If you’ve ever hiked through the mountains and spotted a little cluster of mushrooms pushing up through the soil, you’ve already brushed up against a world that’s far bigger, older, and stranger than most of us realize. And here in Idaho, that world has its own long-standing community: the Southern Idaho Mushroom Club.

Founded in 1976 as the Southern Idaho Mycological Association, the club began when the North American Mycological Association selected the McCall/Cascade area for a national foray. Local mushroom lovers formed a club to help host the event – and then decided to keep it going. Nearly 50 years later, some of those founding members (now in their 80s) are still involved.

The group has grown from a handful of dedicated mycophiles into a big, generous, slightly nerdy community of about 180 people. Like the fungi they love, the club has quietly spread its mycelial network into all kinds of places. And while the club itself is fascinating, part of what makes it special is where it lives.

An underground fungi hotspot

There are a few reasons why mycologists have their eye on this region.

Southern Idaho sits at the meeting point of the Rocky Mountains and the Blue Mountains, with an “interface of ecosystems” that’s pretty unusual. Within a couple hours of Boise, you can move from the extremely remote Owyhee canyons to alpine forests, and then out to entirely different habitats in central and northern Idaho.

“Mycologists who have visited this area have taken note of the fact that we're at the interface between the Rocky Mountains and the Blue Mountains ranges, and we have this interface of ecosystems that is unique to this part of the country,” said Mickey Myhre, President of Southern Idaho Mushroom Club. “They say that we have fungi in this region that are found nowhere else in the world.”

Another reason why Idaho is interesting is due to the fact that it is pretty sparsely populated and, until recently, was very infrequently accessed for foraging. Back when the club was first starting up, the state was relatively unexplored territory amongst mycologists.

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What the club is up to

The Southern Idaho Mushroom Club meets eight or nine months out of the year (they take the summer off), usually on the second Monday of the month at One Stone School. Meetings start at 7pm and typically include a well-known speaker or somebody who has some expertise that's of interest to the club. Sometimes that’s a local member, sometimes it’s a big-deal guest.

Recently, the club heard from Giuliana Furci, one of the most prominent mycology advocates in the world and the woman who was single-handedly responsible for National Geographic coming out with their first mushroom-centric issue.

The club also hosts movie nights. Last month, the club rented out The Flicks to screen “Follow the Rain,” the 2024 visually stunning documentary film that explores the hidden world of fungi in Australia.

In February 2026, they are hosting renowned mycologist and author Merlin Sheldrake in Boise. On February 11, there will be a ticketed screening of his film, “Fungi: Web of Life,” followed by a Q&A with Sheldrake. The film is narrated by Björk and, according to Mickey, is “visual candy.” The next day, February 12, Sheldrake will give a free public talk at Boise State University.

The club also hosts classes, which have been a hit. They’ve held a mushroom identification class and a microscopy class. A BSU mycologist who is part of the club opened up the lab and set up slides so participants could literally see the relationships between fungi and plant roots.

The club also does forays, which are awesome. Twice a year, in spring and fall, members gather in the McCall area for weekend-long mushroom hunts. People head out in small groups led by experienced foray leaders who know the woods and the conditions. Everyone brings their finds back to a central spot, where mycologists help identify the haul. At the last foray, they identified 199 different fungi species during forays.

The fungi they can’t figure out on the spot don’t just get tossed aside. These mushrooms are “vouchered,” meaning they’re sent off for DNA analysis. Every so often, that process turns up a species that hasn’t been recorded in Idaho before, or possibly anywhere.

And in December, instead of a formal meeting they have a potluck dinner. A lot of members bring mushroom dishes, but it’s not a requirement. The point is more about gathering, sharing food, and telling stories from the season.

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“Gut-hooked” on fungi

The current president of the club is Dr. Mickey Myhre, a retired pathologist and former microbiology lab director who did not expect to spend his retirement talking about mushrooms to anyone who will listen.

His entry into the fungal world started in 2017, a few weeks after the total solar eclipse. His wife, Gloria, came down with a mysterious chronic viral illness after camping in Oregon for the eclipse. For several months, every evening at the same time, she’d get a pounding headache and low-grade malaise.

Their son-in-law, who had been into mushrooms for a while, suggested she try turkey tail mushroom tea. Mickey, a retired physician, was skeptical.

“I thought well that's a load of crap. Drink some freaking brewed mushrooms and it’ll make you feel better?” laughed Mickey. “But what did we have to lose, you know? My wife was suffering. So we gave it a try."

They threw some turkey tail mushrooms in a crockpot with a couple cinnamon sticks and let it steep. Gloria started drinking a glass a day. Within a week, her symptoms had mostly resolved.

That cracked something open for Mickey.

“After that I thought, ok well maybe there's something to this mushroom stuff... but probably not. I'm gonna do a little dive on it,” he said. “I got started and holy crap. It’s the largest kingdom of life on the planet and arguably the oldest. They might be the earliest eukaryotic organisms on the planet. They've been here for 1-2 billion years. They’re plugged into every form of life there is. The more I got into it, it's like... oh God, this is huge! That's what got me started and it's gotten worse.”

Mickey describes himself now as “gut-hooked” – like a fish that can’t come off the line – and genuinely grateful for it. After leaving a high-intensity medical career and the abrupt stillness that followed in retirement, mushrooms gave him a new “why” and a community to share it with.

“I went from being super busy to boom, nothing," he said. "It's been a godsend because it gives me a why, a what for, and a passion.”

The people who show up

One of the things Mickey loves most about the Southern Idaho Mushroom Club is who it attracts.

There are culinary folks who just want to find chanterelles and learn how to grow oyster mushrooms in buckets in their garage. There are gardeners and hikers who like having a reason to look more closely at the ground. There are scientists and students. There are people interested in the emerging research around psilocybin and mental health, including some who have personally gone through therapeutic mushroom experiences in places where it’s legal to cure depression and anxiety.

It’s a very mixed group. Young, old, deeply scientific, wildly curious. But the common thread is that people who fall for fungi tend to be extremely generous. They want to trade knowledge, compare finds, and connect with other curious people. Mickey likes to point out that fungi are the original masters of symbiosis, the organisms that specialize in interfacing with other forms of life. In his experience, the human mycology community behaves a lot like that too.

“That's one of the cool things about the whole mycological community is it really is, in a lot of ways, a borderless international community that just evolves," said Mickey. "I love that I have friends from all over the country, all over the world who are interested in this. It's very enriching.”

Join the club

If you’re mushroom-curious or just looking to make new friends, you are invited to join the club. You don’t have to commit to anything major to start. You don’t even have to be a member to attend a meeting.

Check the club’s website for the next meeting date and just show up. You can meet people, listen to the talk, ask questions, and see if the energy feels like something you want to be a part of.

If you do decide to become a member, there are perks: early access to foray signups (they fill up fast), discounts with a handful of local businesses, first dibs on classes and workshops, and a steady flow of opportunities to learn and get outside.

You can learn more at idahomushroomclub.org or email membership@idahmushroomclub.org if you have questions about membership. And if you're on social media, follow them on Instagram at @idahomushroomclub.

Thanks for reading!

With love from Boise,

Marissa

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