Mushrooms are incredible. There are thousands of mushroom species, endless shapes, sizes, colors, names, tastes, and purposes – you name it. To eat, study, entertain, learn, and grow, mushroom foraging has gained popularity fast. Whether you’ve enjoyed eating mushrooms all your life or if you’ve recently discovered these diverse fungi, mushroom foraging might be your next natural step in expanding your mushroom experience!
Growing in nature all around us, mushroom foraging is much closer and easier than you may have thought. Wild mushrooms can be found on the forest floor or on trees; you may have seen them while on a hike or growing on your lawn or backyard.
Mushroom foraging opens up a world that you would never expect. For those who have taken up the habit of mushroom foraging, they will tell you it becomes part of your life quite quickly, and you will find yourself immersed in hunting and eating these delicious fungi regularly.
Why Forage for Mushrooms?
Some people take up mushroom foraging as a hobby, seeing it as an opportunity to connect with nature while at the same time collecting some tasty favorites to add to their own kitchen mushroom recipes. Other people go mushroom foraging out of necessity for their profession; restaurants and chefs will use mushroom foraging to help increase their locally sourced ingredients and expand on their own culinary skills and experience.
Edible mushrooms also boast many health and medical benefits, containing beneficial antioxidants and antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic, anticancer, antiallergic, antitumor, analgesic, cardioprotective, and cholesterol-lowering properties.
Mushrooms have been medicinal in many cultures for thousands of years, making mushroom foraging one of the oldest pastimes enjoyed generation after generation.
Important Disclaimer
Below we will give an overview of how to identify various types of mushrooms, and we will link to articles that provide deeper analysis. But the information we provide is only a starting point. NEVER consume any mushroom unless you are absolutely sure of its identity. Every year people die after consuming poisonous mushrooms. And with some species, just one mushroom is enough to kill you.
If you are new to mushroom foraging, be sure to run your finds by someone who is experienced in foraging for mushrooms. If you are in the US, Canada, or Mexico, the North America Mycological Association (NAMA) has clubs in many cities and towns, and it is likely that there is a club near you. Visit their website to learn more.
And always carry a good field guide when you are looking for mushrooms. We are currently recommending Mushrooming Without Fear: The Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms.
If you can find them, two excellent mushroom field guides are the Peterson Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America and the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. Both are out of print, but you may be able to find a used copy on Amazon.
Mushrooms of the Northeast: A Simple Guide to Common Mushrooms — we live in New England, and this is the guidebook that we use. Great pictures, and pocket-sized, so we can take it with us on walks.
The Complete Mushroom Hunter: Illustrated Guide to Foraging, Harvesting, and Enjoying Wild Mushrooms — This book is too heavy to bring out onto the field, so on its own is not a good mushroom guide. But what is great about this book (aside from the awesome photos) is its instructions on preparing and serving the wild mushrooms you find. It’s full of interesting facts and even has instructions on how to grow wild mushrooms.
Ensure you know how to identify common poisonous mushrooms in your area, such as destroying angels, to rule out the possibility of picking one by mistake.
While our articles provide a great overview, please don’t rely solely on the internet to identify a mushroom. This isn’t a subject on which to take shortcuts.
With all that said, here is how to get started.
Being Prepared is Key
Most of the time, when you are mushroom foraging, you will be in damp forest conditions. So, wearing appropriate clothing and footwear will help keep you comfortable. Being ready for a shift in the weather is also important, so taking a raincoat and other protective gear for rain and cold is a good idea. And, of course, mushrooms aren’t the only ones who enjoy damp, moist conditions, so don’t forget your bug spray!
Waterproof hiking shoes or boots, long sleeve shirts, and long pants will be helpful, especially if you are mushroom foraging shortly after a rainfall – which is a great time to forage. Bright clothing will help you stay visible to not only your own group if you are making it a team effort with a few other mushroom enthusiasts. It will also help to keep you visible to hunters.
Ensure you are prepared with food and water, especially when you are out for a full day of mushroom foraging. Nuts and seeds, granola bars, and compact fruit greatly boost energy. Best of all, these snacks are small and easy not only to pack but carry as well.
