Wild Mushroom Identification & Ecology with Stephan Lukacic in Toronto's High Park
Saturday, August 15, 2026, 1-4PM
Ages: 18+ years
NOTE: Pre-registration is required for all our events, hikes and workshops. We do this to ensure we don’t exceed our capacity for indoor events or the maximum limits for group sizes on High Park’s ecologically sensitive trails. Please register on our website before coming to High Park.
We cannot guarantee availability of walk-in spots. If an event is at capacity, please put yourself on our waitlist. We will notify waitlisted participants if we open up new spots or sessions for our events. Please contact us if you have any questions.
NOTE: We will not be foraging for mushrooms in High Park. Foraging is not permitted in city, provincial or national parks. Many nature reserves, conservation areas and forests also do not allow foraging. Be sure to research foraging and harvesting laws in the different places you visit. When legally engaging in foraging, we encourage you to not overharvest, take only what you need and also give back to nature.
Wild Mushroom Identification & Ecology with Stephan Lukacic in Toronto’s High Park
Popular outdoor educator and avid forager Stephan Lukacic takes you deep into science, ecology, and methodology of modern mushroom hunting.
There are thousands of mushroom species in eastern North America. Some have strange alien-looking shapes that don’t resemble the mushrooms you find in the grocery store at all. Some look like heads of cauliflower, some like beautiful corals you’d find under the sea, others like soccer balls, bird’s feathers, or dangling icicles that hang from dead stumps and logs, or that burst up from the forest floor through leaves and dirt.
Wild mushrooms have curious folk names like “Dead Man’s Fingers”, “Shaggy Mane”, “Witch’s Butter”, and “Bear’s Head Tooth”; but their scientific names are far more accurate and important. Some turn colours when they’re cut or bruised, others smell like common fruits, taste acrid or bitter, or even glow in the dark at night. Many wild mushrooms are delicious; others are toxic. Most are unpalatable, flavourless, or too tough to eat. A few are even deadly. But how do you know which is which?
This short, intensive class is designed to demystify wild mushrooms, giving you a solid foundation on which to build future identification and foraging skills. The workshop begins with an engaging 90 min seminar. You will receive a 6-page handout covering all the basics of mushroom hunting methodology, and read and discuss its contents thoroughly. Then you’ll do a deep dive right into the forested areas of High Park—putting the knowledge you’ve acquired directly into practice by identifying wild mushrooms the group encounters in their natural habitat.
Mushroom hunting is a fascinating, gratifying, and often misunderstood outdoor activity. Come learn the basics of these fungal wonders of nature, learn tricks of the forager’s trade, and have a blast doing it!
Note: You will not be foraging for wild mushrooms to take home. This workshop focuses on teaching you how to find and identify wild edible mushrooms.
Price: $73
Ages: 18+ years
Meeting Location: High Park Forest School, 375 Colborne Lodge Drive
Please bring:
- A pen or pencil
- A notebook
- Weather-appropriate clothing
- Curiosity
- Readiness for outdoor learning
Stephan Lukacic
Stephan Lukacic is an avid outdoor educator and forager who teaches foraging workshops around Ontario. He also offers guided fishing though his small outfitting business, and writes for Outdoor Canada Magazine and other publications. He creates hunting, fishing, foraging, and organic gardening content on his Instagram channel @stevie_funfur which is largely focused on sustainability, self-reliance, nature, and living a healthy outdoors lifestyle. He previously worked as a music producer and touring musician who lived and worked in several countries around the world.
- Day: Saturday, August 15, 2026
- Time: 1-4PM
This event will start at the High Park Forest School building located at 375 Colborne Lodge Drive.
A number of changes were made to the travel network within High Park as part of the High Park Movement Strategy that might influence your decision to drive to High Park. In case you’re driving we strongly recommend you to park your car at the public parking lot near Grenadier Cafe.
We continue to recommend using the TTC or biking as the best way to get to High Park and the Nature Centre. The Nature Centre is situated just a 5-minute walk from the High Park Subway Station.
Please note, High Park is closed to cars on the weekends. If your event is on a weekend, you will need to park outside the park and walk in, or take transit.
Visit our How To Get Here page to learn more about planning your trips to High Park.
General Admission (Adults):
- $73
This event is for adults ages 18 years and above.
- A pen or pencil
- A notebook
- Weather-appropriate clothing
- Curiosity
- Readiness for outdoor learning
Hike routes through High Park might include some uneven terrain and mild slopes.
The High Park Forest School building is not yet an AODA-compliant facility.
We try our best to accommodate accessibility needs on a case-by-case basis. Please reach out to us about any accessibility-related questions you might have.
Dogs and other pets are not permitted in our programs. However, certified service animals, such as registered therapy or guide dogs, are welcome.
Registration Policies
- General Cancellation Policy
- Extreme Weather-Related Cancellation Policy
- Behaviour Policy