Available E-Books
Pacific Northwest Burn Site Morels
(23 page PDF download + Digital Map Access)
Every spring under the right conditions, thousands of morel mushrooms carpet charred forest floors in the Pacific Northwest. With the proper information you can become a pro at finding them!
The right burns are very hard to locate. Yet it’s imperative to know where to go before you leave for the hunt. Each year we spend many hours compiling and studying map data weeks before we head West. This e-book will teach you how to use Google Maps and US Department of Interior burn data to locate and map ideal morel burn sites. We’ll also discuss elevation, forest types, accessibility, necessary permits, lands where you can and cannot hunt, natural indicators, portable technology and much more.
2018 Update
We are including:
- Curated 2018 Oregon Morel Fire Map – We have sorted through the fires, removing many poor choices and also fires in Wilderness areas that are inaccessible (and unlawful) for picking. We also picked out about 20 of our favorite fires and provided details on 10 of our most favorite fires.
- Curated 2018 Washington Morel Fire Map – 15 forest fires from the 2017 fire season that are worth checking out in 2018
- 2018 Idaho Forest Fire Map – An sorted map that shows the top 2017 fires
- 2018 Northern California Forest Fire Map – A sorted map that shows 25 of the best fires in Cali.
- Coming Soon: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah.
Colorado Mushroom Hunting
Colorado is a mecca for choice, edible mushrooms – chanterelles and porcinis grow above 10,000ft and abound in season. Savvy hunters will also find spring morels if moisture levels are better than average. One of the best things about edible mushrooms in Colorado though is the plethora of other delicious varieties! Often Colorado fungi like the same habitat so it’s typical for an experienced hunter to add several different varieties to his or her basket. It takes patience, research, practice and time to learn the art of the trade. A successful hunter will know where to look before their boots meet the forest.
In this e-book, you’ll learn to study Colorado mushroom habitat using elevation, forest types, seasonality, natural indicators, weather patterns and more. We’ll teach you to use Google Maps to effectively locate the right kind of accessible terrain every time. This is not a book about mushroom identification, but we will show you how to effectively locate different varieties of choice edibles. There are some great field guides listed in our resource section – identification will be up to you.
Let our years of experience guide you into the right terrain every time! Set yourself up for success.
Keys to Success
2016 Burn Morels, 3-hours, DAY 1
Learning to hunt for edible foods is not as difficult as you might think. Research and education are the keys to success. Certain wild edibles such as mushrooms are dangerous and should never to be taken lightly. However, arming yourself with the right knowledge and tools can turn anyone who is willing to learn into a successful and safe hunter.
With any edible wild, seasonality is your first research task. Asparagus, morel mushrooms and fiddle head ferns are spring time fellows while porcinis (these do also fruit in spring on the west coast), chanterelles and many other mushrooms begin late summer and continue into early fall. The next two factors are often elevation and climate. The mushroom you seek often will only be found at a certain elevation with a range of +/- 200ft. And if you are in a dry season with little rainfall, you may not find them at all. Finally environment plays a very large role. Many mushrooms are mycorrhizal, this means they have a symbiotic relationship with a plant, often a certain type of tree. For example, porcinis in Colorado grow in and around spruce and fir trees, morels in Michigan prefer the dying Ash tree population and morels on the West coast love the grand fir.
TIP: While the internet is invaluable, mushroom hunters should find a field guide covering the region of interest. A good mushroom book can save you many hours of research.
If you are looking for mushrooms – before you ever leave your house, you should be able to answer –
- Is this the right season?
- Has the weather been favorable in the last month – early winter or late winter this year, enough rain, temperate?
- Is the necessary elevation easily accessible – can you drive most of the way?
- What kind of forest and terrain am I looking for – where will I find the right kinds of trees? What are the right kind of trees?
If you set out without knowing these things, you will likely just have a very nice hike. We often spend hours researching terrain using Google maps – you can clearly see elevation lines and satellite imagery even provides a view of the trees. Doing your map research upfront will not only save you time, but will also help ensure you start your hunt in the right place.