There’s something primal and deeply satisfying about gathering and harvesting wild foods. But with the exception of morel mushrooms, we’ve never been brave enough to venture into the world of mushroom hunting. When we discovered a mushroom identification class offered at Fort Stevens State Park in Astoria during our stay there, we signed right up.
Mushroom Hunting 101
October is the perfect month for mushroom hunting on the Oregon coast. A staggering array of fungi emerge when the fall rains arrive, and some of the choicest mushrooms in the world of gourmet delights make a brief appearance in the coastal forests.
The morning of our mushroom class dawned cloudy and gray, and by 10:00, the skies let loose with a drenching rainstorm. We figured the class would be canceled, but noooo….this is the Pacific Northwest, and folks are hardy here.
We stood in the pouring rain in parkas and beneath umbrellas while the ranger introduced us to the colorful world of local fall mushrooms. There are some that will make you sick, some that might kill you, some that are edible but not very tasty, and some that are highly prized choice edibles. The choicest of all is the king bolete—also known as porcini—and we were there at the perfect time for nature’s festival of boletes.
Click on any photo for a larger version
Boletes are easy to identify, and we learned how to choose the best ones (firm, no worm-holes, not overly large, a creamy tan color). They like the sandy, pine needle-strewn, moss-covered floor of the coastal forests. While some sit out in the open for easy picking, others are tucked into tree roots or hide beneath thick carpets of soft moss. When hunting boletes, we learned to look for unusual uprisings of moss.
After our first successful rainy afternoon of bolete gathering, Eric and I were hooked. We spent the next several days hiking through the woods searching for mushrooms and had to stop ourselves from gathering too many. We sautéed boletes with garlic, white wine, fresh thyme, and a touch of cream (good for topping just about anything); added boletes to a Thai curry dish; folded sautéed boletes into omelets, and ate our fill of these fleeting, delicious gifts of nature.
More Delights In Astoria
Along with mushroom hunting, we biked miles of trails in the park, walked the beach, and drove across the bridge to Astoria, one of our favorite Oregon coastal towns. Astoria is a vibrant small town with a rich maritime heritage; a colorful and interesting downtown; cool breweries, cafés, and shops; and an excellent Sunday farmers’ market. (Click on any photo for a larger image: You know that, right? :-))
We visited all of our favorite places and added a couple of new ones to our list: Buoy Beer Company on the waterfront (which may be the only brewery in the world with a glass viewing platform showcasing sea lions cavorting on the pilings below) and Albatross & Company, an excellent little restaurant and bar that houses El Pomelo, a pop-up taco café on Sundays. (For more details on the many fun things to do in Astoria, check out our post here: A Charming Maritime Town: Astoria, OR)
Nehalem, Oregon
Traveling south, we headed to Nehalem Bay State Park, another of our favorites on the north Oregon coast. We walked the beautiful beach, biked and hiked the many trails through the park, and discovered a bumper crop of king boletes in the forest.
Several cute little towns are within a few miles of the state park—we visited (twice) Buttercup chowder shop in nearby Nehalem, which once again wins our vote for the most creative, tastiest chowders anywhere. While biking in Manzanita, we discovered MacGregor’s Whiskey Bar, and returned one evening for cocktails on their lovely little patio. One of their many offerings was Angel’s Envy whiskey, the distillery that we enjoyed visiting last spring in Louisville. Making our stay in Nehalem even better was a visit from our daughter, her partner, and our grandson from Portland, who drove over for a day of playing on the beach and chowder at Buttercup.
Visiting Family In Portland
We’ve been to Portland many times, and always have a great time in the city. While we enjoy the attractions of the city and always make time for wandering the interesting neighborhoods, the farmers’ markets, and checking out a new restaurant or two, our biggest draw is visiting family—our daughter and grandson live in the very cool Mount Tabor area (we also happen to have good friends living there), and Eric’s sister is in Hillsboro. We had a wonderful visit, sharing the simple pleasures of daily life together. It’s always hard to leave, but especially so this time, knowing that we won’t be returning to the west coast until the summer of 2020.
(If you’re interested in more in-depth info on fun things to do in Portland, here’s a link to one of our previous posts: Rainy Days and Gardens: Portland, OR)
Fall colors in Portland
One of the great gifts of traveling fulltime is that we’re able to spend time with our families on opposite coasts and our friends who are scattered across the country. The downside is that we never feel like we have quite enough time with anyone. It seems that we’re always waving goodbye to someone who is dear to us.
Like you I feast on the edibles mother nature provides us here in the good ole’ USA… but also like you I avoid all fungi except morels due to lack of knowledge… lucky you to stumble upon that class and what perfect timing
John, it really was perfect timing! We’ve always wanted to know more about collecting wild mushrooms, and having an expert show us which ones are safe to eat was very helpful. Much easier than relying on a book.
