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Big South Fork / NE TN Foraging Conditions — ForageIQ

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Big South Fork / NE TN

800–1,900 ft · TN🚗 Directions

S

Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area straddling the TN-KY line on the northern Cumberland Plateau. Sandstone gorges, natural arches, and mixed mesophytic forest in the deep coves. Tulip poplar, sugar maple, white oak, beech, and basswood with hemlock declining in the cool ravines. Spring morels in cove forests and old farm flats; chanterelles, black trumpets, and chicken in summer; hen-of-the-woods and lion's mane on big oaks and beeches in fall.

Trees:Tulip Poplar Sugar Maple American Beech

Updated Jul 13, 4:21 AM MT

AI Conditions Report

AI-generated · verify in field

# Big South Fork / NE TN — S Tier (July 13, 2026) **Why S tier:** Perfect storm. Sustained soil temp at 74°F, 7.68" over two weeks, and stable 0.33 VWC moisture *every single day* for a week straight—this region has hit the Goldilocks zone across the board. No drought stress, zero limiting factors. **Viable species:** Essentially everything. Chicken of the Woods, Black Trumpets, and Frost's Boletes anchor the edible tier; polypores (Artist's Conk, Birch, Tinder Fungus) are prolific; gelatinous species (Witch's Butter, Wood Ear, Jelly Ear) thrive in sustained moisture. Even marginal specialists like Cinnabar Chanterelles and Smooth Chanterelles are live. If it fruits in this region, it's fruiting now. **Limiting factor:** None. This is rare. You're operationally unlimited—substrate type and species preference are your only variables. **Coming days:** Watch for the next rain cycle. At 0.46" in the last week, you're consuming moisture faster than you'd think; if the next 5 days go dry, soil VWC will drop and the flush will taper by week's end. **Hot tip:** Hit your Chicken of the Woods and Parasol patches *today*—CoTW degrades fast in sustained heat+humidity, and Parasols' window is narrow in peak summer before the cuticle splits and insects colonize.

Generated by Claude (Anthropic) from the structured weather, soil, and phenology data on this page. The LLM can misread edge cases — treat this as a starting hypothesis, not a guarantee. Always verify conditions on the ground before committing to a long drive.

Foraging Potential95/100

✅Moisture

✅Soil Temp

✅No Freeze

✅No Drought

Precip 7d

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Nearby Camping

Within(0)

No campgrounds within 10 mi. Try widening the radius.

⚠ Road Access Notice

Always verify road access is public before following GPS directions to mountain areas. Many forest roads are seasonal, gated, or require 4WD. Dispersed camping follows USFS/BLM rules (typically 14-day limit). Check ranger district offices for current road and campground conditions.

Viable Species

Confidence × Primordia state

HIGHPrimed

Chicken of the Woods

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Black Trumpet

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Frost's Bolete

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Wine Cap

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Giant Puffball

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Turkey Tail

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Witch's Butter

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Aspen Bolete

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Indigo Milk Cap

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Crown-Tipped Coral

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Jelly Ear

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Dead Man's Fingers

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Parasol Mushroom

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Shaggy Parasol

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Fairy Ring Champignon

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Artist's Conk

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Birch Polypore

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Tinder Fungus

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Bird's Nest Fungus

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Cinnabar Chanterelle

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Berkeley's Polypore

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Red-Capped Scaber Stalk

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Old Man of the Woods

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Horse Mushroom

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Mica Cap

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Two-Colored Bolete

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Smooth Chanterelle

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Caesar's Amanita

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Weeping Milk Cap

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Green-Gill Lepiota

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Bitter Bolete

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Green Cracked Russula

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Peppery Milk Cap

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Coker's Amanita

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Fool's Mushroom

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Alcohol Inky

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Fairy Inkcap

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Yellow-Stainer

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Red-Belted Conk

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Thin-Walled Maze Polypore

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Mossy Maze Polypore

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

False Turkey Tail

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Northern Tooth

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Snow Fungus

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Wood Ear

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Green Elfcup

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Ivory Funnel

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Aspen Oyster

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Wolf's Milk Slime

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Dog Vomit Slime Mold

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Fluted Bird's Nest

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

King Alfred's Cakes

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Dung Bird's Nest

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Oak Mazegill

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Banded Mottlegill

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Ravenel's Stinkhorn

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

HIGHPrimed

Elegant Stinkhorn

All conditions met (soil 74°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.34 VWC, 7d avg 0.33 — moisture sustained)

Primordia readiness: Cold = mycelium dormant. Activating = soil warming, primordia building. Primed = 5+ sustained warm days at species threshold; fruiting imminent if moisture cooperates. Based on Schmidt 1983 / Mihail 2007.