Just got back from a picture postcard day at Pt. Reyes National Seashore. The drive is a bit over 2 1/2 hours for me and I had never been there before. Unusual for parks in California, Pt. Reyes specifically welcomes personal use mushroom harvesting.

I would like to encourage you to try mushrooming. They hide okay but cannot run. Start with a few edible species like chantrelles, morels, and oysters that take only a small amount of study to reliably identify. Get a good guide book so you can double check you field identification. Join a group for lessons if you can.

I came home with a couple chantrelles, a few oyster mushrooms, and a few specimens I wanted to identify using books. I also encountered deer, squirrels, newts, coastal quail, a brush rabbit, hawks, ravens, and many identifiable and unidentifiable mushrooms of all colors and sizes. This was on a two hour hike into the woods within a couple hundred yards of the visitor center!

Just like hunting and fishing, being able to bring food to the table feels great.

That is basically NPS policy nationwide; a key element is "personal use." Also, Point Reyes is a National Recreation Area - their policies in general are less restrictive than National Parks. Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Channel Islands, etc. are not known for mushrooms, although I am sure some are there if you look hard enough in the right places. Heck,with the abundant rains, there are even mushrooms sprouting on my property, something rarely seen.

I'm jealous.
-Blast