I always think its best to leave just before you really want to…..that way every visit stays memorable, every visit is treasured. Leave while you still want more.
Those mushrooms look sooo wonderful! What a great class, I’ll be on the lookout for one now.
We, too, enjoyed our visit to the Buoy Beer Company in Astoria. How cool to be able to watch the Sea Lions through the floor!
Sue, I like what you said, that it’s best to leave while we still want more time with our loved ones (or more important, while they still want more time with us, LOL!). It’s really hard to leave our daughter and grandson, though. :-(
Isn’t the Buoy Beer Company cool? Such a beautiful view of the harbor, and watching the sea lions is so much fun!
Morels are so easy for us to find since we’d been doing it for years but the shrooms on the coast are terrifying in all different shapes, sizes and colors. I attended one class at the Gold Beach Library. I need to purchase some books and join the mushroom club. Yes, there is one. Fort Stevens is on my bucket list. So great that Erics family is in Oregon now. As always, good to see your blog.
Brenda, you guys live in mushroom heaven on the Oregon coast! It’s truly astonishing how many varieties of fungi are in the coastal forests.
Joining the mushroom club sounds like a great idea. The king boletes are so easy to identify (now that we know what we’re doing). I’d like to expand our repertoire.
You guys will love Fort Stevens…and it’s not all that far from you.
Those king boletes are HUGE! I had no idea they got that big. What a treat to be able to find such delicacies right in your backyard! And it’s cool that the park doesn’t mind folks picking them. It’s even cooler that they’re nice enough to help you pick the right ones and not the ones that will kill you. Park rangers are the best!
We missed out on Fort Stevens and Astoria, but everyone loves them so much, we’ll absolutely make sure we get back there. The area seems to capture all the best features of the Oregon coast….though you do look incredibly cold sitting under that umbrella in the rain. It looks like the sun came out for you part of the time though, and hopefully all that delicious chowder kept you guys warm.
Laura, those king boletes are insanely enormous! We had to stop harvesting them because we couldn’t keep up with eating them, haha!
You and Kevin will love Fort Stevens and Astoria. If you go during October, you might have some rain, but it’s really not cold. And the rains bring the ‘shrooms. I can see you guys having fun searching for boletes there. But most of all…you must go to Astoria to say “hi” to the little goat at the Sunday Market. :-)
Just when we wonder where you are, there is a post. Love how you take full advantage of all the road has to offer. Can’t wait to see you guys in April. We leave for Belize Saturday so will have some fun sharing travels with you. Can’t wait to show you our fun city.
Julie, we’re looking forward to seeing you guys in April in your hometown! It will be fun to hear your stories of your adventures in Belize. Enjoy your journey!
I love mushrooms both raw and cooked. What fun it would be to take a class and learn which are good eating. The boltetes are huge! The wet day seems appropriate since mushroom need moisture.
Pam, we enjoyed learning about the mushrooms and had a blast hunting for them for several days! There were SO many! I wish you had been with us and we could have enjoyed them together.
Yes, the October rains really bring out the mushrooms. It’s the perfect time on the coast for mushroom collecting.
What wonderful timing to catch a mushroom class at the state park! Like you, I’ve always been a little leery of mushroom hunting due to the potential dangers.
Lisa, knowing how you enjoy plants, you would have loved the mushroom class! The ranger was very informative and gave us plenty of good tips for how to not kill ourselves. :-) Boletes are very easy to identify once you know what you’re looking for. Now I want to learn more.
Our first month of hosting will be Ft Stevens in April. We are looking forward to all of the seafood. Hopefully we can make it there. The roads are pretty torn up. Your family time looks lovely.
Deb, that is so cool!!! Fort Stevens is one of our all-time favorite Oregon Coast parks. There’s so much to do there. And the seafood is fabulous in Astoria! I’m looking forward to hearing about your experience hosting there.
Have I mentioned how much I love your blog?! We were just talking about where we want to go in March & April and Fort Stevens and Nehalem are both possibilities (as are Jessie Honeyman in Florence and Bullards Beach in Bandon). We just had some warranty work done on our rig, so we want to stay fairly close to home for our shakedown. Plus, we love our OR state parks! I love the bike trails at Fort Stevens, Nehalem, and Bandon, especially since there aren’t a lot of safe places to ride near Depoe Bay. (I’m too much of chicken to bike on 101!). I’m looking forward to giving El Pomelo and Buoy Beer Company a try. We usually go to Fort George for their shrimp & cheesy grits. Mmm. We’ll also have to check out Buttercup Chowder shop and that whiskey bar in Manzanita. We walked by it last summer, but didn’t stop in. We do love our bourbon. Glad to know those red and white mushrooms are poisonous. They grow all over our neighborhood! Thanks again for all the great recommendations. Safe travels.