Eating your mushrooms while you are out there foraging is never recommended. There are so many mushrooms with poisonous look-alikes that cross-referencing your mushrooms with your trusty field guide and close inspection when you get home with your harvest is the safest way.
Get your Gear
Ensure you have the proper equipment when you go out mushroom hunting. In addition to your field guide, you will want to bring along a couple of baskets or breathable bags (like a mesh produce or laundry bag). You can use these to separate the mushrooms you harvest as you go along; one basket for the mushrooms you know for sure their species, and the other basket for the mushrooms you are unsure of, and that will need to be further inspected after your haul is complete.
A pocket knife is also a necessary tool when harvesting your mushrooms. Using a pocketknife instead of just pulling the mushrooms from the ground helps ensure there is still a piece of the mushroom left in the ground (or tree – wherever it was growing from) so that it can continue regenerating.
If you use this sustainable method to harvest your mushrooms, you will be able to find more mushrooms in that same spot year after year.
A topographic map can help make sure you are mushroom foraging at the right elevations that host the best conditions for mushrooms, such as temperature and humidity. A trail map of your area and a compass are also helpful to keep you on track, especially if you struggle with direction.
Mushroom Apps on Your Phone
Having a mushroom app on your phone is useful for identifying your mushrooms, but it is only a first pass. Don’t eat a mushroom based on what your app tells you. Make sure you confirm the mushroom’s identity with your field guide and an experienced forager.
Also, you may not have cell service while out in the forest.
Cleaning Your Mushrooms
You can also use your pocketknife to clean the mushroom stems after you have cut the mushrooms free, as you may want to cut the stems and check for worms. A small bristle brush, like a paintbrush or a toothbrush with soft bristles, helps clean off the tops and any of the mushroom’s ridges, pores, or gills.
Bring a small towel or cloth to clean your mushrooms so you don’t bring home more earth than fungi. This will also help identify the mushroom while getting an up-close, detailed look at your find.
Don’t Get Discouraged
Much like hunting any other animal or food, mushroom foraging will yield varying results. Some days you will have baskets filled to the top. On other days you may only stumble upon toxic look-alikes. Pack your patience and lay out a strategy before you go.
Mushrooms need particular environments and conditions to grow and flourish, typically damp, moist, and humid areas. Mushrooms like temperatures between 15°C and 23°C, making spring and fall the best seasons for mushroom foraging.
Some Quick Tips on Favorable Locales
Forests and heavily wooded areas are great spots, especially for beginners, to go mushroom foraging; the ground of pine forests and the fallen trees within hold a lot of moisture, and mushrooms love to grow in the damp soil and on decaying elements around them, like rotting out stumps and logs.
That being said, mushrooms don’t just grow on dying trees. Mushrooms will grow on trees that are still living as well. Some trees can be found with mushrooms growing from top to bottom.
Rivers, streams, and marshy and swampy areas are often considered goldmines for mushroom foraging. The environments there are heavily saturated, and the deep, damp soil is a perfect breeding ground for mushrooms.
Since summer is typically a dryer season, mushroom foragers tend to take a break. But even in the summer, mushroom foraging a few days after heavy rain will most often lead to a successful harvest.
Perhaps take that time to research possible areas around you to go mushroom foraging; that way, when the foraging season does begin, you will be ready with a plan to get the most out of your mushroom foraging adventures!
Common Mushroom Species to Find
You will come across various mushroom species when mushroom foraging, but picking useful ones rather than inedible or toxic ones is your main goal.
Remember that out of the thousands and thousands of fungi species, only 15 to 30 produce edible fleshy mushrooms.
Here are some of the most popular mushrooms foragers hunt for.
Puffball and Earthstar Mushroom
These round, white mushrooms have a spongy-like texture and resemble cotton or puffballs – making these fungi incredibly easy to identify in the wild. Growing small to up to a foot, puffballs and giant puffballs range in size and look almost like they don’t have stems, and they have no visible gills either.
