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Just when you’re feeling peckish, you spot something delightful: a plump berry hanging from a bush on the side of the trail. Then you notice dozens more. But before you pluck it and suck its sweet juices, you want to be sure it’s edible. We talked to Angela Shen of Forage Seattle to help us identify some of the most common edible berries found along hiking trails across the U.S.
Shen’s pro tip: Fashion a berry basket out of a water jug and ribbon that you can hang around your neck. That way you can use both hands to forage—one for collecting, one for eating.
Common Berries Along Hiking Trails
Salmonberries
Season: Early summer
Regions: West Coast, mostly in the Pacific Northwest
Identifiable traits: Before the bushes fruit, salmonberry plants are the first to flower with showy, vibrant pink or purple blossoms (which are also edible). “Start spotting where those salmonberries are going to pop just by looking for those pink blossoms,” Shen says.
Once they appear, salmonberries look a lot like raspberries with a hollow core but in a range of colors, including yellow, orange, pink, and red. “As they ripen and get sweeter and sweeter, they get closer and closer to that pinkish or, if you’re super lucky, reddish hue,” she says.
Thimbleberries
Season: Late June through August
Regions: Western U.S., Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes, and Southwest
Identifiable traits: Super delicate and better to eat as you hike rather than save for later, thimbleberries also look like raspberries but are almost half the size. “You might mistake it for a raspberry but it doesn’t quite look right,” Shen says. Thimbleberries have a wide, flat half cap, and when you bite into them, they’re sweet or tart with a slightly fuzzy texture and lots of tiny seeds.
Blackberries
Season: Late spring to early fall
Regions: Most states across the U.S.
Identifiable traits: Much like the blackberries you’ll find in stores, wild blackberries have dark purple and textured skin. Gobs of them grow on extremely invasive thorny bushes, which you can find in forests as well as on the sides of roads. “You want to get them as dark as possible to be the sweetest possible,” she says. It’s very tempting to pick them early but you’ll be disappointed.
In addition to the standard blackberry bushes, Shen urgers hikers in the Pacific Northwest to look out for a native variety called the California or trailing blackberry. She says they are much smaller and grow on low vines: “When they’re ripe, they taste so much sweeter,” she says. “You just have to look low toward the ground because that’s where they grow.”
Huckleberries
Season: Late July through September
Regions: Northwestern U.S.
Identifiable traits: Huckleberries are small sweet-to-tart fruits that resemble blueberries and are typically found in higher elevations. They can be purple, blue, or red. In urban areas and trail systems, you may find a light pink or darker reddish variety. “It’s sweet, but not as sweet as the huckleberries you find in mountainous areas,” Shen says.
To prevent overharvesting, huckleberries are subject to more regulations than other berries. In Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest, for instance, a permit is always required.
Quantity Limits for Picking Berries
Before heading out, check foraging restrictions. Many parks and forests require a permit and have a maximum quantity per day and/or season. In lieu of official limits, Shen says the “general rule of thumb across all foraging is the rule of thirds, which is harvest a third for yourself, leave a third for other people, and another third for wildlife.” This applies to the whole foraging area.
Safety Tips for Picking Berries
Most berries that you’ll find while out hiking are safe to eat, Shen says. “I would say berries are a lot less scary with fewer lookalikes than when it comes to plants and mushrooms,” she says. But not every berry tastes good. “Salal berries, while edible, I would consider a famine food. It’s really very sour.” When in doubt, Shen recommends signing up for a guided foraging workshop.
From 2025