The Fungus AmongUs (Maybe)

Who's ready for a treasure hunt? The recent warm tempuratures and copious amounts of rain have or are currently making mushrooms. Let's go find 'em!

Is it delicious? Can it kill you? Can some of them help the body fight cancer or regenerate nerves? No matter how you look at them, mushrooms are pretty amazing, and make great subjects for wildlife photos and sometimes a delicious addition to unique home-cooked meals. But eating the wrong one can kill you, and from what I’ve read, it’s a bad way to go.

*****Today, we’ll hope to identify some of the fungus amongus, but please don’t think that going on this hike will make you an expert. If you want to forage for wild foods, I fully encourage you, but you’ve GOT to put in a lot of hours of study, or… you could die. Seriously. You also must be sure to harvest responsibly and sustainably.*****

While I am by no means an expert, I’ve successfully identified lion’s mane, oyster mushrooms, turkey tail, cauliflower (BRAIN fungus), American Caeser’s mushroom, Witches butter, reishi, and others at this location. Some of those are in season right now, some are not, and some don't care... if the conditions are right, they'll show up. :)

No promises though; we could find nothing or we could hit the jackpot! Since I'm not sure what the rules are at this specific park, we will not harvest any mushrooms on this hike. I do encourage you to take pictures and ask questions. 

We’ll probably hike 3-4 miles. There are a few elevation gains here and there, but generally, this is a pretty easy trail and our pace will be leisurely to moderate. The more mushrooms we see, the slower we'll go, stopping here and there to identify or take pictures.

We'll meet in front of the covered bridge behind Roswell Mill. If you use the address for the Roswell Mill Club, get there, but keep driving to the big parking lot behind the club. After you park, go down the steep hill past the old mill, and you'll see the covered bridge on your left.

Last time I was there (last month) there was no charge for parking but you may want to bring a few bucks just in case.

*I marked this trip as "Exploratory" even though I've hiked most of these trails before. But don't worry; we're not likely to get lost. We're pretty much hiking in the middle of Roswell and the trail is both well-used and well-marked.