Mushrooms at the Refuge

By David Campiche

Imagine an underworld network of fungal threads or hyphae that unfurl and tangle for miles underground. In the Pacific Northwest, mostly during the autumn, the fibers produce fruit, and that fruit are the mushrooms that delight our inner hunter-gatherer and explorer.

Fungi come in a vast array of colors and sizes. They come by the thousands worldwide. The most edible are coveted. A few others carry deadly poisons, and a handful, hallucinogenic properties. Gathering requires care.

Particularly sought after are the matsutake, the king bolete, and the chanterelle, but those are just a few. Mushrooms with common names like the deliciosa, man on horseback, shaggy mane, and the meadow mushroom are a few of the less known species that delight chefs, cooks, and hikers. A walk at the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge offers an opportunity to discover and identify many of our native mushrooms.

Come and explore, but on the refuge leave your basket and knife behind. Here, the mushrooms belong to the four-legged animals and the sightseers. You’ll find different mushrooms in each of the Refuge’s diverse habitats. The dikes host miniature, fairy-like species. You might see boletus edulis and others among the spruce trees. Douglas fir harbors the chanterelle and the coral mushrooms. With your mushroom book or your phone’s identification app, visit the Refuge and become a mushroom expert.