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9,000–12,000 ft · CO🚗 Directions
Lake County high-country along the upper Arkansas River. Prime king bolete zone above 10,000 ft. Late snowmelt extends the season. Mosquito and Sawatch ranges.
Updated Aug 27, 4:04 AM MT
**Leadville A-Tier: Moisture Locked In, Temperature Holding You Back** You've got sustained soil moisture (0.27–0.28 VWC across the week) and zero drought stress—that's the A-tier ticket. The problem is soil temp sitting dead at 46°F when most of your viable species need 50–60°F sustained. Right now you're sitting in that awkward late-August alpine window where moisture has arrived but the soil hasn't warmed enough to trigger aggressive fruiting yet. Your best bets are the cold-tolerant butter fungi (hedgehogs, chanterelles if present), boletes that fruit lower on the temperature curve, and anything wood-decomposing (Reishi, polypores) that doesn't rely on soil warmth. Watch for an overnight low that stays above 40°F for 3+ days—that's when the bolete and russula flush kicks hard. **Hot tip:** Target south-facing slopes below 10,500 ft where soil temp runs 2–4°F warmer; your Painted Boletes and Slippery Jacks will break first there.
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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Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
⚠ 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.
0.26"
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.0.78"
PRISM 4km · thru 08-25
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.0%
Drought
None
Snowmelt
complete
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 50°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (46°F vs 60°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — 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.