Picked mushrooms inside an old railway tunnel in the Southern Highlands, about an hour and a half’s drive from Sydney. Came home with a box full, including lion’s mane, and it turned into one of the better day trips I’ve done this year.
It’s a Victorian-era railway tunnel on Mount Gibraltar at Mittagong, about 650 metres long, built in the 1860s. When a newer double-track line went in beside it, the old tunnel was left unused. It turned out to be a perfect place to grow mushrooms: dark all year, stable temperature, plenty of humidity. Now it’s a working commercial mushroom farm, not just a tourist set-up.
The mushroom tour
Peter, who runs the farm with Leonie, walked us through it first. He explained how to choose mushrooms, how the textures differ from one variety to the next, and how they grow them in the tunnel. Then he pulled out what he called the Australian version of cordyceps, and it was a big one, much larger than I’d pictured. Everything growing inside is edible, so there’s no guesswork about what’s safe to pick.
Picking your own
After the talk it’s self-serve. Any variety, same price, $5 per 100g when we went. I skipped the ones I can already buy at the supermarket and chose things I hardly ever see, like lion’s mane. My cardboard box came to about $20, and I thought that was good value for the amount of mushroom in it.
Grow your own
If you like a particular variety, you can buy it to grow at home. Enough to make me think about starting a small mushroom patch in the kitchen.
Dinner that night
Got back to Sydney and made yuan yang hot pot with friends. The mushrooms were so fresh and sweet in the broth. Honestly the best part of the whole day.
Who it suits
There’s no age limit, and the venue says it’s family friendly and wheelchair accessible. Still, I wouldn’t bring very young kids, or older relatives who don’t speak English, since the first part is a guided talk in English. Compared with picking wild mushrooms outdoors, this is more about the tunnel’s history and learning about the different mushrooms. You weigh what you pick at the end and you can’t eat as you go, so the picking itself is limited.
Booking and making a day of it
Search “Mittagong Mushroom Tunnel Tour” and you’ll find it on a few booking platforms, with public tours listed from around $39 a person. The tour and picking take a little over an hour. Bring a jacket, the temperature in the tunnel can change. Fill the rest of the day with a bush walk, or a wander around Mittagong or Bowral, and you’ve got a full day out. The tunnel is at 123 Old Bowral Road, Mittagong NSW 2575.
Next time I’ll bring friends who haven’t been. For more day trips from Sydney, see our pick your own fruit guide for Sydney, and the Tulip Time Festival in Bowral if you’re heading that way in spring.