Mushroom Tourism Takes Root in Moscow Region Forests
Most of the group rarely visits the forest
While some spend their weekends in shopping malls, others storm the forests of the Moscow Region. «Mushroom tourism» has become a new trend among Muscovites tired of the metropolis. City dwellers chip in for a transfer, meals and a guide just to wander with a basket.
The toll section of the M-12 Vostok highway allows quick access to the forest
An MSK1.RU correspondent went on a forest expedition and found out why people who don«t eat mushrooms go into the woods, why successful men head into the wilderness to »get hopelessly lost«, and how this unusual club of shared interests works.
Not every car can handle the forest road, especially after rain
Where to find mushroom pickers?
Yevgenia became the driving force behind the trip for the women in her family
I am a keen mushroom picker myself, but not a fearless one. I don«t know the forests of the Moscow Region, and going alone is the height of folly. A search through chat groups yielded nothing — few people want to »give away« their mushroom spots.
Chanterelles grow in acidic and slightly acidic soils
I found a few listings in the «Services» section of an aggregator. The authors promised to take clients to the forest and guaranteed full baskets. Most, however, organize trips to Karelia lasting several days. The cost of such tours starts at 15,000 rubles (about $190 at current rates).
The bright mushrooms are visible from a distance
There are very few guides who take people relatively close to the capital. One of them is Alexander. We arranged to meet at 9 a.m. at Tomilino station (Moscow Region). From there — by car.
Alexander not only chose the route but also took care of lunch arrangements
Apart from the organizer, the group turned out to be all women. We settled comfortably into the car and set off. First along the toll section of the M-12 highway, then, already in Vladimir Region, we turned off the motorway, drove a bit more along the main road, and covered the last few hundred meters over forest off-road.
Whole clearings of chanterelles
Before heading into the forest, Alexander briefs his tourists: if you get lost — meet «by the distinctive tree tomorrow»; the area is divided into sectors by firebreaks; there is a railway on two sides; if you«re lost — walk toward the sound. There are wild animals in the forest.
There are so many mushrooms that at times you have to move while sitting
«We haven»t encountered bears here, but wild boars and elk do turn up. The main thing is not to frighten them,« the tour organizer says.
Folk lore holds that the red fly agaric is the main herald and faithful companion of the porcini, though this was the only one in the whole forest
While the briefing is going on, Alexander manages to lay out a «tourist breakfast»: aromatic tea from a thermos, sausage and cheese sandwiches, boiled eggs.
Alexander gave his entire «catch» to the tourists
«I don»t know mushrooms, but I love the process«
The forest air is fresh
Yevgenia Vishnevskaya is a classic city dweller. She doesn«t eat mushrooms — she can»t stand the taste or the smell, whether in soup or fried. But she has a special love for the quiet hunt itself, left over from childhood trips with her parents. When the young woman saw the advertisement for a mushroom tour, the pieces fell into place.
A family of chanterelles
«I love picking, but I know nothing about mushrooms,» Yevgenia tells MSK1.RU. «It was important for me to go with someone who could tell me how an edible mushroom differs from a poisonous one. And most importantly — I wanted a guarantee that the organizer really knew the spots and that we wouldn»t drive around for nothing.«
Satisfied tourists
Yevgenia was joined by her grandmother — «she agrees to everything» — the Muscovite laughs — and her mother. The oldest participant in the mushroom tour was carsick on the way; after all, heading into the forest at 80 is no joke. But having quickly overcome the discomfort, she set off for mushrooms along with everyone else. Two forays into the forest were planned.
A full basket in just an hour
«On the first foray I was just studying the unfamiliar forest and hoping to find something noble, like porcini,» Yevgenia shares. «But everywhere I came across only fly agarics, toadstools and a heap of other mushrooms I don»t understand. Why risk it?«
Tea from a wood-fired samovar tastes especially good in the forest
At the edge of the forest the whole group met a «colleague». He emerged from the thicket with a full basket of chanterelles. True, he immediately advised us to go further away, since there were no mushrooms here — he had already picked them all. We nodded, but did not follow the advice. Every mushroom picker has their own tactics, and no one wanted to walk a couple of kilometers for mythical loot.
On the way back on the commuter train and metro, many asked to buy their mushrooms
Alexander was the first to spot mushrooms. They were chanterelles — their bright orange caps are hard to confuse with anything else. The tour organizer himself picked nothing, calling over whichever group member was closest. He says he has already stocked up on chanterelles and is now hunting for porcini.
After about an hour, most people had full baskets. We decided to return to the car, rest a little, drink tea and swap baskets.
The end of the «collective farm» era and drunken outings
The tour organizer is Alexander Fyodorov. In his «peaceful» life he is far from tourism: he runs two companies. One does engineering construction in the public sector, the other manages real estate.
«I wouldn»t say I«m some kind of millionaire, because the public sector doesn»t pay much. But I do my work honestly,« Alexander admits to MSK1.RU.
He has been arranging such outings for more than ten years. It all started in standard fashion — he went alone, then with friends. But over time Alexander ran into the specifics of «friendly» trips into nature, where organizing the process is almost impossible.
