Dec 23rd, 2023 - Wild Mushroom Foray at Salt Point State Park

The SOMA Wild Mushroom Foray & Potluck provides a great opportunity to get out in the woods to collect and identify wild mushrooms. Our events are open to the public, and we welcome all ages and experience levels. We have many local mushroom experts and enthusiasts who will lead the outings and share their understandings and perspectives about the mushrooms and the forest!

SOMA staff are not paid. Instead, your ticket price - and any additional donations, scroll down - will go to our general scholarship and/or fungal DNA sequencing funds; we award $15,000+ per year to mycology students, community scientists and those contributing to the field of mycology.

Parking: Salt Point's Day Use fee is $8 per vehicle. 

Important: by registering for this event, you are agreeing to the Liability Waiver.  Please read and review.

For the potluck, please bring:

• A picnic-style dish of 10+ servings. Gourmet encouraged and desired!
• Your own plates, utensils, drinks, chairs/mats and anything else you need to be fed & comfortable.
• SOMA club chefs provide a hot, main, mushroom-inspired dish for everyone.

For our hikes, (1-3 miles at a slow/medium pace over hilly terrain) consider bringing: 

• Rain gear, layered clothing & sturdy hiking footwear
• Water & snacks
• A sense of adventure and curiosity!
• Maybe a hat and/or a walking stick
• A basket, paper bag, small wax paper bags and/or a tackle box are helpful for separating different mushrooms, which is recommended for safe/easeful identification.
• Smart phone with GPS mapping apps (hike tracking apps like AllTrails, GAIA GPS, etc.), a compass app or an actual compass! Cell reception in the park is limited, so download apps/maps ahead of time.

We also recommend using iNaturalist (and we can teach you how!) to photograph mushrooms you find in-situ (before picking) because some mushrooms might be rare or endangered. This is an easy way to contribute to community science. Check out the Fungal Diversity Survey and Mushroom Observer too.

At 9:30-9:45am:  

Park and assemble at Woodside Campground Day Use Area in Salt Point State Park (about 40 mins north of Jenner on Hwy 1) 

*NOTE:  there are some sections on Hwy 1 with one-way traffic signals due to road work, so plan some extra time for travel. For the parking fee, when the Woodside ranger kiosk is not staffed, please use the provided envelopes and the brown/metal self-registration box.

At 9:45am: 

SOMA staff/leaders will introduce themselves, talk about what types of mushrooms are popping up, and any questions can be answered. We do our best to make this brief and get into the woods!

At 10am: 

We will divide into groups with experienced leaders to various locations within the park, hopefully to find wild mushrooms - no guarantees! But no matter what, do expect to learn important mushrooming tips that you'll take with you forever, or at least as long as you remember.

At 12:30pm:

SOMA provides a hot main mushroom-inspired dish for everyone, cooked onsite by club chefs and supplemented with your yummy additions! The potluck lunch is another fun part of the day with the gathering and sharing of food, stories, and mushroomy thoughts. Please bring your own plates, forks, drinks, chairs or mats, and anything else to be fed and comfortable. 

Approximately 1:00pm: 

We will have an interactive type of identification session where we discuss all the fungal finds of the day. Questions are highly encouraged! 

Dogs: CA State Parks do not allow dogs on the trails, but they are allowed on leash in the day use areas. Please clean up after your pets!

Contacts and questions:

• Foray chairperson: Patrick Hamilton - Forays@SOMAmushrooms.org
• Scheduling/payment questions: Ken Buegeleisen - SOMAtreasurer@somamushrooms.org

Additional Information:

• Map to Salt Point State Park
• Foraging info
• SOMA News
• Membership