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1,000–8,000 ft · WA🚗 Directions
Gifford Pinchot NF around Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams. Famous for morel flushes in disturbed areas. Mixed conifer and old-growth. Productive chanterelle and matsutake grounds.
Updated Oct 11, 5:04 AM MT
Gifford Pinchot rates Excellent because moisture is sustained (0.19 VWC, steady across the 7-day average), there's no drought, and the moisture trigger is met, even though the last 7 days brought only 0.17" on top of a 1.32" two-week total. The only species at high confidence are the cold-tolerant fruiters: Wavy Cap, Flying Saucer, Allen's Psilocybe, Conifer Psilocybe, Stuntz's Blue Legs, and Bottle Cap, all of which have run 6-7 days above threshold at 46°F soil. Every other listed species, including the mycorrhizal staples like Pacific Golden Chanterelle, Matsutake, Hedgehog, and the boletes, sits at moderate. Soil at 46°F is below their 50°F minimums with 0/7 days above, so expect scattered, slow flushes rather than peak production. No limiting factor is flagged, but the temperature margin is the real ceiling here, and the dry past week means the moisture is carried by earlier rain, not fresh input. Watch for a warm, wet system to push soil toward 50°F, which would move the chanterelle, bolete, and russula group up. Continued dry weather or a cold snap would stall them while the cold-tolerant group keeps going. Hot tip: Work the lower elevations (1,000-3,000 ft) on south-facing slopes, where soil runs warmest, to catch the chanterelles and boletes closest to their 50°F threshold.
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
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Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
60 sites
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
⚠ 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.
0.17"
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.1.32"
PRISM 4km · thru 10-09
Soil Temp
46°F
SWE
Snow Water Equivalent — how much water is in the snowpack vs. normal. Declining SWE means snowmelt is adding moisture to the soil.20%
Drought
None
Snowmelt
steady
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
All conditions met (soil 46°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 46°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 46°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 46°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 46°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 46°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained)
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.19 VWC, 7d avg 0.19 — 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.