State foraging calendar
Maryland Foraging Calendar
Maryland's three ecological zones, the western mountains, the central Piedmont, and the Chesapeake-Atlantic coastal plain, create a foraging diversity unusual for a state of its small size. The Chesapeake Bay's 11,000 miles of tidal shoreline make coastal foraging particularly productive, with glasswort, sea purslane, and watercress accessible across the Eastern Shore and Bay margins. Western Maryland's share of the Appalachians in Garrett and Allegany counties has the ramps, morels, and autumn mushrooms of the central Appalachian tradition. The Piedmont corridor around Baltimore and the Patuxent River valley supports pawpaws, black walnuts, and a full complement of mid-Atlantic hardwood forest species.
5 bioregions across Maryland
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Tap a region to see what's in season
Bioregions of Maryland
Foraging seasons shift sharply between Maryland's ecoregions. Pick the one nearest you for a 12-month calendar of what is in season.
Piedmont
146 speciesMaryland's Piedmont hills and river valleys with morels in the hardwood bottomlands, ramps in the cool north-facing ravines, pawpaws along Piedmont waterways, and a full mid-Atlantic autumn mushroom season in the mature hardwood stands.
View calendar →Central Appalachians
146 speciesWestern Maryland's Garrett and Allegany county mountains with ramps in the spruce and hardwood hollows, spring morels in the river bottoms, black walnuts throughout, and a fall harvest of hen of the woods and chicken of the woods.
View calendar →Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain
138 speciesMaryland's Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay tidal shoreline with productive glasswort and sea purslane in the salt marsh, watercress in fresh tidal streams, pawpaws in the bottomland forest, and elderberries along the edges of the bay's agricultural lowlands.
View calendar →Southeastern Plains
138 speciesSouthern Maryland's coastal-plain interior, with huckleberries, blueberries, native persimmons, and wild grapes in the pine-and-hardwood flatlands.
View calendar →Blue Ridge Mountains
130 speciesWestern Maryland's Catoctin and South Mountain ridges at the Blue Ridge tip, with rich hardwood ramps, morels, chanterelles, and chicken of the woods.
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.