«When you go with friends, everyone is equal among the rest,» the organizer shares his experience. «And chaos begins: one says — let»s go there, a second — over here, a third — that way. It turns into a kind of collective farm. The only simple way to balance that collective farm is to take the reins of control into your own hands. And say firmly: «Guys, we gather at such and such a time, we leave this way, we»ll eat this, and we«ll go there.»«
There was another reason to change his forest company — a difference in interests and attitudes to rest.
«Many of my friends drink alcohol, and I don»t,« Alexander explains. »Many still see a trip into nature as just another excuse. You«ve sat five days in the office — and now you have to »get wasted«. When we were young we used to go like that too, but now our interests have diverged. I had to look for new options. That»s where the idea came from to place an ad and list the service on a website.
«2,500 hearts»: who goes to the taiga?
Alexander first posted an ad for forest tours back in 2017. Then he abandoned the idea for a while, but in May he updated the listing. The effect exceeded all expectations — Muscovites literally pounced on the unusual service.
«From May to mid-August the ad collected almost 2,500 likes and hearts,» Alexander says. «The number of people who saved it is insane. Views are off the charts. Many call and get ready, though there are also those who get scared and back out at the very last moment. I take it calmly. I understand the service is wildly in demand right now, people need it, and I plan to develop the story further.»
For Alexander these outings are definitely not about business or earnings. The man stresses that the tour is non-commercial, and all the money collected goes toward organization, toll roads and expensive fuel for the 300-kilometer round trip. Breakfast, lunch and meat on the grill — all included in the tour at 3,000 rubles (about $38 at current rates) per person.
«Why do I do it? Selfish vanity!» Alexander laughs. «I just like it when I do good things for people. I suppose I»m ready to do anything for a «thank you».«
Alexander has a wife and two children. His older daughter is married, and his younger son has just turned seven.
«As for my wife — she is a very smart and wise person. She understands my interests and respects my choice, even if she doesn»t approve of them 100 percent. But she understands that I get very tired at work. For me this is a kind of second wind, a reboot.«
Sporting interest: «To burrow in where Yermak never grazed his goats»
When Alexander goes into the forest alone, the format of the walk changes radically. Commercial routes for beginners turn into extreme sport.
«Some kind of animal instinct kicks in — first, to get lost. And in such a way as to be completely, hopelessly lost!» Alexander admits. «With no landmarks, no railways nearby. I just switch something on in my mind and plough deep into the forest. After half an hour or an hour you stop: »Where on earth am I?« And that»s when the real fun begins — gradually finding your way out. It«s pure sporting excitement. To burrow in where Yermak never grazed his goats, and then look for the way back.»
But when Alexander leads a group, the extreme takes a back seat. The main task is to show Muscovites the world beyond the ring roads.
«The city devours a person from the inside,» Alexander sighs. «In most cases, the people who come with me are going into the forest for the first time in their lives. And the person, say, is already 40 years old! He has never been beyond the Moscow Ring Road. It just gives you goosebumps. A grown man stands in front of me and says: »Sasha, I learned natural history at school from pictures.« Such people can»t explain to their children what a mushroom or a living tree is. Because they see the same picture: metro — office — home.«
Paying for emotions, not for kilograms
The second foray into the forest turned out to be more productive and more extreme. First everyone noticed a pile of feces. Alexander calmly noted that, judging by appearances, a wild boar had been here very recently. And about 30 minutes later, while everyone was peacefully picking mushrooms in their own clearings, wild animals crashed through the bushes somewhere very close by.
«Actually, there wasn»t any real fear,« Yevgenia recalls. »When something was falling and cracking, I didn«t yet know that wild boars were running around there. And when I found out afterward — well, I realized they had run past somewhere, and that was that.»
Having filled their baskets with chanterelles, the whole group gathered at the car for lunch again. On the menu: sausages and meat on the grill, tea from a real samovar and a couple of hours of interesting conversation.
«A sea of emotions, and all positive!» Yevgenia Vishnevskaya sums up. «It»s great when everything is organized from start to finish: transfer, meals, a proven location. We didn«t arrive blindly to make our way through an unknown thicket. Alexander fully controlled the process: how long we walk, when to turn back, when lunch is, so that we get everything done.»
At the rest stop, Alexander described so appetizingly how to properly cook forest trophies that Yevgenia, a committed «mushroom hater», decided to break with family tradition.
«I decided not to give these two buckets to my parents to fry, as I had planned. I»ll do it all myself for my husband — I«ll cook the chanterelles strictly according to Alexander»s recipe,« Yevgenia said with a laugh.
Looking at the two full baskets of chanterelles, I recalled seeing mushrooms for sale that morning in a metro underpass. Admittedly, they looked rather pale, more like «chanterelle skeletons». They were asking 750 rubles (about $9 at current rates) — whether per kilogram or per jar, I didn«t even bother to ask. So it turns out you can buy them right by your home and go nowhere. But going yourself and finding them in the grass — that»s a completely different pleasure!
A week after our successful forest outing, Alexander went with a new group of willing participants, but there were no mushrooms. They had to wash down the bitterness of disappointment with tasty shashlik and herbal tea. The quiet hunt is an unpredictable business.