Puffballs have a poisonous look-alike, the immature amanita mushroom. You DO NOT want to eat an amanita mushroom, as some types of amanita are toxic to the point that a couple of bites can kill you. So, make sure to cut open your puffball to make sure it isn’t a young amanita in disguise! A puffball will be solid, whereas an amanita mushroom will have a developing stem and a cap.
Other varieties of puffball mushrooms include the gem-studded puffball and the purple-spored puffball.
Earthstar mushrooms are similar to puffballs in shape when they are young, but as they mature, earthstar mushrooms grow into a saucer-like shape, with four or more spores splitting from the top and curving back, taking on the shape of a star.
For more information on foraging for puffballs, read our article: Giant Puffball Mushrooms: From Folk Medicine to the Dinner Table.
Chanterelle Mushrooms – A Beginners Dream
Chanterelles are at the top of the popularity list for mushroom foragers and are perfect for beginners. They come in a range of pale oranges, yellows, and bright golds, making this mushroom easy to spot and identify, specifically against its poisonous look-a-like, the jack-o-lantern mushroom, a poisonous orange gilled mushroom that contains toxic chemicals that can cause severe upset stomach, including vomiting, diarrhea, and headache. (Another reason to follow the DON’T EAT IT rule!)
These tasty ‘shrooms can be found hiding underneath oak trees and often will be growing in a bunch with more than one; however, they will grow on the ground, not on fallen wood, like its dangerous look-alike: the jack-o-lantern mushroom.
For more details on foraging for chanterelles, see our article Chanterelle Identification: How to Forage for Chanterelles.
If you are lucky enough to find some chanterelles, take a look at our article, 8 Chanterelle Mushroom Recipes for Any Home Cook, for some cooking ideas.
Oyster Mushrooms – The Pearl of the Forest
Beginning mushroom foragers have found great success with Oyster mushrooms. These mushrooms often grow in clumps, vertically, on both living and rotting trees and logs. They vary in color, ranging from white to pale brown and even light pink.
Oyster mushrooms have pure white gills that are short and just off-center of the stem. They also have a long growing season, so you can forage for oyster mushrooms almost all year round. With a light taste and smooth texture, oyster mushrooms are one of the most popularly sought-after fungi for culinary use.
Oyster mushrooms are also very easy to grow. In fact, you can buy a kit, put it in a damp place like a bathroom or a basement, and add some water. Two or three weeks later, you’ll have delicious, fresh mushrooms. For more information, see our article How to Grow Oyster Mushrooms.
Chicken of the Woods – Tastes Like Chicken!
These mushrooms are known for their meaty substance and taste, resembling chicken, which is how they earned their suitable name. Chicken of the woods, sometimes called “sulfur shelf” mushrooms, grow on trees stacked tightly in layers. They are a bright orange-red color and do not have any gills. When you come across these mushrooms, chances are you will be able to fill your basket to the top, as these mushrooms often grow in groups.
Beware of the look-a-like jack-o-lantern mushroom. While not considered deadly, jack-o-lanterns can leave you with a severe case of gastric distress.
Read our article Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms — the Complete Guide for more information about these delicious mushrooms and how to find them.
When you find some, take a look at our article Five Great Chicken of the Woods Recipe Ideas for information on how to cook them.
Maitake or Hen of the Woods Mushroom
Originating in China and translating to ‘the dancing mushroom’ in Japanese, the Maitake mushroom is one of the best edible mushrooms you can find. Not only for its texture and flavor, it is also said to boast medicinal properties. Maitake mushrooms grow on or around the base of trees and continue to grow in the same spot repeatedly. You can recognize Maitake mushrooms by their large size, overlapping, lacy fronds, and brownish-black color.
For more information on how to find Hen of the Woods, see our article Hunting and Cooking Hen of the Woods Mushrooms.
Also, our article Maitake (Hen of the Woods) Recipes – 5 Ways to Cook Them.
