Hello! Welcome to Forage Colorado. Thanks for stopping by! I’m Orion - like the constellation - and I am the person behind Forage Colorado! I’m a Colorado transplant with a lifelong passion for the outdoors and anything there is to do with them. I love to hunt, fish, forage, camp, wander and wonder, bushcraft, look at trees, you name it!
My interest in the outdoors was cultivated at a young age when my dad would bundle me up and take me ice fishing in northern New Mexico, where I grew up. However, it wasn’t until several years later that I learned about foraging, specifically mushroom hunting when we joined a friend for a day of searching out porcini, hawk wings, and chanterelles in the Rockies! I remember being in awe, finding beautiful king boletes one after another, like a treasure hunt in the woods! I was hooked.
In 2008, I moved to Fort Collins, where I attended Colorado State University, to study Natural Resource Management and Fisheries Biology - shaped by my passion for the outdoors. Then, in early 2015, wanting a place to share localized foraging information, I created Forage Colorado.
Forage Colorado
Originally, Forage Colorado was a simple internet forum for people to share their passion for this hobby. However, it quickly became apparent that Forage Colorado was headed in a different direction.
I taught my first foraging class in the spring of 2015 to a large group of hopeful morel hunters. That was the "ah hah" moment for me; this is what I wanted to do! Educate people about my passions and watch them become fascinated by the things that have intrigued and interested me since I was young. Seeing someone find their first choice edible mushroom is one of my favorite things to experience and something I hope to be a part of many more times!
I hope Forage Colorado becomes a resource for anyone interested in foraging in Colorado, the southern Rockies, or even foraging in general! If you're having trouble finding something specific or have an idea for something you'd love to see on there, please let me know using the Contact Page! I'll do my best to steer you in the right direction or add it to my list of 'future content' for Forage Colorado.
If you're new here, take a look around! I'm always working on building up my collection of posts about foraging in Colorado, so give some of those a Read! I've started a section for beginning foragers and sections for mushrooms, plants, and more! I regularly post on my YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook pages, so follow those to see what I'm up to. Finally, if you're interested in taking a class with me, check out my Classes Page for more information, or get in touch to set up a foraging class!
Happy foraging!
Orion