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Other stories in "Spring"

• Going with the dogs
  Pets not only are welcome in many places, they get their own festivals.
• Finally, the Bunyan is done
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• Good deals
  Grab a Deals in the Dells card at Culver's.
• Blazing a trail
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• Gotta have a twist cone
  When the mom-and-pop ice-cream stands open, happy days are here again.
• Planning ahead
  Tour a tall ship, reserve a campsite, find the mother lode.
• Road Trip/Wildflowers in bluff country
  On two sides of the Mississippi, see thousands of lovely blooms in one day.
• Luring the ladies
  In shopping towns, April is the month for girlfriend getaways.
• Culinary getaways
  On artisan farms, help pick your own dinner, then dine alfresco.
• The season's first ship
  For a free trip to Duluth, guess when the first saltie will arrive.
• Brainerd revisited
  Our new correspondents tell us why these Minnesota lakes are much more than a vacation spot for hotshots.
• Time to toast St. Pat
  For a day, everyone gets to be Irish.
• Without reservation
  If there's a big festival in your future, stake out space as soon as possible.
• Snap up copy of new biking guide
  In Wisconsin, new trails await bicycle tourists.
• Friend us on Facebook
  Watch for cool events and new picture galleries.
• A room in the Zona Romantica
  In a Puerto Vallarta neighborhood, a B&B fosters friendships.
• Guest List/Andrew Slade's Top 5 North Shore campgrounds
  Guest list.

The mushrooms are coming

In spring, the search is on for the wily morel.

This year, nothing is normal about the advance of morel mushrooms.

Usually, they advance from the south, starting in April in Missouri and southern Illinois, appearing in Iowa in late May and peaking on Mother's Day in southeast Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin. They're found in the north woods later in May.

But this spring, the Upper Midwest has basked in unprecedented warmth, and mushrooms are popping up in patches, depending on which areas have had rain.

The first gray morels appeared around the Twin Cities the third weekend of April, nearly a month ahead of schedule. But few hunters in southeast Minnesota, the traditional morel hot spot, found anything because it's been so dry.

If your area has had rain and the soil is moist, look now on south-facing hillsides. Or, look in moist spots, around springs or creeks. For updates from other mushroom hunters, check the message boards at Morels.com.

Usually, morels pop out about the same time lilacs bud. Look first at the top of sunny hillsides around dying trees, especially elms, though morels can be found under many kinds of trees and also in meadows and on sandy bottomlands.

The season lasts three to four weeks. Since most people go out on weekends, Thursdays and Fridays are good days to look because new mushrooms have had a chance to pop out since the previous weekend.

Toward the end of the season, look on the northern edges of woods and in ravines.

For hunting tips, see Out of the forest and into the frying pan.

And watch out for ticks: See Preventing Lyme disease.

Last updated on April 18, 2010