What to bring mushroom foraging

What you bring depends on personal preference, length of trip, and local conditions. Two things are worth preparing for every time: finding your way, and the weather.

Letting someone know where you are going and when you expect to return is simple and can save your life.

Navigation

Foraging means wandering off trail with your eyes on the ground, so it is easy to lose track of where you are, and mobile service is often missing in the forest.

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• Phone, fully charged, plus a USB battery pack. Airplane mode saves battery when you are out of service. GPS can be spotty deep in trees, canyons, or river valleys.
• Maps downloaded before you lose service. Google Maps lets you download an area, but offline maps can expire, so update them before each trip. Maps.me has free road and trail maps you can download.
• Whistle, especially with a group that spreads out.
• Physical map and compass as a backup.

Weather

Mushroom foraging is often in cool, damp forests, and walking slowly while you look makes it harder to stay warm than when you are hiking. Dress for the forecast and be prepared for it to change.

• Rain gear. Even when it’s not raining, wet brush and low branches can soak your clothing.
• A warm layer of wool or synthetics. Cotton doesn’t keep you warm when it’s wet.
• A change of clothes in the car, in case you come back wet.

Permits and passes

You may need a parking pass, a foraging permit, or both, depending on where you go. Some national forests require a personal-use mushroom permit, and rules differ by forest and by amount collected, so check with the local ranger district before you go. Parking passes vary by agency:

• America the Beautiful – Annual pass for federal recreation lands, including national parks and national forests. Some national forest trailheads instead use a regional pass such as the Northwest Forest Pass
• Discover Pass – Annual vehicle pass for Washington State Parks and for recreation lands managed by Washington DNR and WDFW
• Oregon State Parks – 12 or 24-month parking permit

The rest of the kit

• Something for carrying mushrooms: a bag, basket, or an egg carton for small specimens
• Knife and a brush for cleaning mushrooms
• Food and water
• First-aid kit and any medications you need

Anything beyond that depends on the season, the place, and your own preferences. For a fuller checklist, see the Ten Essentials popularized by The Mountaineers.