Where in the US could I find this kind of forest?

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Oleg Volk

I am looking for coniferous trees, moss, mushrooms, wild berries, something like this photo set.

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42 Responses to Where in the US could I find this kind of forest?

  1. Blaine Nay says:
    September 16, 2014 at 2:05 pm

    Try the rain forests of western Washington State, western British Columbia, or southeastern and southcentral Alaska.

    • Linoge says:
      September 18, 2014 at 7:37 am

      If it is still accessible (the road keeps washing out), I will put in a vote for the Hoh Rain Forest out on the Olympic Peninsula. Not exactly easy to get to, but worth the drive.

  2. Alan Richmond says:
    September 16, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    Nor Cal coast, Oregon & Washington coast.

  3. Eric Wilner says:
    September 16, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    There’s a fair amount of that in the Pacific Northwest; from my (fuzzy) recollection, coastal Oregon and Washington (as Blaine mentioned) would be good places to look.
    The fungi and berries (and moss, depending on local climate) will be seasonal, of course. In a wet winter, we even get a fair amount of moss & mushrooms down here in the Bay Area, in among the redwoods.
    I’m guessing you’ll need proper rainforest, if you want mushrooms and berries at the same time. Olympic National Park, perhaps?

  4. Anthony Pacheco says:
    September 16, 2014 at 2:38 pm

    The Hoh River Rainforest.

    The west side of the Olympic Mountains.

    Etc., etc.

  5. David P says:
    September 16, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    Oregon, Washington or N. California west of the Cascade mountains. Too dry this time of year. Spring time (March thru June)for the best light and brightest greens. I have lots of haunts that look like that.

  6. eriko says:
    September 16, 2014 at 2:55 pm

    What the above said but you need a little altitude to dry the ground out to get that kind of ground cover and tree spread. It also looks like it was harvested and replanted in the last 30 to 40 years.

  7. Ted says:
    September 16, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    Seconded for the Rainier Nat’l park… but interestingly enough I saw this sort of terrain in the Shoshone Nat’l park this year – it was a very wet spring and summer and this was the result.

  8. Dee says:
    September 16, 2014 at 3:30 pm

    Reminds me of the Superior Hiking Trail but peak berry season was in August this year.

  9. Fred says:
    September 16, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    Pacific Northwest comes to mind right away, but if you get to the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at the right time of year, it looks like that in places.

  10. John Davies says:
    September 16, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    Me too! …… http://www.quinaultrainforest.com/pages/rainforest.html

    Needless to say, bring rain gear.

    John E Davies
    Spokane WA USA

  11. Siege says:
    September 16, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    Yep, having lived in eastern WA for a few years, I can say with a great deal of certainty this this is likely to be in the Pacific NW, though I’ve also seen some similar places in Ohio and Colorado.

  12. Y. says:
    September 16, 2014 at 4:50 pm

    It looks like a model forest or something.

    Likely not, but it doesn’t look like a real one. The stuff on the ground looks out of scale to the trees..

    Uncanny forest.

  13. The Stig says:
    September 16, 2014 at 4:59 pm

    Southeast Alaska, Pacific Northwest, and I’ve seen cover like that near Glacier in Montana.

  14. Drang says:
    September 16, 2014 at 5:22 pm

    Olympic peninsula of WA, just watch out for sparkly vampires…

  15. Dick Summers says:
    September 16, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    The White Mountains National Forest in N.H. is probably closer to you.

    • Weer'd Beard says:
      September 17, 2014 at 6:15 pm

      +1 You’ll probably find better examples in the Northwest Rain Forests, but White Mountain National Forest, as well as any mountains in Central Maine will be damn close to the picture above.

  16. The Infamous Oregon Lawhobbit says:
    September 16, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    What they said. Pacific Northwest, over on the Wet Side of the Cascades. The only thing that’s not leaping to mind are where the overly-colorful mushrooms might be.

  17. David Calhoun says:
    September 16, 2014 at 7:03 pm

    One more vote for the Pacific Northwest. Cascade range is full of forest like that.

  18. ChrisJ says:
    September 16, 2014 at 9:46 pm

    I think the coastal ranges of Oregon and Washington would be too dense. The Cascades would probably be a better fit. For Oregon I’ve seen woods that look identical to that in the Santiam Wilderness through to the Deschutes National Forest.

  19. Evan says:
    September 16, 2014 at 10:19 pm

    If you’re looking for something close to home Cedars of Lebanon State Park south of Lebanon, TN might work well for you.

  20. shotgunner says:
    September 16, 2014 at 11:04 pm

    Looks west coasty to me. Nothing more to add.

    Live your images. Thank you.

  21. shotgunner says:
    September 16, 2014 at 11:05 pm

    Looks west coasty to me. Nothing more to add.

    Digging the crowd sourced set locating.

    Love your images most of all. Thank you.

