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800–2,200 ft · PA🚗 Directions
Pocono Plateau in northeast Pennsylvania. Mixed oak-hickory with hemlock ravines and northern hardwood at higher elevations. Tulip poplar, white ash, and elm in lower drainages. Delaware Water Gap NRA flanks the eastern edge. Old charcoal hearths and farmstead clearings concentrate spring morels. Cooler plateau temperatures push season later than central PA.
Updated Oct 11, 5:09 AM MT
The Pocono Mountains grade Good this week: soil is sitting at 53.8°F, there's no drought, and the moisture trigger is met, so the fall flush is on for cool-season species. The mycorrhizal crowd is carrying it, with hedgehogs, chicken-fat, bay, painted and admirable boletes, Lobster, Slippery Jack, Saffron Milk Cap, Gypsy Mushroom, The Prince, Honey Mushroom, Lion's Mane, Matsutake, and chanterelles (rainbow, yellow foot) all fully qualified on sustained soil temps. Warm-season and heat-dependent species (Chicken of the Woods, Black Trumpet, stinkhorns, parasols, meadow and horse mushrooms, waxcaps) are stalled below their thresholds and shouldn't be expected in any quantity. Moisture is the limiting factor: only 0.09" fell in the last 7 days against 0.92" over 14, so the trigger is met but the margin is thin and fruitings will start to dry out and stall without fresh rain. Watch the forecast for a soaking event; that would extend the flush, while another dry week with cooling soils will shut off the marginal species and thin out the rest. Be careful with the lookalike-heavy groups showing as viable, as Panther Cap, Deadly Webcap, Death Cap, Yellow Fly Agaric, and Amanita Muscaria are all in the mix alongside edible Amanitas, Cortinarius, and Russula. Hot tip: Hunt north-facing hardwood and hemlock slopes and low, moisture-holding benches in the 800-1,500 ft range, where duff stays damp longest, and target boletes and hedgehogs under oak and beech before the dry stretch dries out the surface layer.
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.
Log your find on iNaturalist to help the community and get expert ID assistance. Photos, location, and habitat notes all help with identification.
⚠ 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.
Precip 7d
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.0.09"
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.0.92"
PRISM 4km · thru 10-09
Soil Temp
54°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 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 60°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 62°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 5/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 58°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 55°F min, 2/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
All conditions met (soil 54°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20)
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 60°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
soil temp marginal (54°F vs 60°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.17 VWC, 7d avg 0.20
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.