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600–2,301 ft · MN🚗 Directions
North Shore of Lake Superior and the Sawtooth Mountains — Superior Hiking Trail corridor from Duluth to the Canadian border. Paper birch, quaking aspen, balsam fir, white spruce, northern white cedar, and sugar maple on the rugged volcanic bedrock. Lake effect moderates the climate. Exceptional birch bolete, chanterelle, and king bolete country; lobster mushrooms on spruce; morels following spring jack pine burns.
Updated May 29, 4:19 AM MT
**Tier A justified—but watch the desiccation edge.** True Morels, Spring King Boletes, Red-Belted Conks, and False Morels are all live right now with soil temps holding at the threshold and moisture sustained through the last 14 days. The moderate-tier species (Turkey Tail, Dryad's Saddle, Witch's Butter, jelly fungi, polypores) are viable but barely—they're all skating the minimum soil temp of 55°F with only 4/7 days above threshold, so they're producing at reduced vigor. The real limiting factor is desiccation risk: precipitation has been light (0.48" in 7 days is sparse for spring foraging), and you're on the north shore at elevation where wind exposure compounds evaporation. The next 48–72 hours will determine whether this tier holds or contracts. **Don't let moderate-tier species distract you—focus on True Morels in ash/elm/cottonwood and Spring Kings in undisturbed forest duff where soil moisture is deepest.** Half-Free Morels are showing as moderate only because they're marginal; hunt the fruitier species first. Watch for cooling or continued dry conditions; if temps drop below 54°F or precip stays scarce, the moderate tier will collapse fast. **Hot tip:** Hunt north-facing slopes and shaded ravines where soil stays coolest and moisture pools—counterintuitive but true in marginal springs, and they'll hold your best morels longer than exposed south faces.
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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Superior National Forest
Superior National Forest
Superior 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.
0.48"
PRISM 4km · thru 05-27
Precip 14d
Observed precipitation from PRISM 4km gridded analysis, sampled at the region centroid through 2026-05-27. Used when no SNOTEL/SCAN station is mapped to this region.1.40"
PRISM 4km · thru 05-27
Soil Temp
55°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 55°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained)
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 58°F min, 3/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
All conditions met (soil 55°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained)
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
All conditions met (soil 55°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained)
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
soil temp marginal (55°F vs 55°F min, 4/7 days above), today 0.25 VWC, 7d avg 0.27 — moisture sustained
All conditions met (soil 55°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.25 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.