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VICTORIA, B.C. - If the mere mention of chanterelles and morels gets you salivating, consider a trip to a mushroom festival this fall.

The Aerie Resort on Vancouver Island hosts a half-day Great Fall Mushroom Hunt each Saturday in October.

The cost is about C$130 and includes transportation from the resort to forested hunting areas and a three-course lunch, http://www.aerie.bc.ca.

Also on Vancouver Island's west coast, the annual Bamfield Mushroom Festival takes place Oct. 18 in Bamfield - http://www.mushroomfestival.ca - with events including a mushroom hunt, mushroom derby, dinner and dance.

On Washington's Long Beach Peninsula, the Wild Mushroom Celebration includes a month of mushroom-centric dinners and tastings, from an Oct. 10 dinner at the Depot Restaurant in Seaview to a Nov. 6 dinner at the Tuscany Cafe at the Port of Ilwaco, http://www.funbeach.com/mushroom/index.html.

The Lake Quinault Lodge in Washington's Olympic National Forest hosts the Quinault Rain Forest Mushroom Festival, Oct. 17-19. Admission is $20 for the weekend, free for children 5 and under. Rooms at the lodge, about 3 1/2 hours from Seattle, start at $89. The event features mushroom walks, mushroom collecting seminars, cooking and identification classes, tips for growing mushrooms and activities for kids, http://www.visitlakequinault.com.

Mendocino County, about 145 kilometres north of San Francisco, hosts a Mushroom Festival, Nov. 7-16, http://www.gomendo.com, with hunts for chanterelles, porcinis, morels and rarer varieties like the candy cap and hedgehog mushroom. Mushroom-themed dinners are offered throughout the area, along with mushroom cooking classes and a seminar on the healing power of mushrooms.

The Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden hosts mushroom walks on Mondays between Nov. 17 and Jan. 26, at 1:30 p.m., and mushroom identification workshops, Nov. 22 and 29 and Dec. 20, http://www.gardenbythesea.org. Other events include a Mushroom Exhibit at the Ford House Museum in Mendocino Village and a Wine and Mushroom Train ride, Nov. 15, departing Fort Bragg or Willits Depot, on the Skunk Train, http://www.skunktrain.com.

The Wild About Mushrooms Co., based in Forestville, Calif., offers mushroom-themed trips including the Oregon Cascades Foray, Oct. 12-16, which includes hunting for chanterelles, porcini, matsutake, lion's mane and other varieties. The US$675 price includes lodging, breakfast and dinner and instruction in mushroom identification. Details at http://www.wildaboutmushrooms.net.

Madisonville, Texas, about 90 minutes from Houston, calls itself the "Mushroom Capital of Texas" and is hosting a Mushroom Festival on Oct. 25, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. http://www.texasmushroomfestival.com/.