Morels World

Spring is the season for hunting morels.  Of course, spring is relative depending on where you live.  In the U.S., morel mushroom season begins first in California and the Pacific Northwest, then southern states, then concentrates roughly in the Midwest, stretching to a few eastern states.This is based on 2004 maps from Michael’s web site that reflect morel discussion board postings.  Based on the 2004 maps, morels sprout from January to early June, with March 23 to May 3 being the most dense.

Here’s a map of April 20 to 27, 2004, which was the most dense week for that year: 
Kuo, M., Zordani, R. & Bartlett, R. (2004).
Reported morel distribution & progress, 2004. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/morels/maps/progress_maps.html

 Please note, however, that Michael’s maps are based only on postings to his morel discussion board and four other discussion boards:  morelmushroomhunting.com, morelmania.com, michiganmorels.com and morels.com.  The maps are not intended to be scientific; in other words, they’re based on info provided by individuals who hunt morels and chat on Internet discussion boards! There are likely hoards of mushroom hunters who have never been on the Internet.  Take Fred Baker of southern Indiana, for example; he’s been hunting mushrooms for more than 55 years and has never logged on to the Internet–and has no intention of ever doing so! 

In Canada, morel season usually starts in May, and can extend to July, as the snows recede slowly in different regions. In southern Ontario and Quebec (the Lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Valley), Maritimes and southern Manitoba, morels have been found from May 4 to June 6. In the nothern coniferous forests, May 28 to July 8. Western mountainous regions, April 24 to July 5; and along the coast of British Columbia, April 18 to July 15, although morels have been found along the west coast of Canada as early as February. Further north, in the Northwest Territories and Alaska, morel season runs June 1st to July 30th, peaking at the end of June.

Generally speaking, the best time to begin looking for morels is when daytime highs in your area have been in the 60’s, with nighttime lows no colder than the 40’s. Rain is important, too.  Mushrooms like it warm and moist–but not soggy.  Morels grow where soil is moist yet well-drained–not oversaturated. If you have a dry spring, the crop will be sparse.  If you have ample rain–but not an unusually wet spring–the crop will be plentiful.  As Larry notes ( in Morels: True or False, pg 31), “Extended rains. . .frosts and freezes, droughts and heat waves all can have adverse effects.  And remember, those effects are felt years down the road.” (Remember, it takes morels five years to grow.)  Many mushroom hunters know to head out after receiving warmer rains.

As Fred says, “Warmth and moisture are the secrets for a good year.”  He says morels need moisture, warm days and “warm nights, especially.”  He adds, “If it’d get up to 80 and come a rain, they’d pop up in the concrete!”  Spring 2004 was warm and moist, and Fred and his wife Tona found 440 morels that year. 

At the time of this writing (Spring 2005), it’s been unusually warm in northwest lower Michigan for late March and early April, with highs from the 50’s to 70’s and lows in the 40’s.  In an interview with Carl Robinson, 85, the Mushroom King of Mesick, Michigan–the Mushroom Capitol of the World–he reports that he’s going out mushroom hunting in a couple of days.  “I don’t want anybody to see me!” he says.  That might be tricky, as his Bronco sports a red and white magnetic sign in spring that reads:  “C.G. Robinson, the Mushroom King.”  Carl says, “Sk88 [his word for ‘scads of’] people want me to take ‘em out in the woods and show them where they’re at!” 

When asked whether he pays attention to the weather or to what plants are blooming to know when to go morel hunting, Carl simply points to his head.  “It tells me when to go,” he says.  (So that’s how he got to be Mushroom King!  The morels communicate with him through telepathy!)

SUMMARY: Morel hunting time begins around the average date of last killing frosts in your area and can be dependent on the temperature and moisture. Moisture, warm days and warm nights, the first blooming of wildflowers, can signal that it’s time for the first morels to appear.