Where Do Chanterelles Grow: Foraging for Chanterelle Mushrooms

How, when, and where to find wild chanterelle mushrooms.

Reader Contribution by Eric Orr
Updated on May 13, 2024
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Adobe Stock/Vlasto Opatovsky
Cantharellus cibarius (commonly known as the chanterelle or golden chanterelle) growing in the forest

When is chanterelle mushroom season, and where do chanterelles grow? Learn how to forage, harvest, and use these tasty mushrooms.

The heat and humidity of summer in the Southeast can be brutal. But the stifling weather means chanterelle mushroom season is on the way, and makes it a perfect time to go prospecting for golden chanterelles — which, incidentally, are my favorite wild mushrooms! And I’m not alone considering the price of chanterelles can be upwards of $20 per pound at the local farmers market.

So, where do chanterelles grow and how can you find them? They’re actually pretty common this time of year and easy to find. Plus, it’s a lot more fun to forage for them in the forest than it is to buy them at a market. We usually have a prolific crop in the woods just downhill from our front door.

Chanterelle Mushroom Season: When to Look

Depending on locale, chanterelles can occur any time between May and December. Here in North Carolina, we usually start seeing them in early June, but their numbers really start to explode in early July. I don’t remember ever seeing any past October.

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