CAL FIRE issues mushroom permits for Jackson Demonstration State Forest by mail only. It asks applicants to allow 10 to 14 days, and it will not issue a permit in person. Mail an application on November 1 and the long end of that window is November 15, the last day of the Mendocino Coast Mushroom Club's festival weekend in Caspar.
Most of the coast's late fall works the same way. Festival foray tickets are sold online in advance only, the crab opener depends on a state whale-risk review, and the Botanical Gardens charge $10 more at the door than online. This November goes to people who planned in October. Here is the calendar, followed by the lead time behind each date.
The Season in Order
- November 7: The recreational Dungeness crab season is scheduled to reopen in CDFW's Mendocino region.
- November 9, 10 a.m. to noon: CAL FIRE/JDSF public foray at Camp One, Jackson Demonstration State Forest.
- November 10, 6 to 8 p.m.: Mendocino Coast Mushroom Club monthly meeting, First Presbyterian Church of Fort Bragg, 367 S Sanderson Way.
- November 14 and 15: 3rd Annual Fungi Festival and Cultural Convergence at Caspar Community Center, with the Forager's Feast on Saturday night.
- November 26, 9 a.m.: The 13th Annual Turkey Trot at the Coast on the South Coastal Trail in Fort Bragg.
- November 27 through December 20, Fridays to Sundays: The 16th annual Festival of Lights at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.
- December 7, 10 a.m. to noon: CAL FIRE/JDSF public foray at the Camp 20 Recreation Area off Fort Bragg-Willits Road.
- December 12, 4 to 7 p.m.: Candlelit Shopping Night at Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino.
The Permit Takes Longer Than the Rain
In CAL FIRE's own wording, mushroom harvesting in Jackson Demonstration State Forest requires a permit, and applications are "by mail only at this time." The agency suggests USPS Priority Mail to speed delivery. Permits follow the state fiscal year. Every permit expires June 30, whatever date it was issued, so a permit bought last spring has already lapsed, and one bought this fall expires next June 30.
The permit packet CAL FIRE posts sets the conditions. Permittees must carry the permit, digging is prohibited, and gathering is off-limits in posted or mapped closed areas. The packet also says mushroom gathering is prohibited in the neighboring State Parks.
That boundary matters on this coast, where the state forest sits close to some of the best-known parks. Under California State Parks regulations, collecting plants is prohibited unless a posting for that specific park unit authorizes mushroom gathering. The Russian Gulch park page says natural features are protected and may not be disturbed or collected, and Van Damme's page says the same. A basket that is legal at a Jackson Demonstration State Forest trailhead may not be legal a few miles west at the headlands.
This is general information, not legal advice. Before you forage, confirm current permit terms and closures directly with the JDSF office and the specific park unit.
Caspar's Weekend Has Its Own Waiting List
The Fungi Festival is the most concentrated mushroom weekend on the coast. It is volunteer-run, and it raises money for the Mendocino Coast Mushroom Club. Most programming takes place at Caspar Community Center, 15051 Caspar Road, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
The speaker list goes beyond a typical club gathering. It includes Dr. Christopher Hobbs, Noah Siegel, Alan Rockefeller, Mario Abreu, U'ilani Wesley, Lama Nasser-Gammett of The Forest People, and Zappa Montag of Black to the Land. Petite Percebes sells mushroom-themed food in the Festival Hall on both days, and take-away dinners can be pre-ordered. Artisans fill a tent behind the hall with mushroom knives, mushroom salts, mushroom-dyed goods, books and foraged mushrooms. On Saturday evening, Chef Chad Hyatt cooks the Forager's Feast at First Presbyterian Church of Fort Bragg from 6 to 8 p.m. It is ticketed separately from the festival.
