State foraging calendar
South Carolina Foraging Calendar
South Carolina's foraging follows the state's three-zone geography from the Blue Ridge escarpment in the northwest, through the rolling Piedmont hardwood forests, to the subtropical coastal plain and barrier island coast. The Upstate's brief mountain influence gives way quickly to Piedmont foraging, which is dominated by muscadine grapes, chanterelles, and persimmons through the long growing season. The coastal plain's longleaf pine flatwoods and Carolina bay wetlands support native blueberries, gallberry, and the rare carnivorous plant communities that signal nutrient-poor sandy soils well worth inspecting for edible understory species. The ACE Basin and coastal marshes offer productive estuarine foraging along one of the Southeast's most intact tidal systems.
5 bioregions across South Carolina
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Tap a region to see what's in season
Bioregions of South Carolina
Foraging seasons shift sharply between South Carolina's ecoregions. Pick the one nearest you for a 12-month calendar of what is in season.
Piedmont
180 speciesThe South Carolina Piedmont's mature oak-hickory and mixed hardwood forests with muscadine grapes along every forest edge, golden chanterelles through the long summer season, persimmons in fall, and pawpaws in bottomland floodplains.
View calendar →Southeastern Plains
175 speciesSouth Carolina's coastal plain with native blueberries and huckleberries in the longleaf flatwoods, gallberry in the wet flatwoods, muscadine grapes on forest edges, and sea rocket and glasswort on the barrier island coast.
View calendar →Blue Ridge Mountains
170 speciesSouth Carolina's Blue Ridge Escarpment and Upcountry highlands, a narrow but botanically rich strip with ramps, spring morels, and the beginnings of the Appalachian species complex in the steep cove hardwood hollows.
View calendar →Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain
168 speciesThe northeastern coastal plain of South Carolina, with sea rocket and glasswort in the salt marsh and pawpaws and elderberries in the river-corridor forests.
View calendar →Southern Coastal Plain
125 speciesThe Lowcountry and southern flatwoods of South Carolina, with palmetto and gallberry, blueberries, and muscadine grapes in the longleaf pine woods and coastal margins.
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.