Most of the mushrooms we saw were on our hike of Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. To get to Fern Canyon, you take US-101 three miles north of the town of Orick and turn onto Davison Road. It's a dirt road, sometimes like a washboard, and it's about four miles, but well worth the drive. At the end of Davison Road is a parking area. From there, it's about a hundred yards walk to where Fern Canyon begins. You walk up the creek bed into another world. There were banana slugs and tons of ferns. Water cascades over the edge of the cliffs in place, and trickles over in others. After about a half-mile, you will find steps taking you up to the north-side edge of the canyon. This is where we started to find the amazing mushrooms seen here.
This red fungus was quite interesting, growing at the edge of one of the wooden footbridges on the trail.
Several miles north on US-101 is Trees of Mystery. It costs $14.00 to do the SkyTrail, which includes a ride in a gondola to the top of the mountain. We thought it wasn't worth the money, but we did find another interesting mushroom.
We were quite amazed at our fungal findings. We loved the Fern Canyon hike and all its beauty, but finding all these amazing mushrooms was extra special.
