Oregon’s Native Edible Berries And When They’re Ripe

One of the best things about summer is harvesting local berries! There are so many here in Oregon that I had to narrow it down to some of the best tasting and most common. Let me know if you try any of them, and always be careful when eating wild foods—if you’re not 100% sure what species it is, don’t eat it.

TIME TO READ:

4 minutes

Late May/Early June

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)

Salmonberry is always the first berry to come out in the spring, sometimes as early as April, but usually in May or June. The berries range in color from peachy orange/yellow to dark, raspberry red. Despite their physical similarity to raspberries, they don’t taste much like them and are usually bland, seedy, and vaguely bitter, but still fun to harvest.

Early/Mid June

Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

Despite its passing resemblance to blueberries and huckleberries, serviceberry (also known as saskatoon or saskatoon berry) is more closely related to apples! Serviceberry usually fruits around early June, and has a sweet, juicy, delightful taste.

Early July

Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)

Thimbleberries are by far my favorite wild berry. These raspberry relatives actually do taste like raspberries, but even sweeter. The berries usually come out in early July, but they’re only out for a short time before the birds get them all, so act fast!

Early July

Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis)

Indian plum (also known as osoberry) is a common bush in forests throughout the PNW, but you won’t find berries on all of them—this is a species where the male and female parts are on different plants, and only the female plants give fruit. The berries start out yellow and eventually darken to reddish-purple, and finally to an almost-black shade of dark blue. Although small and seedy, they’re not bad tasting and have a flavor reminiscent of watermelon.

Mid July

Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium)

Red huckleberry bushes are tall and fragile, often growing out of fallen logs called ‘nurse logs.’ In July, these blueberry relatives give off tiny, smooth, red berries that have a sweet-and-sour taste. These are one of our most overlooked huckleberries, but one of the best tasting in my opinion!

Late July

Trailing Blackberry (Rubus ursinus)

Trailing blackberry (also known as dewberry) is our only native blackberry! This is another species that has separate male and female plants, so some vines won’t have fruit. Those that do will have berries similar to the invasive and much more common Himalayan blackberry (Rubus discolor). I’ve never had the chance to try trailing blackberry, but I hope to someday!
(Photo by Terry Howes via Flickr)

Late July

Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

Salal is a relative of the blueberry, and it tastes a little bit like one. These round, black berries come out in mid to late July and stay on the bush into the fall. Salal ranks among our mildest wild berries—not bitter, not super sweet—and it’s one of our most common. You’ll find salal bushes growing in forest understories throughout the PNW, particularly on the coast.
(Photo by Keith Ewing via Flickr)

Early August

Black Huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum)

Black huckleberries are one of our most popular wild berries here in Oregon! They look nearly identical to cultivated blueberries, which makes identifying them easy. They taste a little more tart than blueberries, but otherwise very similar. You’ll mostly find them growing in the Cascade Range, so keep in mind that plants ripen slower at higher elevations due to the colder weather—if low elevation huckleberries are out in August, high elevation huckleberries will probably be out in September.

Late August

Evergreen Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum)

The evergreen huckleberry gets its name from its leaves, which, unlike our other huckleberry species, remain green all winter. The berries are darker than that of black huckleberry, but the taste is similar. You can find massive thickets of evergreen huckleberry in forests along the coast range—look for the berries in late summer to early fall!
(Photo by Willamette Biology via Flickr)

Mid September

Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum edule)

Highbush cranberry is one of our lesser-known and less common native berries. They ripen in late summer and early fall, but the berries can be harvested long into the winter. The berries are edible when raw but incredibly sour, so most people prefer them when they’re cooked into a jam or sauce, much like the unrelated commercial cranberry.