Aw, thanks, Les! I’m so glad you’re enjoying our blog. :-)
We love the Oregon state parks, too—and especially the coastal parks. Like you, I refuse to bike on 101 (too narrow!). But the bike trails in and around the parks are fantastic.
Fort George Brewery (and Blue Scorcher Bakery next door) are two of our “must-stops” when we’re in Fort Stevens. We seem to have an appreciation for similar experiences, so I think you’ll really enjoy Buoy Brewing, El Pomelo, Buttercup, and the whiskey bar. We’re so lucky in Oregon to have so many wonderful food offerings! Have fun!
Mushroom class! I would like to join and learned its identification. I have seen and encountered so many mushrooms during our hike that id’ing them would be a hoot. I have not seen bolete’s before, it must be tasty!
I would definitely be looking at your PNW post for we still have no idea where we will be this summer. I would not mind revisiting Oregon or WA :)
MonaLiza, I know how much you enjoy finding and photographing beautiful fungi—I had to hold myself back from posting photos of all of the interesting, colorful fungi we found!
Oregon and Washington sound like a perfect plan for this summer. As you know, you can easily fill an entire summer with adventures in the PNW. Let me know if I can help. :-)
Thanks for the tip on clicking the photos……….I didn’t know. Love following your journey!
Thanks, Chad—we’re glad you’re following along! I’m still debating over the best way to post photos (full size or mosaic slideshow format). Maybe I should put the question to a vote from our readers! :-)
Ah, the King Boletus, my father in law’s favorite! All these years, I never knew they were porcinis! I have never feared the mushroom hunting, unless you run across a bear, since I don’t eat them LOL but we have spent many a hike as a family collecting them in Washington, usually the beautiful Chanterelles. TBG could regale you with tales of forced child labor and car trunks full to bursting with them. I see a mushroom-hunting date in our future!
Joodie, we definitely need to go mushroom hunting together! It sounds like we could learn a LOT from you guys. We tried to find chanterelles, but to no avail. I don’t think they like the coastal environment. But those king boletes—wow! We stopped harvesting because we couldn’t keep up with eating them.
I grew up mushroom hunting in Europe with my grandmother, but I’ve been a little leery of trying to take it up in the US. The park ranger class sounds like a perfect (but soggy) introduction, especially since the park permits foraging. I remember seeing so many signs in parks along the Oregon Coast about “no collecting” so it’s encouraging to know there are parks that welcome and educate foragers! We stayed at Fort Stevens in October 2018, and from the looks of it we had at least as much rain as you did, so I can confirm that’s a great season for mushrooms!
Shannon, we were kind of surprised that the parks encourage collecting, too. But we were certainly happy about it! And it was very cool that Fort Stevens offers free classes in mushroom identification and collecting.
The rains came and went while we were on the coast, and we noticed that after a couple of dry days, there were no more ‘shrooms. The harvest is definitely tied to the rains.
Sadly I’ve developed an allergy to mushrooms, but it looks like grand fun to forage for them! Glad to read about the Beer Company – sounds like a place we’ll want to check out this summer.
I’m always happy to see that favorites are still “there”, and Buttercup is one of those special spots!! Can’t wait to make that stop again too.
I agree with you and Sue about the time we have with family and friends. Glad you got a good Oregon-family visit before you head for a long east coast sojourn!
Oh no! A mushroom allergy. :-(( But better than a beer allergy, right? I knew you would be pleased that Buttercup is still there, making chowders just as delicious as always. There’s a sweet place to sit out by the water if the weather is nice, too.
Jodee, I know you understand about wanting to get lots of family time before heading back out on your travels.
I have never gone mushroom hunting but my father was the consummate hunter back in the midwest. I should have taken some lessons from him. You always show me the most interesting places to explore and such delightful restaurants that leave my mouth watering. Looks like you had a wonderful family gathering.
LuAnn, we had so much fun hunting for mushrooms! We’re inspired to learn more. I like best when I can learn from someone in person, rather than trying to ID mushrooms (or anything else) from books.
Just discovered this post in the bottom of my inbox. Well–better late than never! Hey…when you do come back to Lopez, can you teach me something about mushrooming? Or does it have to be in the fall? Always wanted to do that without killing myself.
Gretchen, I’d love to go mushroom hunting with you! I’m not sure what we would find on Lopez in the summer, but the search is part of the fun. I think in general that fall and early spring are best because mushrooms love lots of rain.