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1,000–1,900 ft · WI🚗 Directions
Chequamegon-Nicolet NF in northwestern Wisconsin, near the Apostle Islands. Northern hardwood-conifer mosaic — sugar maple, yellow birch, beech (eastern edge), with white pine, hemlock, balsam fir, and white spruce on cooler aspects. Glaciated terrain with kettle lakes and bog edges. Spring morels in aspen-birch; king bolete and porcini in summer; chanterelles in hemlock-hardwood; lobster, hedgehog, and matsutake-candidate Tricholoma magnivelare under conifer in fall.
Updated Aug 27, 4:24 AM MT
# Chequamegon NF – Tier A Despite the Drought You're rated A because the species roster is deep and the region's ecology supports prolific fruiting *when* conditions break—but right now you're in a holding pattern. Seven days of barely 0.02" has pushed VWC to marginal across the board, so nothing's fruiting aggressively yet. Polypores and woody saprophytes (Turkey Tail, Artist's Conk, Birch Polypore) are your safest bets since they're already established and just need a nudge; the wood-decay community doesn't crater in dry spells like gilled fungi do. Moisture is the sole limiter—once a decent rain hits (even 0.3–0.5"), you'll see Chicken/Hen of the Woods and the milerite boletes (Aspen, Birch, Frost's) activate within 48–72 hours. Watch the forecast obsessively; a front moving through in the next 3–5 days could flip this region from "walk and scout" to "load the basket" overnight. **Hot tip:** Hit the dead wood now—Chaga, Beefsteak, and King Alfred's Cakes ignore moisture state, so work those aspen and birch stands today while you're pre-positioned for the flush.
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.
Precip 7d
Log your find on iNaturalist to help the community and get expert ID assistance. Photos, location, and habitat notes all help with identification.
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.
0.02"
PRISM 4km · thru 08-25
Precip 14d
Observed precipitation from PRISM 4km gridded analysis, sampled at the region centroid through 2026-08-25. Used when no SNOTEL/SCAN station is mapped to this region.0.11"
PRISM 4km · thru 08-25
Soil Temp
63°F
SWE
Snow Water Equivalent — how much water is in the snowpack vs. normal. Declining SWE means snowmelt is adding moisture to the soil.0%
Drought
None
Snowmelt
complete
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
soil warming up (63°F today, only 4/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
soil warming up (63°F today, only 4/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), moisture marginal (today 0.13 VWC, 7d avg 0.12 — sustained dry)
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.