A fungi walk at Ijams Nature Center teaches beginners to read mushrooms and lichen Sunday
Two hours in the woods with a naturalist who calls himself a fun-guide, learning what the things on the logs are and what they do. Fifteen dollars, no experience needed, fourteen and up.
- When
- Sun Oct 18 · 1 – 3 PM
- Where
- Ijams Nature Center · 2915 Island Home Ave
- Cost
- $15 · ages 14+
- The walk
- Up to 1.5 miles on uneven trail, with stops
- Parking
- Free for participants · arrive 5 – 10 minutes early
- Weather
- Sunny and 68 · still damp underfoot from Friday's front
The listing opens with a pun, fungi identification doesn't leave mush-room for guessing, and then gets serious: a two-hour beginner workshop on Sunday, October 18 from one to three, led by an Ijams naturalist, covering the basics of fungi and lichen anatomy, how to tell them apart and the pivotal role they play in the forest. Fifteen dollars, ages fourteen and up. A bracket fungus the staff found on the River Trail this week, the underside like a maze, was the park's own preview.
On the trail
Expect up to a mile and a half of walking over roots, rocks and gravel, with plenty of stopping. Parking is free for anyone in the program; get there five to ten minutes early. Sunday is sunny and 68 behind the cold front, which is good for walkers and, after Friday's rain chance, decent for the mushrooms. The same workshop repeats October 31 and in November if this Sunday is spoken for.
