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1,200–3,213 ft · PA🚗 Directions
Laurel Ridge, Chestnut Ridge, and the Youghiogheny Gorge in SW Pennsylvania — Ohiopyle SP, Forbes SF, Laurel Hill SP. Rich mixed mesophytic with tulip poplar, sugar maple, American beech, eastern hemlock, and yellow birch. Exceptional spring morel territory in tulip poplar coves; chanterelles, black trumpets, hen-of-the-woods, and lion's mane through summer and fall.
Updated Oct 11, 5:14 AM MT
Laurel Highlands rates Excellent on October 11, driven by a fully melted snowpack, no drought, a met moisture trigger, and sustained soil moisture (0.20 VWC today, 0.22 seven-day average). Oyster is the only species with every condition satisfied, with soil at 52°F and 7 of 7 days above threshold, so it is your high-confidence target. The 7-day rain total is just 0.11", so the moisture comes from retention and not fresh rain. Soil temperature is the real constraint for everything else: Lion's Mane, Honey Mushroom, Hedgehog, and Red-Belted Conk are warming (3-4 of 7 days above threshold) but haven't established primordia, while warm-season species like Chicken of the Woods, Black Trumpet, and the stinkhorns are 8-10°F short of their minimums and effectively off the table. Watch the overnight lows and the next dry spell: continued cooling will favor oysters and other cold-tolerant wood decomposers, and any rain on top of current soil moisture would help the borderline species, though cooling soil will cap how many of them actually fruit. Hot tip: Hunt standing dead and fallen hardwoods, especially beech and aspen, on north-facing slopes and in sheltered drainages where moisture holds longest, and check for oysters first.
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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⚠ 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.
0.11"
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.0.22"
PRISM 4km · thru 10-09
Soil Temp
52°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 52°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained)
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 60°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil warming up (52°F today, only 4/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 62°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil warming up (52°F today, only 3/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil warming up (52°F today, only 4/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil warming up (52°F today, only 4/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil warming up (52°F today, only 4/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil warming up (52°F today, only 4/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil warming up (52°F today, only 4/7 days above threshold — mycelium activating, primordia not yet established), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 60°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 60°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.20 VWC, 7d avg 0.22 — 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.