Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t have called them “fall” mushrooms, like flowers that only bloom in the fall. You can find these mushrooms during other seasons but I thought it was important to know the time of the year. Last fall, 2016, we went hiking at the Pinery Provincial Park at beginning and at the end of September and then we camping for a weekend in early October. During those trips I photographed an astronomical number of mushrooms and fungi that we found in campsites and along various trails that we hiked. There were so many that I should probably be writing several posts about it, and that may end up happening.

I am not an expert at identifying mushrooms and fungi but am trying to learn a little bit at a time so that I may be able to classify them into groups. One thing that I do know is that this fall, they were literally everywhere. The Wilderness Trail, in particular, had an phenomenal display of mushrooms, due in part to the sheer number of fallen trees that litter the trail. Several years ago a tornado set down in this section of the park and ripped up huge oaks and other trees which the mushrooms now cover.

So, I think I do need to separate this post into smaller, digestible pieces, unless you are interested and looking at almost 150 pictures of mushrooms? I didn’t think so. Let’s use this post as an summary of some of the mushrooms you’ll find if you visit the Pinery in the fall.

I will do my best to identify each, or at least put them into a group. If anyone more knowledgeable them me spots one, or many, misidentified, feel free to point that out in the comments. Keep in mind that not all mushrooms have a “common” name.