  22. hist_ed says:
    September 17, 2014 at 12:47 am

    ‘nother vote for Western Washington.

  24. Steve says:
    September 17, 2014 at 7:34 am

    Gaudineer Knob, West Virginia

  25. jon spencer says:
    September 17, 2014 at 9:01 am

    Other than the road, most Designated Wilderness’s will look something like that picture.
    http://www.wilderness.net/map.cfm

  26. Rolls Canardly says:
    September 17, 2014 at 9:11 am

    Fly to Seattle, rent a car, and take I-90 East. Go past Snoqualmie Summit and Keechelus Lake, and take the Kachess Lake Road exit. Go South on NF-54, make your way uphill on the logging roads. Lots of terrain like this, complete with mushrooms.

  27. Sid says:
    September 17, 2014 at 9:52 am

    Yuma, AZ. However, I am going to need some time. I have to plant some confireous trees, moss, mushrooms, and wild berries. I am going to attempt some terraforming like on LV-426.

  28. Leon says:
    September 17, 2014 at 10:47 am

    You could come quite close in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
    Blackberries should be ripe now.

  29. Cory Lincoln says:
    September 17, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    Maine has woods like that. Lots of four-wheeler and snowmobile trails as well which would look similar to the trail in those photos

  30. charby says:
    September 17, 2014 at 5:03 pm

    Boundary Waters/Superior National Forest. As mentioned above berry season is late July/early August.

  31. Hugh Davis says:
    September 17, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    SE Alaska, Oregon and Washington coasts west of the cascades, northern Idaho in the Selkirks for North America. Similar temperate rain forests are found worldwide.

    From Wikipedia –

    Temperate forests cover a large part of the earth, but temperate rainforests only occur in a few regions around the world. Most of these occur in Oceanic-Moist Climates: the Pacific temperate rain forests in Western North America (Southeastern Alaska to Central California), the Valdivian and Magellanic temperate rainforests of southwestern South America (Southern Chile and adjacent Argentina), pockets of rain forest in northwest Europe (southern Norway to northern Spain and Portugal), temperate rainforests of southeastern Australia (Tasmania and Victoria) and the New Zealand temperate rainforests (South Island’s west coast).

    Others occur in Subtropical-Moist Climates: South Africa’s Knysna-Amatole coastal forests, the Colchian rain forests of the eastern Black Sea region (Turkey and Georgia), the Caspian temperate rainforests of Iran and Azerbaijan, the mountain temperate rainforests along eastern Taiwan’s Pacific Coast, southwest Japan’s Taiheiyo forests, Australia’s coastal New South Wales and New Zealand’s North Island.

    Some areas, however, such as the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, northern Idaho and northwestern Montana, Rocky Mountain Trench in BC and Montana, and the Russian Far East (Ussuri, Manchuria, Sakhalin) in Asia have more of continental climate but get enough precipitation in both rain and snow to harbor significant pockets of temperate rainforest.

    Scattered small pockets of temperate rainforest also exist along the Appalachian Mountains from northern Georgia to New England. The mountainous coniferous forests of the Changbai Mountains bordering China and North Korea are also a good example, containing some of the richest high-elevation coniferous evergreen forests in East Asia.

  32. Chas S. Clifton says:
    September 17, 2014 at 7:46 pm

    Any city park in Anchorage, Alaska, particularly Kincaid Park.

  33. Steelheart says:
    September 18, 2014 at 5:55 pm

    Another vote for northern Minnesota

  34. Ray says:
    September 18, 2014 at 6:54 pm

    Redwoods outside of San Francisco.

    http://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm

  35. Pierangelo Tendas says:
    September 18, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    Northernmost part of the western seabord; northern/north-eastern California, Oregon, Washington State. Probably all the way up into British Columbia and southeastern Alaska.

  36. Jim22 says:
    September 20, 2014 at 2:45 pm

    Southeast Alaska or Prince William Sound in Alaska. Otherwise the Olympic peninsula in Washington State. Another candidate is Queen Charlotte Island in British Columbia, Canada.

  37. .45ACP+P says:
    September 23, 2014 at 9:41 am

    Much closer to you than you think. George Washington National Forest in Virginia. Specifically: Ramsey’s Draft. Old growth of Hemlock trees. You could probably drive it in under a day.

  38. Bill says:
    September 23, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    Colorado has may varied alpine forests. There are the red toadstool mushrooms, forests covered with old man’s beard, streams and waterfalls, aspens and everything in between. it almost looks line Norway in some areas, to the black forest in others, to New Mexico looking desert in others. Then you can drive between areas in about an hour. 1-2 hours from Denver and you can get lost.

  39. Kristophr says:
    September 26, 2014 at 2:11 pm

    These look more like pines than douglas fir.

    Might want something a bit dryer than the PNW coast or Cascades for this. I suggest Northern Idaho.

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