Fall mushroom festivals, hunts, and dinners
| MENDOCINO, Calif.
If the mere mention of chanterelles and morels gets you salivating, consider a trip to a mushroom festival this fall.
Mendocino County, about 90 miles north of San Francisco, hosts a Mushroom Festival, Nov. 7-16, with hunts for chanterelles, porcinis, morels, and rarer varieties such as the candy cap and hedgehog mushroom. Mushroom-themed dinners are offered throughout the area, along with mushroom cooking classes and a seminar on the healing power of mushrooms.
The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardenhosts mushroom walks on Mondays between Nov. 17 and Jan. 26, at 1:30 p.m., and mushroom identification workshops, Nov. 22 and 29 and Dec. 20, . Other events include a Mushroom Exhibit at the Ford House Museum in Mendocino Village and a mushroom train ride, Nov. 15, departing Fort Bragg or Willits Depot, on the Skunk Train.
On Vancouver Island in British Columbia, the Aerie Resort hosts a half-day Great Fall Mushroom Hunt each Saturday in October. The cost is about $125 ($130 Canadian) and includes transportation from the resort to forested hunting areas and a three-course lunch.
Also on Vancouver Island’s west coast, the annual Bamfield Mushroom Festivaltakes place Oct. 18 in Bamfield with events including a mushroom hunt, mushroom derby, dinner, and dance.
On Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula, the Wild Mushroom Celebrationincludes a month of mushroom-centric dinners and tastings, from an Oct. 10 dinner at the Depot Restaurant in Seaview to a Nov. 6 dinner at the Tuscany Cafe at the Port of Ilwaco.
The Lake Quinault Lodge in Washington’s Olympic National Forest hosts the Quinault Rain Forest Mushroom Festival, Oct. 17-19. The event features mushroom walks, mushroom collecting seminars, cooking and identification classes, tips for growing mushrooms, and activities for kids.
The Wild About Mushrooms Co., based in Forestville, Calif., offers mushroom-themed trips including the Oregon Cascades Foray, Oct. 12-16, which includes hunting for chanterelles, porcini, matsutake, lion’s mane, and other varieties.
Madisonville, Texas, about 90 minutes from Houston, calls itself the “Mushroom Capital of Texas” and is hosting a Mushroom Festivalon Oct. 25, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The event includes cooking demonstrations; arts, crafts, and food vendors; and a Shiitake 5K Run/Walk.