Lobster Mushroom – The Shapeshifting Imposter
Despite its name, the Lobster Mushroom isn’t even a mushroom. These “mushrooms” are parasitic fungi that instead prey on other mushrooms until they completely cover that specific mushroom. As it preys on various mushrooms, the Lobster Mushroom fungus can be difficult to truly identify. But don’t fear; the giveaway will be its bright red coloring outside and white inside – resembling a cooked lobster.
Read our Complete Guide to the Lobster Mushroom for more information about these amazing mushrooms.
And for some recipe ideas, see Delicious Lobster Mushroom Recipes that You Can’t Miss.
Porcini Mushrooms – Diamond in the Rough
Porcini mushrooms are easily recognized by their deep brown and reddish cap and thick, spongy stem. With a rich, earthy taste, porcini mushrooms are another highly sought-after fungi by chefs and kitchen enthusiasts alike. Porcini mushroom foraging is done in hardwood forests, and they can be found growing on the forest floor. Porcini mushrooms are popular to forage but also incredibly difficult to find. This makes them expensive to purchase in stores. So it is all the more rewarding when you find them while mushroom foraging!
We will post an article on foraging for porcini soon. In the meantime, here are some recipe ideas if you are lucky enough to find some: Porcini Mushroom Recipes – 5 Great Ways to Cook Them.
Lion’s Mane or Bearded Tooth Mushroom
The Lion’s Mane mushroom – the mushroom King of the Forest – lacks both caps and stems; in fact, they hardly resemble a mushroom at all. Boasting cascading tooth-like spikes that hang on hardwood trees, fallen trees, and old stumps.
With these long, shaggy, and fuzzy wisps resembling more like a lion’s mane than a mushroom, there are no look-a-likes for these fungi, poisonous or other. The Lion’s Mane mushroom is completely edible and quite tasty – almost resembling crab or lobster in taste. It is known to have medicinal properties as well.
Lion’s mane mushrooms are said to have beneficial health effects. Read more in our article Mushrooms That Will Boost Your Brain.
And when you find some pheasant back mushrooms, see our article Eight Healthy and Delicious Lion’s Mane Recipes.
The Hedgehog or Sweet Tooth Mushroom
The hedgehog or sweet tooth mushrooms are similar to the chanterelle mushroom and share a similar aroma. You can find them from mid-summer onwards to late fall. Unlike other fungi, we humans enjoy hedgehog mushrooms, but bugs and other insects do not.
These irregular-shaped mushrooms have caps ranging from 2 – 8 inches wide. The tops are flat and somewhat sunken. Their color ranges from cream to orange-brown and white. These short, thick-stemmed ‘shrooms are found around birch, beech, and other hardwoods and can be harvested from mid-August until November.
For more information on foraging for hedgehog mushrooms, see our article Hedgehog Mushrooms; Easy to Find and Delicious.
And for some hedgehog mushroom recipes, see our article Hedgehog Mushroom Recipes – How to Use Them?
The Pheasant Back or Dryad’s Saddle Mushroom
These flat, broad, kidney or heart-shaped mushrooms are another meaty mushroom found in the wild, full-flavored, and entirely edible. Pheasant back mushrooms are typically found growing on elm and deadwood. The markings on these fungi resemble those found on a pheasant’s feathered back. Pheasant Back mushrooms can grow on logs and trees on their own or stacked among each other. They grow during the spring and even into the summer in some areas.
For more information on Pheasant Back mushrooms, see our article Foraging for Pheasant Back Mushrooms: 5 Pro Tips.
And for some recipe ideas, see our article Must-Try Pheasant Back Mushroom Recipes.
Wrapping It Up
It’s easy to become excited when mushroom foraging, but taking only what you need is important. The strength of forests and the ecosystems within relies on their own biodiversity. Taking only what you need helps keep the ecosystem resilient; the more varieties of mushrooms you find, the more resilient the ecosystem is.
It is also very important to know your mushrooms. But once you have learned, you will never forget. And you will have gained a skill that will bring you many delicious meals. Whether you are mushroom foraging for the first time or have become a full-fledged forager, your options are endless when you are mushroom foraging.
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