Northern California Mushroom Calendar
Northern California's mushroom year is one long wet-season window. From Monterey to the Oregon line, the first soaking storms of October or November wake the forest, December and January are the peak, and the flush tapers through February and March as the rains thin out. In the observation record from these 15 towns, more mushrooms are reported in December and January than in the other ten months combined.
Chanterelles, hedgehogs, black trumpets, and candy caps carry that winter season through the redwood, tanoak, and oak country of the Bay Area, Santa Cruz, and the coast north to Humboldt and Del Norte; king boletes come earliest, often with the first storms. Timing follows the rain more than the calendar — a dry spell pauses the season and the next storm restarts it. Inland and uphill, around Mount Shasta, Nevada City, and Truckee, the year splits in two instead: a spring morel season after snowmelt, strongest in forest that burned the previous summer, then a fall bolete and chanterelle window before the snow returns.
Towns
15
Best months
January, November, and December
Species tracked
15
The Shape of the Northern California Season
All species and all 15 towns combined — local observations by month.
What Fruits When in Northern California
JFMAMJJASONDMorelKing BoleteMatsutakeChanterelleHedgehogOysterLobsterLion's Mane / Bear's HeadBlewitThe PrinceShaggy ManeBlack TrumpetCandy CapChicken of the WoodsYellowfoot
Shading shows when each species typically fruits within about 10 miles, not abundance. Based on iNaturalist observation trends.
Northern California City Calendars
- Arcata Mushroom Calendar
- Crescent City Mushroom Calendar
- Fort Bragg Mushroom Calendar
- Guerneville Mushroom Calendar
- Half Moon Bay Mushroom Calendar
- Mill Valley Mushroom Calendar
- Monterey Mushroom Calendar
- Mount Shasta Mushroom Calendar
- Nevada City Mushroom Calendar
- Oakland Mushroom Calendar
- Point Reyes Station Mushroom Calendar
- San Francisco Mushroom Calendar
- Santa Cruz Mushroom Calendar
- Santa Rosa Mushroom Calendar
- Truckee Mushroom Calendar
Track the Season as It Happens
These calendars show typical timing. A free Salish Mushrooms account adds live environmental layers to the Forayz map — soil moisture, soil temperature, snow cover, and recent precipitation, updated daily — so you can see which storms actually soaked the woods.
Common Questions
When is mushroom season in Northern California?
On the coast and around the Bay Area, the season opens with the first soaking storms in October or November, peaks in December and January, and tapers through February and March. In the mountains — Mount Shasta, the Sierra foothills, Truckee — it splits into a spring window after snowmelt and a fall window before the snow returns.
Which mushrooms fruit in winter in California?
Chanterelles, hedgehogs, black trumpets, and candy caps are the classic winter mushrooms of the redwood and oak forests from Santa Cruz north to Del Norte County. King boletes fruit earliest, with the first storms; in the observation record, chanterelle and hedgehog reports peak in January. Timing follows the rain, so a dry spell pauses the season and the next storm restarts it.
When do morels fruit in California?
Around the Bay Area and along the coast, morel reports peak in March and April, mostly in landscaped and disturbed ground. In the mountains the season runs April into June as the snow melts, and the biggest flushes come in forest that burned the previous summer.
For live conditions on an interactive map — recent rain, soil moisture and temperature, recent burns, public land boundaries, and forest types — explore the Forayz map.