2022 Morel Mushroom Hunt in Arcadia Michigan

Afternoon of 5/14 – Morning of 5/15 2022

Every year in the month of May, me and my wife head up to Arcadia, MI  to hunt for morel mushrooms. The perfect conditions have to combine for a good season. A bit of a warm-up in temperature followed by a good rain gets them growing in early summer. The past two years have been sparse, but we still managed to pick enough for a good snacking through the weekend.

Each resident has their own secret hunting locations. My mother-in-law has been hunting all her life and has so many stories of great seasons where mushrooms covered entire hillsides. I won’t be disclosing our hunting grounds here, but there are several things you can look for in a good spot:

• Woods with bunches of Poplar trees. We’ve found many a mush under new and old growth Poplars
• Dead leaf ground cover from last fall. Usually light brown/tan in color
• Dead and deteriorating tree fall and bark. Morels spores love to grow up and out of old forest deadfall
• Deer trails and scat. This is a personal observation, it seems any time we find a good spot, signs of deer passing through are close by
• Abandoned orchards (this gets sketchy if you’re trespassing)

Cooking Morels and Visiting Iron Fish Distillery

Afternoon of 5/15 – Evening of 5/15

So how do you prep and cook morels? It’s easy! First, cut each mushroom in half and rinse under cool water. Then soak in water for a couple hours or overnight in the fridge. This re-hydrates the mushroom and rids it of most bugs and dirt. When you’re ready to cook, slap a large piece of butter in a pan and cook on low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Morels greatly reduce in size as they cook (like other mushrooms) and will get dark and tender. Enjoy! One snack we like to make is a toasted Trisket with cheese and a morel on top.

After snacking on morels, we headed to Iron Fish Distillery not far from Arcadia. It’s located down a dirt road on some farmland. It’s so secluded and tucked away it feels like it shouldn’t be there. Their food and drinks are great, and you can check out their shop area to see tall rows of bottled spirits lined up the wall.