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1,200–1,500 ft · MN🚗 Directions
Chippewa NF around Leech Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish — transitional forest where boreal meets northern hardwood. Red and white pine, sugar maple, yellow birch, aspen, and basswood across countless lakes and bogs. Morels in aspen-poplar stands after burns; chanterelles and king boletes through summer; hen-of-the-woods on oak in fall.
Updated Oct 11, 5:13 AM MT
Chippewa NF at 1,200-1,500 ft earns a Good this week: soil is a warm 66.6°F, there's no drought, and the moisture trigger is met, but the 14-day total of 1.36" has been propped up almost entirely by the earlier part of the window, since only 0.05" fell in the last 7 days. The strongest candidates are the mycorrhizal and wood-decay species with 5/7 days of sustained warmth: hen of the woods, lion's mane, honey mushroom, matsutake, hedgehog, saffron milk cap, the boletes (bay, painted, chicken-fat, admirable), the russulas, rainbow chanterelle, lobster mushroom, slippery jack, and oyster, which is the only one with a full 7/7 days. The Amanita group (panther cap, yellow fly agaric, muscaria) and the deadly webcap and bloody webcap are also firing, so be rigorous on ID in mixed stands. Chicken of the woods, black trumpet, cauliflower mushroom, and most of the moderate-rated saprobes and polypores are still in the mycelium-activating phase with primordia not yet set, so expect those to lag a week or more. Moisture is the limiting factor: VWC is 0.15 today against a 7-day average of 0.18, so the ground is drying and a dry week will stall pinning on anything still developing. Watch the forecast for a soaking rain of 0.5" or more in the next several days. That would push the moderate group into fruiting, while continued dry weather will leave the established flushes aging out and the pending species stuck. Hot tip: Prioritize north-facing slopes, drainage bottoms, and heavy duff under mature hardwood and mixed conifer, where moisture holds longest, and hit the hen, lion's mane, and oyster spots on standing or downed wood first before the dry spell shrinks the window.
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.
Log your find on iNaturalist to help the community and get expert ID assistance. Photos, location, and habitat notes all help with identification.
Chippewa National Forest
17 sites
22 sites
Chippewa National Forest
13 sites
17 sites
Chippewa National Forest
Chippewa National Forest
Chippewa National Forest
Chippewa National Forest
4 sites
⚠ 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.
Precip 7d
Observed precipitation from PRISM 4km gridded analysis, sampled at the region centroid through 2026-10-09. Used when no SNOTEL/SCAN station is mapped to this region.0.05"
PRISM 4km · thru 10-09
Precip 14d
Observed precipitation from PRISM 4km gridded analysis, sampled at the region centroid through 2026-10-09. Used when no SNOTEL/SCAN station is mapped to this region.1.36"
PRISM 4km · thru 10-09
Soil Temp
67°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
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 0/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
soil warming up (67°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
All conditions met (soil 67°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)
soil warming up (67°F today, only 1/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18
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.