I've recently started mushrooming, with my first real hunt in a forest in Saginaw county. I was wondering if there are places where Morels just won't grow or aren't likely to grow? I see a lot of info about where to find them, what trees, etc., but not the opposite. The forest I looked in was mostly oak and maple, and I saw almost no mushrooms, let alone morels. Should I avoid certain types of trees just the same as I should look for certain ones?

I don't find much in the way of shrooms in what are mostly lowland maple woods with poor drainage, although, there are exceptions. I don't find any morles in what are primarily pointy leaved oakwoods, and trees that do produce morels do not produce when there are lots of pointy oak leaves around on the ground, although, some folks say otherwise.

I don't find too many shrooms in areas that are high and dry with cedar either, except for puffballs and the occasional flush of blewits or helvellas. I don't find shrooms in areas that have primarily clay soil. Where I'm at, I rarely find morels in mature woodlots, although, that's a different story in other parts of the state.

avoiding certain trees ???
we want to know where they are not where they are not, right???
keep ur eyes up lookin for the host tree only....
don't know why u would want to know where not to find them...????

My favorite thing to do is walk from white ash tree to white ash tree with just a min. of time looking in between.

Thanks for the responses. I just wanted to know if I was wasting my time rooting around all day in a slightly swampy forest covered in dead oak leaves, since I didn't see oak mentioned in any of the 'where to find morels' posts or discussions. The walk is nice, but if I'm almost assuredly not going to find any morels, I'd prefer to walk somewhere else or at least stay on the trail and enjoy the walk. It sounds like if I'm in a mostly oak forest, my best bet would be to beeline for host trees if they're there, but better might be to see if I can't find a place with a better mix of trees and maybe not so low and swampy.

I found a nice forest of mostly elm trees, many dead. However, it was in a very wet area that had small pools of water here and there, and a small marshy area about the size of an acre nearby. I didn't find a single morel... Just my experience.

Apparently, if you see any pools of water sitting around at all, move on to a new spot?

Edit:.....and I completely understand why you'd like to know where NOT to look. I'm the same way, I feel like I'm wasting my time and would rather just KNOW that "they likely wont grow due to poor drainage" or something. Then I can move on to an area that COULD be productive, instead of an area I SHOULD KNOW won't be productive!

People who can't understand this are simply NOT "understanding people," who would try to think it through, and realize how another may think. :)

Although I haven't been out for about a week because of crazy work stuff then the flu, I have also been wondering the same thing. My question is this. Is there something about Lake Erie "lake effect" that keeps them from growing in the Cleveland area? I have been all over Lorain and Cuyahoga counties, found places with excellent 'markers" but have come up with NOTHIN'. Any theories before I head back out there? The only one's I've seen posted or heard of are on the very far eastern shores, like in Mentor and Ashtabula counties....

Yeah stay away from swampy areas and oaks. I have seen tons of apple trees but no morels because it was too swampy.

Some wet areas are good in dry years, but many have the clay soil which isn't good for morels. They like well drained soil.

I steer away from heavy oak leaf cover on the floor and clay soil. If I spot an elm, etc. I'll check it, but it is best to concentrate on more productive areas first and leave the areas that are not likely to produce for when you have time or for when the good areas aren't producing.