A new study describes the Pacific Northwest as “by far the best place in America to go looking for psychedelic mushrooms."
If you are looking to forage for your own psychedelic mushrooms, analysts have mapped out the best places in the United States to get your trip on.
Using data from wildlife identification and observation app iNaturalist, data scientists at moveBuddha mapped out the best locations for mushroom hunting in the country. The analysis used research-grade observations of fungi reported in the app, which included a photo, date, and geographical coordinates.
Mushroom foraging, usually for culinary use, is a popular pastime throughout temperate regions of the United States and Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, Korea, and parts of the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. It offers people a chance to get out into nature, and maybe find some magic fungi along the way. But foraging doesn’t come without risks. It can be difficult to distinguish edible species from toxic ones, so if you are at all in doubt over the mushroom you have found, you should not eat it.
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For confident foragers on the hunt for psychoactive mushrooms, there are 22 different species of psilocybin mushrooms growing across the United States, with each species thriving in different regions and growing conditions. MoveBuddha’s analysis found the best areas for coming across these “magic mushrooms” were the Pacific Northwest, the Rustbelt, East Texas, and Central Florida.
The report describes the Pacific Northwest as “by far the best place in America to go looking for psychedelic mushrooms, with 15 of our top 25 cities being located between the Bay Area and the Canadian border. Here, Psilocybe cyanescens, commonly known as the Wavy Cap, is the most commonly observed psilocybin mushroom among iNaturalist users.”
The top county for spotting psychedelic mushrooms was Pacific County, Washington, with a rate of observation/10,000 residents of 15.23. This was followed by three counties in Oregon: Clatsop, Tillamook, and Benton.
Another good place to hunt for psychoactive mushrooms is the cattle pastures of South and East Texas. “Rusk and Dewitt Counties feature high rates of observations for Psilocybe cubensis, colloquially known as magic mushrooms,” the report said. “This species also grows well in humid central Florida, such as in Highlands and Alachua counties.”
Psychonauts living in the Midwest or North-East, never fear – the analysis also showed the corridor from Ohio up through Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont is rich in psilocybin mushrooms. It found: “High rates of Psilocybe caerulipes [were] spotted in Ashland County, Ohio; Warren County, Pennsylvania; Cattaraugus County, New York; and Washington County, Vermont. High rates of observations of Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata are reported in eastern Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna and Allegheny Counties.”
When mapping out the best locations for foraging edible, non-psychedelic mushrooms, the Pacific Northwest, from California through to Washington, again topped the list, with nine out of the 25 top counties found in this area. “Not only do these counties have high rates of fungi observations, but they are also filled with mushroom meetup groups, forager festivals, and other social events dedicated to learning about and celebrating fungi,” the report noted.
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Y’all forgot about West Virginia!!! It’s gettin close to that time of year!!
Remember that mushroom use can cause serious liver damage. Terence McKenna and Carlos Castaneda both died of liver cancer.
To the above poster that stated that Terrance McKenna died of liver cancer, FALSE. It was brain cancer. Stop spreading lies. As if the mushrooms had anything to do with his death. SMH
Terrence McKenna did not die of liver cancer.
Ignore the misinformation. Psilocybin mushrooms have no adverse effects on liver. Terrence McKenna died of brain cancer not liver cancer. And although Carlos Casteneda died of liver cancer he was a proponent of peyote not mushrooms, and peyote did not cause his liver cancer.
2? Do you also get on alcohol sites and complain about the 150,000+ who die from liver disease due to alcohol in the US EVERY YEAR because you are so concerned, Daniel? Or do you just find 2 instances that may support your argument out of the millions who’ve used these over centuries just to make some sort of incoherent point? Enjoy your beer, my man.
Mushrooms do not cause liver damage.
There are mushrooms that will cause liver damage if eaten. They contain toxins called amatoxins. The mushrooms which contain these toxins are mostly from the genera Amanita, Galerina, Lepiota, and Conocybe. Amatoxin poisoning is responsible for over 95% of mushroom poisoning fatalities. Death is usually in 7 to 10 days due to liver failure.
The mushrooms that contain psilocybin and psilocin will not cause liver damage.
