State foraging calendar
Illinois Foraging Calendar
Illinois may be dominated by agriculture, but its river corridor forests and southern hill country retain productive foraging ecosystems that support strong local traditions. Spring morel hunting along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers is a serious seasonal pursuit, with the bottomland hardwoods of western and central Illinois producing some of the best morel habitat in the Midwest. The Shawnee Hills and Ozark borderland of southern Illinois are the state's most ecologically diverse foraging territory, with pawpaws, persimmons, and spicebush alongside the Appalachian species that reach their westernmost limits here. Chicago-area foragers have built an unusually sophisticated urban foraging scene around the forest preserves and restored prairies of the metropolitan region.
6 bioregions across Illinois
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Tap a region to see what's in season
Bioregions of Illinois
Foraging seasons shift sharply between Illinois's ecoregions. Pick the one nearest you for a 12-month calendar of what is in season.
Central Great Plains
189 speciesWestern Illinois's prairie-and-river-bottom country, with morels flushing in the cottonwood bottoms and rose hips, chokecherries, and wild asparagus along the grassland margins.
View calendar →Upper Midwest Hardwood Forests
171 speciesNorthwestern Illinois's Driftless hill country, with ramps, morels, wild ginger, pawpaws, and autumn mushrooms in the oak-hickory and maple-basswood forest.
View calendar →Interior Low Plateaus
168 speciesSouthern Illinois's Shawnee Hills and Ohio River border country with pawpaws, persimmons, spicebush berries, and a more Appalachian foraging character than the agricultural north of the state.
View calendar →Corn Belt Midwest
165 speciesIllinois's dominant foraging landscape in the river-bottom hardwood woodlots and forest preserve remnants, with spring morels along the major river corridors, elderberries on agricultural edges, and pawpaws in floodplain forests.
View calendar →Ozark Highlands
129 speciesIllinois's extreme southwest corner touching the Missouri Ozarks, with the same oak-hickory forest species including morels, chanterelles, and autumn mushrooms in the rugged creek-bottom hollows.
View calendar →Mississippi Alluvial Plain
120 speciesThe bottomlands of far southern Illinois near the river confluence, with muscadine grapes, elderberries, pawpaws, and persimmons in the rich alluvial forest.
View calendar →Always confirm any wild edible with multiple sources and an experienced local guide before eating it. Many edible species have toxic look-alikes.