Ron Legler, of Naselle, and William Harris, of Ocean Park, load their car after a successful morning foraging for mushrooms. As for advice for other foragers, “Now is the time,” Legler said.

LONG BEACH PENINSULA — After roughly five hours of searching around the sandy dunes and shore pines Sunday morning near Seaview, Ron Legler, with help from a couple friends and family members, collected roughly 50 pounds of prized King Bolete mushrooms, a bigger bounty in one morning than they amassed all of last season.

After a rough season last fall, local foragers are relishing what has been an exceptional start to the fall mushroom season.

“This is one of the best seasons I’ve seen in a long time, it’s usually too dry this time of the year but it’s going to be a good year — really good,” said Legler, 50, a local forager for roughly the past 30 years.

“This is one of the best seasons I’ve seen in a long time, it’s usually too dry this time of the year but it’s going to be a good year — really good.”

October and November are typically considered the peak of the fall mushroom season on the Southwest Washington coast, when foragers can typically find an assortment of edible fungi including porcini, morel, chanterelle, lobster, oyster and matsutake mushrooms among others.

Last year, a lingering summer drought followed by unseasonably cold temperatures stunted the fall mushroom season.

This year there has been an abundance of moisture and more moderate temperatures, much to the benefit of mushrooms and foragers alike.

“Last year was horrible. It was the worst year I had ever seen down here. I only picked five bolete last year,” Legler recalled.

So far, this fall has been the exact opposite, according to observations from Oregon Master Naturalist Rebecca Lexa.

“I’m seeing a lot more king bolete and Boletacea in general,” Lexa said.

“This season is still young, and there are some species that don’t normally show up until late October and November. I’ve also seen an early start to the shaggy manes and saffron milkcaps, and lots of non-edible fungi are doing well, too. The chanterelles over the summer produced some great flushes. So all-in-all this year is definitely better than last, probably due to a combination of that cool, wet spring and a not-so-hot summer.”

As for advice for other foragers, “Now is the time,” Legler summed.

Mushroom rules

Be sure to obtain permission before mushroom hunting on private property, and to obey regulations on public property.

As a general rule, Washington State Parks permit harvest of up 2 gallons of edible mushrooms per day for personal consumption:

“The recreational harvest, possession, or transport of… edible mushrooms… is allowed up to an amount of two gallons per person per day, unless otherwise posted at the park. The harvest amount may be comprised of one or more edible species… No harvest of… mushrooms is allowed within a natural area preserve… Harvest techniques that involve raking or other techniques that have the potential to degrade park natural or cultural resources are prohibited.”

However, Cape Disappointment State Park is a posted “No mushroom harvesting” area, in part to discourage harvest of species containing psilocybin, a controlled substance under state and federal laws. Check for signs in other state parks for specific rules in each.

It’s unlawful to harvest mushrooms in our area’s National Wildlife Refuge system.