Gotta love low IQ people like “Daniel Gerber” spreading their own ignorance as if it is a fact. very fitting your name is Gerber since you seemingly have the critical thinking skills of a child. Grow up and stop spreading your own ignorance to others. Thanks
Daniel Gerber – please stop spreading misinformation. It is harmful to unknowing people looking to heal with our wonderful fungi friends. And they do NOT, in fact, cause any liver damage whatsoever. I highly suggest doing research before commenting on public articles
Shows how desperate drug warriors are to demonize substances rather than to learn about them. The Ecstasy-fueled rave scene brought together folks of all ethnicities, religions and colors on the British dance floor, but the drug warriors shut it down by criminalizing E because of one single well-publicized death — which itself was the result of the drug war which discouraged the development of safe use guidelines (hint: you have to stay hydrated when you’re dancing, especially when you only weigh 100 pounds). Of course, the dance floor then became so violent (with folks hopped up on anger-fueling alcohol) that concert organizers needed to hire Special Forces troops to keep the peace. Another “victory” for the drug war.
Carlos Castaneda was a proponent for both peyote & mushrooms ! I don’t know about his or Mr.McKenna’s disposition of health at death but I do know that wild mushrooms can lead to hep type A but otherwise psilocybin mushrooms are proported to have no ill effect! I’m not sure if I would agree with that but as a proponent for psilocybin I will say the worst I have personally experience is an occasional ping or mild stabbing feeling on that note I have only one thing to say “All Adults should have the right to choose their own poisons” , I for one choose LSD, mescaline & psilocybin, at least I will die Laughing!!!
I am really in need of any and all info on magic mushrooms. Where to get them the best and safest. I lost my father last year 5-3-21 and I need to reconnect with my self and all around me.
My whole life growing up in Florida I only I ew they grew in cow dung. In the morning after the sunrises there everywhere where else do the grow wild in hit humid climates?
Nichole I’m sorry for your loss and can relate to you. Buying them can be tricky because of the government unrightfully regulating them. You may want to look into growing them and can find active spores sold online, but it’s a learning curve, you will need to study the process of growing. You can forage but extreme caution is needed to avoid accidental eating of toxic mushrooms instead.
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All I can say is magic mushrooms have never contributed to any problems with liver or anything like that. Toxic mushrooms the death cap or basically Amanita phalloides is the only one that has toxins in it to do that there’s two toxins in there that are not good there is a way to remove them but those are the mushrooms that attribute to liver problems psychedelics and all the other stuff never do you can look that up
Death is just an illusion.
I was drunk as a prepalithic thinking it might be cool to just say ” hell with hunting… and gathering…leave it to the birds!” Maybe I’ll just build me a little bit of a hut and stick it out here for a while. Hell maybe just build something with my friends over there on that hill…you know just to fuck around. This stinking muck in my pestle hole is pretty friggin good… yeah… I’m feeling cool… I’m feeling alright…it was late in the evening…0
Sorry…got a bit off the rail there…any who, and I underfried myself a batch of morrels.
About an hour later I pretty much felt donkey kicked in my poor abused liver.
But I’ve eaten Boomer’s and drank everything from flat assed 2 day old budweiser with a cig but in it( hell of a show…never made it passed the parking lot )too small batch Templeton with nothing but a bubbly tummy and a bit of belching the order of which would repel a vulture.
So I’m calling BULLSHIT!
IT’S NOT HARD TO EXTRAPOLATE THAT (…didn’t mean to yell…sorry )psilocybin being the only known substance that not only can increase the total number of neurological in any brain but also create new neurons…that that’s what made us the biological pestilence…that invented the Gods…so as to not have to feel to guilty about our sons to mother earth and sanctify our greed with justifycation…( Who stole the cooky from the cooky jar…not me? )
Just several intangled houghts.
If anyone knows any good places in WV, KY, OH, or VA to mushroom hunt, please inform me because I tried ordering some from someone online and got scammed and nobody really gets them where I live, they’re only worried about weed, pills, crack, and meth.
I almost died 40 yrs ago eating the wrong kind of mushroom (amanita phaloides) the cops took me to the hospital just in time (after I tried to break into someone’s house, then ran off down the road.) completely delusional within a half hour. Yeah it was a wild trip but too intense. Since then still forage but you need to be 100% certain what you’re eating. I got lucky, others haven’t. Be extremely careful what you read on the internet about amanita species (like the muscaria red ones with white spots) being ‘safe’ or ‘cool’.