A Morel Superpost (members)

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Morel Season

Morels are a spring mushroom but spring can be loosely defined and it depends largely on where you’re looking. This post is written from a PNW perspective.

Here are some of the ways one might estimate the right timing for morels

Seasonality in your area

Searching for “Morchella” or “morels” on iNaturalist then clicking “About” will bring you to this page. From here, enter a location like “Washington”, “Oregon”, or another region of your choice. Now you should see a graph that shows the seasonality of morels in this area.

In Washington state, the season typically lasts from Mar-Jun

Soil Temperature

Many suggest that morels rarely fruit before the soil temp in above 50F. Of course, it is difficult to judge soil temperature in the mountains from your home, you might try checking the soil temperature in your yard to give you a sense for how quickly it’s warming up in the spring. If you really want to nerd it up, you might keep a journal of local soil temp and correlate that with your success in the mountains to better plan in future years.

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Snowmelt and Elevation

Morels can fruit near the snow line but I have never found them in snow. Once things really begin warming in the spring you can start searching at higher elevations but you will have better luck staying below the snow line. Snowmelt can be a useful source of moisture for morels however if you are consistently around the snow line it is likely that the soil is still too cold for morels.

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Follow the Crowd

I love posting my mushroom finds and I’m not alone. Simply follow groups on social or wait for your more eager friends to begin sharing their morel finds. You can also use iNaturalist to get an idea when people in your area are starting to find them. If you can’t get out regularly to check conditions, you can save yourself a lot of unproductive trips by waiting for the community to confirm when conditions are optimal.

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Take your safety seriously. You should have multiple ways of keeping track of your location while foraging mushrooms. It is easy to get turned around while staring at the ground away from a road or trail. Most critical is knowing how to use your phone for navigation.

• Have a full charge
• Save battery life with low-power mode
• Understand gps controls
• Never put your phone on the ground (learned from experience)

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Indicator Species

You might be able to use other organisms as an indicator for suitable morel habitat. Here are some things I have heard, read, or observed that you might pay attention to and form your own theory or skepticism

• Trillium flowering
• The smell of cottonwoods blossoming
• Insects buzzing
• Salmonberry blossoms

Of course, any other fungal activity is also a helpful sign that temperature and soil moisture is favorable. Here is one that I commonly find while searching burn morel sites.

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Morel Habitat

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Morels fruit in a number of habitats in our region and that changes as the season progresses; most notably at increasing elevation as the temperature increases. Most of our mushrooms have the greatest fruiting in a narrow temperature range and they need moisture as well. Morels catch those optimal conditions in the spring while most of our other mushrooms catch it in the fall.

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The first morels of the year begin showing up in low elevation urban areas. The most commonly found mushroom by the iNaturalist community is Morchella importuna, the wood chip or landscape morel. These morels show up most often in wood chips spread the previous year. I always have my eyes on the ground looking for mushrooms but starting in March, I begin eyeing wood chips on my walks around the neighborhood.

You are unlikely to find them in great quantity but this is among the first signs of the coming spring season so it’s exciting nonetheless.

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River Bottoms

Another low-elevation morel habitat are the river bottoms where you will find Verpa bohemica, Morchella populiphila, and Morchella americana (and maybe others like Morchella prava which is still unfamiliar to me). I search out cottonwoods along river bottoms. As of this writing in May 2021, I have only found verpas but this was also my first year looking in this habitat.

While you’re here, you might also check out any downed or upright and dead alders for young oysters. I would guess that the morels would precede oysters but it’s good to get in the habit of noticing dead deciduous trees for oyster potential.

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The Burns

The most reliable morel habitat is one year old burns. There are a number of resources online for finding these. I use GaiaGPS with an overlay of past burns. Timing is still critical so pay attention to temperature, and recent precipitation. Safety is also a concern in these areas which often results in closures by the National Forest Service. You can save yourself loads of time by checking with the forest service before heading to these burn areas. Also nearly every national forest requires permits for removing mushrooms or other forest products from the forest. Many people disregard this requirement but it can be very simple and save you some hassle if you encounter a ranger while carrying your haul.

Soil moisture is extremely important. If the ground is super dry, you are probably in the wrong area. Burns where the canopy was completely torched will likely warm up before areas where the canopy is still intact. I noticed a significant difference in soil moisture in exposed areas compared to covered. That isn’t to say that these spots will not produce, but they could dry out much faster than the protected spots.

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Naturals

Naturals are known as such because they grow naturally in a mutualistic partnership with certain trees without the need for a burn, logging, or other major disturbance to prompt their fruiting. One finds these morels in intact forests. There are morels that associate with both conifer and hardwoods. Once you find a spot, you can typically return there in future years as well.

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Permits and Restrictions

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Other Tips

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Microclimates

Many mushrooms prefer pretty specific conditions to fruit. The soil temperature and moisture can vary significantly due to the aspect of the slope (which way it’s facing), small creeks as little as a trickle, and little pockets protected by shadows. Find southern facing slopes in the early season and check the north-facing slopes later. Wood sorrel can be a good indicator of soil moisture. You can also use topo maps like GaiaGPS and onX to find nearby streams which could be good options during dry periods.

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It is important to understand what areas are legal for foraging, and what permits might be required for the area. A good first step is to look for “forest product permits” for the forest you plan to visit. Most national forest areas have special permits for harvesting forest products like berries, mushrooms, wood, or plants. The forest service site is also a valuable resource for road closures, and other important information. It is well worth your time to begin familiarizing yourself with how to navigate the National Forest Service (NFS) website. You can also pick up the phone and call the ranger district directly. Your safety is important to the rangers and I have found phone calls to be a great way to get the most up-to-date information.

National parks, wilderness areas, municipal watersheds, state parks, and city parks all have their own restrictions. In general, I avoid bushwhacking in heavily traveled forests, especially in city parks. These areas are sensitive and if you are in a heavily populated area you and hundreds of others foraging for mushrooms off trail can significantly impact the soil where these mushrooms often live.

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