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Pike NF South / Tarryall Foraging Conditions — ForageIQ

Pike NF South / Tarryall

7,500–10,500 ft · CO🚗 Directions

South Platte headwaters and Tarryall Creek drainage. Mixed lodgepole and spruce. Good porcini and king bolete habitat. Less crowded than northern Pike NF.

Trees:Ponderosa Pine Douglas Fir Aspen

Permit Info →

Updated Aug 27, 4:04 AM MT

AI Conditions Report

AI-generated · verify in field

**Pike NF South / Tarryall – Tier A Breakdown** You're looking at a textbook late-August sweet spot: sustained soil moisture (0.32 VWC, stable across 7 days) in a region with zero drought stress and 1.52" of recent precipitation have unlocked 33 high-viability species simultaneously. The bolete, russula, and agaric families are all firing at once—Bay Bolete, Painted Bolete, Chicken-Fat Bolete, Lobster Mushroom, and Slippery Jack are your bread-and-butter targets. Soil temps at 53.6°F sit right at the threshold for most species, so you're not heat-limited; moisture is your asset and your only real risk. The limiting factor here is **desiccation risk**—those moisture conditions can flip fast at elevation in late August as diurnal heating increases. You've got roughly 3–5 days before a dry pattern or temperature spike could collapse your window. Cauliflower and Reishi remain marginal (soil temp just below their sweet spot), but everything else is go. **Hot tip:** Target north-facing slope sections and shaded conifer pockets in the morning—they'll hold overnight moisture longest as the day heats up.

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.

Foraging Potential75/100

✅Moisture

✅Soil Temp

✅No Freeze

✅No Drought

Precip 7d

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Nearby Camping

Within(7)

Spruce Grove Campground

developed

USFS~3.1 mi from centerFee required/night

Pike-San Isabel National Forests

Reserve →

Spruce Grove campground

developed

USFS~3.3 mi from centerFee required/night

Reserve →

Twin Eagles Campground

developed

USFS~3.8 mi from centerFee required/night

Pike-San Isabel National Forests

Reserve →

Round Mountain Campground

developed

USFS~6 mi from centerFee required/night

Pike-San Isabel National Forests

Reserve →

Goose Creek Campground

developed

USFS~9 mi from centerFee required/night

Pike-San Isabel National Forests

Reserve →

Goose Creek Campground

developed

~9 mi from center

Happy Meadows Campground

developed

USFS~9.4 mi from centerFee required/night

Pike-San Isabel National Forests

Reserve →

⚠ 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.

Viable Species

Confidence × Primordia state

MODERATEActivating

Cauliflower MushroomSparassis crispa

soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.32 VWC, 7d avg 0.26 — moisture sustained

HIGHPrimed

Hedgehog MushroomHydnum repandum