Not Many Mushrooms At Rocky Ridge But A Lot Of Pawpaws Along Susquehanna River In York County

I was up before the sunrise on Saturday during my recent visit to York County.  I found the pawpaws I came for on Friday afternoon in the Susquehanna Riverlands State Park on Friday  .  Now I hoped to find some edible mushrooms   in the Rocky Ridge County Park. Situated on a mountain ridge near my hotel, most of 750 acre the park supports a large mature oak forest. And,  mature oak trees are where many of  species of edible mushrooms grow. After some coffee in my room I took the 5 minute drive to the parking area under a utility tower  line that crosses the mountain.

I walked in the morning twilight along the utility tower  line. The walk brought back memories of the many morning walks on the utility tower lines near my home in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It was a quiet walk.  The migratory song birds were gone and the year round residents birds were not active yet on this cool  late September morning.

Many  native snake root,

late flowering boneset

frost asters, 

and goldenrod flowers bloomed in the clearing beneath the power lines.

The trail took me through a wetland  where many cattails grew,

 before continuing up ridge,

where I was able to watch  the rising sun.

I left the utility line and followed Sue’s Trail, one of many trails,  that criss-crossed the  mature  mostly oak forest atop the ridge.

Mostly tall black oak grew along the trail which took me along the northern border of the park.  There were also some chestnut and white oak trail along the trail. I also saw the largest sassafras tree I had ever seen along the trail.   They are seldom more then 20 feet tall in the  woodlands near my home in Luzerne County.  This tree towered high above the trail.

There were also dozens of large dead oak trees along the trail.  This is why I was here. In late summer honey mushrooms,  (aka stumpiest or stumpers , and popinkies by us Slavic folks in Northeastern Pennsylvania.) chicken of the woods, and hens of the woods ( aka sheepshead and ramshead) mushrooms grow  on dead any decaying oak trees.  Unfortunately,  there were no mushrooms growing on this dead trees or the dozens of others I saw along the trail.

The  trail was atop a ridge and it was dry.  The only mushrooms I found were a few deadly destroying angel Amanita mushrooms.

Many hay-scented ferns grew along the trail,

I also saw a few white wood asters.

and red  partridge berries.

After about a 1/2 mile the Sue’s Trail headed  split, and I followed the trail along the ridge. It got narrower, more rutted and covered with rocks and roots.

There were now more large chestnut oaks along the trail, with many acorns,

and a few shagbark hickory nut shells scattered on the ground.

The open shells meant there were chipmunks or squirrels in the woodlands but I didn’t see any. There wasn’t much bird or wildlife activity, but I did see a few whitetail deer.

I also came to some trees covered with bright red berries,

and learned these were invasive linden arrowwood trees.  There were no pawpaw trees growing  here in the oak forest on the ridge top.

After about a mile, the trail took me to the eastern park boundary and I think I followed the Easy Peasy trail back.

There were so many trail on the ridge tops, and most were being used by hikers and bikers. I now saw dozens of folks on bikes on the trail and many others walking , either alone, with family and friends or with their dogs.

I took one of what looked like the least used trails, where I now found more familiar woods with many mountain laurel shrubs.

I meandered on a few of the many trails on the ridge tops, one talking me through some large boulders.

There were many trails, many heading down the other side of the ridge. I didn’t want to explore them on this trip, I didn’t havemuchtioem  so I followed a trail back toward the parkimg lot,

and took another trail along a dried up creek bed near  the  utility pole line.

Here in the  more moist soil I found a few more mushrooms including poisonous orange jack-o-lanterns,

and this beautiful chicken of the woods mushroom. It was a little old, but still very edible but I had plenty of these mushrooms already this year so left it, hopefully to be found by another mushroom forager.

I also saw a few American holly trees,

and one lone young pawpaw tree. I hope it matures, produces a lot of pawpaws, and begins a pawpaw patch atop the ridge.

I had now hiked about 3 1/2 miles and decided to walk on the trails on the other side of the utility power line.

I hadn’t hike on these trails and I was hoping maybe there would be better mushroom wood there.  The trails took me first,  along the clearing under the utility  power line, through  many invasive amur  honeysuckle shrubs.

where there were now many bumblebees and other insects visiting  the goldenrod, snake root and other wildflowers I had seen earlier. I would have tried to photograph the insects but it was getting late in the morning and I had to check out of my hotel by 11 a.m.

The trail then took me into woodland of small and immature red maple, sweet birch and  Norway maple trees It was not good mushroom woods and not as nice a forest as the ancient oak trees on the other trails I hiked earlier.

I followed the trail back to the main road into the parking lot,  passing through some fields of American burnweed on the way. I came back to the parking lot and the clearing under the utility pole line.

Here in the fields along the parking lot , I again saw a lot of insects, including some butterflies  visit the wildflowers.  I would have like to walk in the fields, but  I now had to finish my five mile hike and head back to the hotel.  I didn’t find   a lot of edible mushrooms on this hike but it was another enjoyable walk  in  the mature oak forest. I hope to return soon  and explore  the many other trails in this wonderful county park.   Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos from my hike in Rocky Ridge County Park and the Susquehanna Riverlands State Park.   Rocky Ridge County Park, York September 19 2026.

I left the parking lot, returned to my hotel, and quickly checked out. I drove back to the Susquehanna Riverlands State Park. And parked in the area I found the pawpaws trees on the previous afternoon. I walked along the trail and encountered a family also harvesting the many pawpaws on the ground andsome still hangong  on the many pawpaw trees.

The family ranged in age from a grandmother older than me, to  grandchildren some in their teens, and others much younger. It was like living in the past.  There were plenty of pawpaws for all of us.  I walked into a nice patch where  I filled a back full of ripe pawpaws as I listened to the voices and laughter of the nearby family. I also ate a few of the delicious native fruits. It was a wonderful way to end my trip, and  I had a nice batch of pawpaws to take home and share with family and friends.

 

“It is said that no habit gets a stronger hold on a man than the pawpaw habit.” Andew Moore. 

“Pawpaws are a river fruit.” Andrew Moore