A friend asked me to make a map of areas where the best mushroom hunting will be during the 2022 spring season near Fairbanks, Alaska. Now I have no idea if morels grow in Alaska, but I damn sure know they are worth hunting for. If you've never had a morel, they are a delicious meaty mushroom that you can find is dense forested areas typically in the spring-time after a nice warm rain. I've been hunting them with my dad since I was a kid and we could always find plenty in the Shenandoah National Park. They are super yummy with a nice hunk of steak sizzled on the grill. MMM MMM! Well my dad had the chance to take my friend hunting a few years ago, and well, it's easy to fall in love with these fungi.
Corey Buhey wrote an article on Gaia GPS' blog titled How to Create The Ultimate Morel Mushroom Hunting Map. It features 7 layers that Gaia GPS hosts that will help you make a map of the most reliable areas to find morels. What I took from that article is there are three core elements that are at play when finding morels. First, they grow well in recently burned areas. Second, they grow on north and east facing slopes and third, they grow best after a nice warm rain.
So in order to make my map, I first looked at large areas near Fairbanks, Alaska that recently had fires in 2021. During the fall of 2021 there were two major fires near Fairbanks: the Munson Creek Fire and the Dry Creek Fire. Funnily enough, these two fires are just south of two major hot springs in the area as well. Then I took terrain data from those fire perimeters and found the slopes facing 0-112.5 degrees of aspect and highlighted those as areas of primary focus. Now because weather is a major element to the fertilization and growth of these fungi, this map does not incorporate that as it can change. However, I've warned my friend to wait to go hunting until after a nice warm rain.
Thanks to Corey Buhey for the informative article, although I really didn't want to pay for a premiere membership to Gaia GPS, so I found that data from other sources (below). Also, thanks to Adam Labuen for the mushroom drawing posted on dribbble.
Data:
AK Fire Perimeter: https://fire.ak.blm.gov/predsvcs/maps.php
Terrain: ArcGIS Online Living Atlas
How to Create the Ultimate Morel Mushroom Hunting Map by Corey Buhey