Cherokee Purchase Unit
- Manager
- Forest Service
- Designation
- National Forest
- Size
- 325 acres
- Region
- Tennessee
Mushroom harvest rules
Rules vary
US National Forests and Grasslands
The Forest Service lists mushrooms as a special forest product. Rules and permits are set by each forest, so check with the district office before you pick.
The Forest Service lists mushrooms among special forest products. Federal regulation prohibits removing a forest product except as authorized (36 CFR 261.6), and prohibits selling or exchanging a forest product obtained under free use. Personal-use rules vary by national forest: the Olympic National Forest, for example, needs no permit for incidental personal picking and sets one gallon per species per year, while other forests set their own limits or permits. Commercial picking needs a permit, as the Olympic page states. Contact the district office. Wilderness areas and closures may add restrictions.
Official source: USDA Forest Service: Special Forest Products; 36 CFR 261.6
Last verified: November 12, 2026
Rules change. Confirm with the land manager before you pick.
See the foraging laws for Tennessee.
Location
The marker shows an approximate point, not a boundary. Check the manager's map for exact borders and access points.
Species recorded in Tennessee and in season now
Based on state-wide records for this month, not specific to this land. Edibility rules still apply: never eat a wild mushroom based on this site.
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40-mile Per Hour Lichen
Flavoparmelia caperata
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
Dragon Horn
Cladonia squamosa
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
rough speckled shield lichen
Punctelia rudecta
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
Black Sheet Lichen
Parmotrema reticulatum
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
Blue Jellyskin
Leptogium cyanescens
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
Lungwort [lichen]
Lobaria pulmonaria
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
Many-forked Cladonia
Cladonia furcata
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
Crumpled Rag Lichen
Platismatia tuckermanii
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
Turkeytail
Trametes versicolor
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
Smooth Lungwort
Ricasolia quercizans
Edibility unknown — do not eat -
crown-tipped coral fungus
Artomyces pyxidatus
Edible (per source) -
Powdery Axil-bristle Lichen
Myelochroa aurulenta
Edibility unknown — do not eat
Land data: USGS PAD-US (public domain).