Wild Mushroom Field Trip – Squamish

Let’s hunt for mushrooms!

This foray will focus on how to identify wild mushrooms specific to the Squamish area ecosystem like matsutake, chanterelle, hedgehog and more. Our ever-popular “Wild Mushroom Identification Trips” are easy forest walking trips with expert myco-guides leading you through the forest to identify whatever we find and they book up fast!

Our Squamish foray is so exciting, on past trips we’ve found winter chanterelle, lobster mushrooms, matsutake, cauliflower mushrooms, milk caps, fat jacks, a ton of different species of wild edible mushrooms.  It’s an exiting day in the forest, a bit like an adult treasure hunt.

Note: The class will study edible wild mushrooms in their habitat and discuss ethical and sustainable harvesting, we may be able to find some mushrooms to take home but we can’t guarantee a harvest as it depends on how many mushrooms are popping up, we want to make sure to be gentle with the forest.

Where can I learn to harvest matsutake or pine mushrooms?

Matsutake mushrooms can be found in many conifer forests across British Columbia including Squamish, it’s our most expensive mushroom export.  While we can never guarantee that we’ll find any particular mushroom, this trip is a good bet. Our expert guides will teach students about matsutake and chanterelle habitat, when to look and most importantly key identifying features like their aroma and texture.

How long is the mushroom trip and is it good for all ages?

The trip is 2.5 hours.  1 hour is spent with the guide at the start to cover all the mushroom hunting basics and the rest of the time we are walking slowly in the forest, stopping frequently to learn about the local wild mushrooms.  We’ve had all ages enjoy this trip, bring sturdy walking shoes and dress warm and for the weather.  Some of the walking areas can be steep, but we walk very slowly in order to look for mushrooms.

Where do we meet?

Squamish – Location TBD the week before the trip as our guides have to scout to see where the most mushrooms are popping up.

When is the best time to book a mushroom trip in BC?

Prime mushrooms season is in fall from September to December in British Columbia, you will find different species of mushrooms coming up in each month.  Porcini mushrooms tend to come up earlier in fall whereas matsutake or pine mushrooms are a late fall arrival.   We offer one spring mushroom foraging class, our Morel Workshop

Do we offer private mushroom foraging classes?

Yes!  You pick the date and we’ll book a mushroom guide for your group.  We can bring the culinary adventure right to you.  For groups of 10+  Private Whistler or Squamish trips are $175+tax per person. Please contact us by email for details and we can check our guides schedules for you.

How do you know a wild mushroom is safe to eat?

There are no simple tests, it’s a lifelong, wonderful journey to learn which wild mushrooms are your friends and which one’s to leave to the forest.  First, focus on learning which edible mushrooms are easiest to identify in BC that don’t have confusing look alikes.  Learning to identify edible mushrooms isn’t hard, it just requires practice and patience.  My best advice is to pick a few new mushrooms to learn every year and get comfortable with identifying them correctly before you choose to consume them.  As an example, think of wild blackberries, most people in our area know how to identify them correctly and are comfortable picking and eating them, they took the time to learn and were rewarded by delicious berries.  Start your journey with an experienced mushroom harvester and you’ll build confidence.

Trip Notes: We will study edible mushrooms in their habitat and discuss ethical and sustainable and safe harvesting practices. It is illegal to harvest in all parks in BC, private land and indigenous reserve lands, so we’ll teach you about areas you can legally pick and give you the tools to find you’re own mushroom patches.

Sliding Scale: If you can’t afford the trip cost, contact us directly to discuss our accessible rate, we want everyone to benefit from our knowledge, not just people that can afford it!  Please note if you want to avoid the online ticketing fee, please send us an e-transfer  field trip cost +5% GST

Our team lives and teaches on the unceeded territory of many indigenous peoples in BC.  We work with First Nation groups in BC to offer classes pro-bono in areas where we teach, please contact us for details.