Tips for Hunting Ghost Mushrooms in South Australia

Tips for Hunting Ghost Mushrooms around Adelaide in Autumn and Winter.

Article by Claire Davill

South Australia is lucky to be a location where you can find Ghost Mushrooms (Omphalotus nidiformis), large white fungi that have a pretty special feature – they glow in the dark.

Ghost mushrooms are found in south eastern Australia, typically in wet weather. You’re most likely to find them from May to July, but often each mushroom will only appear for a few days. This makes hunting them quite tricky, but if you’re lucky, you’ll be rewarded with a fun find and possibly some cool photos.

Ghost mushrooms glow in the dark due to enzymes coming in contact with oxygen. It’s a form of bioluminescence. To the naked eye, the fungi glow a bright white colour at night. If you have the ability to take a long exposure photograph, they’ll show up a bright green colour.

Where to find Ghost Mushrooms:

The most reliable, and well-known location is Ghost Mushroom Lane in Glencoe, near Mount Gambier. This location is well signposted and contains a long, flat path through plantation pine forests. If you are in the South East region during late autumn or winter, this is a great spot for a family walk.

There are several other locations in the South East region that you may find Ghost Mushrooms. We have spotted them in the pine forests around Mount Burr, particularly Mount McIntyre (5km east of Mount Burr).

Ghost Mushrooms are also frequently reported in Kuitpo Forest south of Meadows, Mark Oliphant Conservation Park near Heathfield, and Montacute Conservation Park.

A great resource for finding potential locations is iNaturalist. Enter the species name Omphalotus nidiformis into the website or app, and click on the map to see where citizen scientists have reported Ghost Mushrooms.

When to hunt for Ghost Mushrooms:

You can hunt for Ghost Mushrooms as soon as it gets dark. Because they appear in late autumn and winter, this means you won’t have to stay out late, making it an ideal family-friendly adventure. The best time to look is after rain, and when there isn’t a full moon. The darker the better! Pick an evening that is calm, with no wind and no rain.

What to look for:

Ghost Mushrooms are often large, pale white-cream mushrooms with visible gills on the underside and flat, undulating tops. They look a lot like Oyster Mushrooms if you are familiar. In the South East and plantation pine forests, they seem to particularly like growing on pine stumps.

When hunting in the dark, use a torch to locate potential fungi, then turn off your torch and let your eyes adjust to the dark. You’ll quickly realise if you’ve found a Ghost Mushroom as it will glow a bright white colour that’s very visible when you are close by.

Another strategy is to scan the forest without a torch, watching for the white glow. This is particularly effective if you pay attention to what you notice at the periphery of your vision, off to the side. Your eyes are better at determining the presence of a glow in your peripheral vision.

If you have the capacity, hunt for the mushrooms during the daytime and mark the location to return at night. Once you know what to look for, this makes it much easier. If you are camping in areas where Ghost Mushrooms exist, this is your best option.

How to photograph the mushrooms:

There’s no shortage of brilliant photographs of bright green Ghost Mushrooms online, and be aware that the mushrooms will not look like this to the naked eye, and you’re unlikely to get a photo as good as these. However, you can capture the glow, even with a phone camera, with a bit of planning.

A DLSR camera and a tripod, with a long exposure is your best option. However, a phone camera with a long exposure app, and a small tripod or phone holder will still give you decent results. The following photo was taken with an iPhone 14Pro, using the NightCap app (Long Exposure setting). The phone was sitting on a phone holder from Ikea (Yuppienalle – only 99c) on the ground. We used a 3 second count down timer in the app to reduce camera shake, and left the exposure on for 3 minutes.

Make sure you keep all light sources turned off, no torches, while you are taking photos. This might be tricky for smaller, impatient kids!

Things to consider:

• Manage expectations. There’s no guarantee you’ll spot Ghost Mushrooms, but keep an eye out for other interesting fungi, and focus on the night time adventure aspect of a walk in the forest in the dark.
• Be careful not to disturb any fungi you find, and definitely don’t touch the mushrooms. Ghost Mushrooms can be poisonous if ingested, causing stomach cramps and vomiting.
• Rug up with warm clothing, sturdy shoes and hand held or head torches for everyone.
• Be mindful of other mushroom hunters, and don’t point torches at others when they are looking at or photographing mushrooms.
• Keep a close eye on little ones, especially in car parks near the road.

Location:

Ghost Mushroom Lane is located on Kangaroo Flat Road near Glencoe. The carpark is well signposted, and the exact location is visible on Google Maps.

Other locations to consider include:

Mark Oliphant Conservation Park, Scott Creek Road, Heathfield

Kuitpo Forest, Black Nursery Road, Kuitpo

Montacute Conservation Park, particularly through Gate 1, at the end of Valley Road, Montacute

For more information and all enquiries please visit the Ghost Mushroom Lane website.

At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Play & Go (2026).

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