Ticketing has tiers, and the most sought-after tier is still on hold:
| Ticket | Price | Lead time |
|---|---|---|
| General admission | $10 per person, per day | On sale to the public Oct. 15 through Nov. 14 |
| Children 12 and under | Free with an adult | None |
| Workshops: propagation, paper making, dye | $35, includes admission | Limited seating |
| Guided forays | $10 per person | Advance and online only, capped at 50, sales on hold |
| Forager's Feast | Separate ticket | Not included in admission |
The club's ticket page says it plainly:
"Foray ticket sales are delayed until further notice."
The same page says "No foray ticket sales the day of the event," and the festival page caps guided forays at 50 participants. With a hard cap, online-only sales and no release date, the guided walk in the woods is the scarcest part of the weekend. The festival page is the place to watch for the release.
Two Free Forays Bracket the Festival
Without a foray ticket, the club calendar still lists two public forays run by CAL FIRE and JDSF. The first is November 9 at Camp One, five days before the festival. The second is December 7 at Camp 20, after the first big weeks of the season. The club's monthly meetings at First Presbyterian in Fort Bragg fall on November 10 and December 8, so each foray is followed by a meeting within a day or two.
Those forest forays tie back to the permit rules. They take place inside Jackson Demonstration State Forest, under the agency that issues the permits, so they are a natural place to learn what the permit allows on that ground.
Crab Waits on a Whale Count
Crab runs on a lead time too, but this one is set in a state office. As of its October 23 update, CDFW listed both the commercial and recreational 2026–27 Dungeness seasons as closed. A working group was scheduled to review the data on October 27, followed by a Director's assessment of marine life entanglement risk on or around October 30. CDFW's Mendocino-region summary, updated October 1, gives November 7 as the scheduled recreational reopening. The Whale Safe Fisheries page is where the outcome of that assessment and any trap or gear actions will be posted.
Geography matters here. CDFW's Fishing Zone 3 begins at the Sonoma/Mendocino county line and runs south to Pigeon Point. The Mendocino coast sits north of that line, in Zones 1 and 2. That boundary decided how last season played out. The recreational trap prohibition the Director continued in June 2026 applied to Zones 3 through 5. Zones 1 and 2 had commercial limits instead: a 15 percent gear reduction and a 30-fathom depth constraint. Those were 2025–26 actions and carry no weight for this season's decision. They do show that one statewide crab headline can mean different things in Fort Bragg and Bodega Bay.
The commercial fleet has one confirmed change for 2026–27. All surface lines, plus the upper 15 fathoms of 25 percent of deployed gear, must now be marked. Noyo Harbor supports roughly 80 fishing vessels, and Dungeness crab is one of its commercial fisheries.
The Lights Reward an Early Click
The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens' Festival of Lights runs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from November 27 through December 20, rain or shine. Doors open at 5 p.m., and tickets are sold until 7. An adult ticket costs $16 in advance and $26 at the door, and door sales stop once the event reaches capacity. Children 16 and under get in free, and the Museums for All rate is $11 with an EBT or WIC card. For two adults, buying ahead saves $20, enough to cover the $3 cider or cocoa and the $3 sweet treat from the Holiday Cafe, with some left over. Advance tickets are sold online and at The Garden Store, which is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Every display is handmade by Gardens staff and volunteers: ocean waves, a lighted jungle, shooting stars, jumping dogs and a flock of flamingos. The festival partners with the Mendocino Coast Children's Fund, and the Gardens say it draws more than 9,000 community members and travelers each season. Advance tickets are limited per time slot. In the Gardens' own description, that makes a December weekend evening something to book ahead.
On either side of opening weekend are two dates that need no planning. The Turkey Trot at the Coast starts on the South Coastal Trail at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, the day before the lights open. On December 12, Gallery Bookshop holds its Candlelit Shopping Night in Mendocino village from 4 to 7 p.m.
At Kevin M. Properties, we follow the Mendocino Coast closely, from Jackson Demonstration State Forest permits to who can forage on what land, because those details matter to anyone who owns or wants land here. If you're weighing a coastal parcel next to the state forest or a park and want to know what the boundary means day to day, get in touch.
