays with Max Hunter  

  Max is a commercial mushroom picker and travels all over Northern California and Oregon.  Max goes wherever the mushrooms are!
  
  You can join Max for a day, wherever he will be.  Max will take out a small group on Saturdays during the mushroom season.   

  Where is Max now? 
  

  • October 28 and Nov 3:  Max is in Prospect Oregon picking Chanterelles and Matsutake.  This may end early if it snows.
  • Nov 11 - Nov 25: Max is in Del Norte County, and Humboldt County, looking for Chanterelles.
  • Dec 2 - Dec 16, and on:  Max is in Mendocino County, looking for Hedgeghogs and Yellowfoot.

  
  

  Check his Facebook Page for recent updates

  Max only goes where he thinks you'll be able to fill your bucket with choice commercial-quality mushrooms.  Usually Max is collecting Chanterelles, Porcini, and Matsutaki during the Fall.  For the Winter months, its usually Candy Caps, Hedgehogs, Yellowfoot, and Black Trumpets.  And Morels in the Spring.  He is available for private groups, send an email to Ken@WalkintheWoods to schedule a private group. 

  What you will learn:

  • Habitats and timeframes for finding choice commercial edible mushrooms (sometimes includes berries and plants too)
  • Specific indicator plants/trees for each species of wild mushrooms
  • Identifying look-alike's, and other hazards (like poison oak).
  • Storage and dehydration tips
  • Wild Mushroom collecting regulations and limits

  Please be prepared travel to wherever Max will be (maybe a fairly long drive) and moderate hiking.  Prior foraging or mushroom hunting experience will help, but beginners are welcome!

  We also highly recommend downloading a GPS app on your phone like GAIA or AllTrails to track your location in the forest, so you don't get lost or turned around.  Other useful apps like iNaturalist can help you identify mushrooms and plants.

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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