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350–700 ft · KY🚗 Directions
Western Coalfield and Pennyrile region — Pennyrile SF, Mammoth Cave NP, and the Land Between the Lakes east shore. Bottomland hardwoods (sycamore, elm, sweetgum, hackberry) along the Green and Cumberland river systems with upland white oak / hickory ridges. Classic flatland morel country — peak yellow morel territory in the dying-elm and tulip poplar bottoms during late March / early April. Chanterelles after summer storms; chicken-of-the-woods on white and post oak.
Updated May 29, 4:23 AM MT
**Western Kentucky S-Tier Flush – Early Summer Sweet Spot** You're looking at textbook conditions: soil at 72.5°F with a full week of sustained warmth, nearly 5 inches of rain over two weeks, and volumetric water content locked at 0.28–0.31. This is S-tier because *everything* aligns—no limiting factors, no dry-down, no temperature volatility. The Pennyrile is in its early-summer prime. Operationally, focus on the wood-decay cohort first: Turkey Tail, Wine Cap, Artist's Conk, and the maze polypores are fruiting hard right now and are your bread-and-butter volume play. Morels are fading fast, but Half-Free specimens are still possible in shadier microclimates. The cup fungi (Green Elfcup, Black Cup) and jelly species (Witch's Butter, Wood Ear, Jelly Ear) are secondary-tier abundance but reliable fillers. No limiting factor means this window stays open 7–10 days unless a hard rain hits and spikes soil moisture beyond 0.35 VWC, which would shift some species to decline. Otherwise, you're in a stable pocket—ideal for quantity work. **Hot tip:** Nail the shaded north-facing slopes and ravine edges where soil moisture lingers longest; Wine Caps fruit differently there (larger, less sporulating) and you'll find Artist's Conk in better condition than sun-exposed wood.
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
Log your find on iNaturalist to help the community and get expert ID assistance. Photos, location, and habitat notes all help with identification.
4.17"
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.4.82"
PRISM 4km · thru 05-27
Soil Temp
73°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 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 73°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.28 VWC, 7d avg 0.31 — 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.