Here’s the dirt on mushroom hunting season in Colorado — and why early rains could help

DENVER — When Jon Sommer is selling real estate, his mantra is “location, location, location.” But when Sommer, who also serves as president of the Colorado Mycological Society, is looking for mushrooms, his mantra is “rain, rain, rain.”

The Front Range received more than its fair share of precipitation this year, accumulating near-record amounts of rain in May and June. While that led some to expect a prodigious year for hunting mushrooms in the mountains, Sommer said the season, which usually runs June through August, is off to a slow start thanks to cooler temperatures at altitude.

“Right now is the peak of the season typically, but we are about three to four weeks behind. We’re finding the diversity, but not the quantity of mushrooms,” Sommer said. “Typically we don’t get what we call ‘flush of summer mushrooms’ until the soil hits 60 degrees. That’s only happening now. We’re hoping that if moisture continues, particularly in the mountains, it will be a bumper year.”

Colorado Springs resident Teresa Schwinghamer recently camped out with the Pikes Peak Mycological Society for a foray and said the group didn’t collect much fungi compared to last year. Those mushrooms she did find — dozens of oyster mushrooms, milky caps, puffballs and more — also seemed more prone to bugs.

Still, weather patterns have Schwinghamer excitedly planning her next foray.

“I think what’s happening because of how late moisture has come in, everything is popping much later this season,” she said. “Check your honey holes a little later.”

Meanwhile, mycophiles on the Western Slope are praying for rain after an atypical dry spell in July. Mushrooms, edible or otherwise, are the fruiting bodies of mycelium, which often grows underground, and they require rain to sprout. Depending on the...