Anybody have info on red Idaho huckleberries? I was picking purple huckleberries in eastern Jefferson County Idaho mountains yesterday and saw a bumper crop of red huckleberries. I tasted a few and did not care fore them. I have read they are tart but I did not find that to be the case. The little flavor they had was dissimilar to that of purple huckleberries.

Dick, those would be not quite ripe hucks in my opinion. When they are blackish-purple and have a slight sheen similar to blueberries they are perfect, again in my opinion.

Not sure about your area, that far south, but the northern parts and into Montana have two types of huckleberries the locals recognize. Low and high bush huckleberries. The low bush types are much smaller , leaves smaller too, and the berries are more on the red colour tone.

Don't know if that might be what you are finding or not.

That's good to know Sharon. Back home in the Oregon Cascades I would find red ones right next to the black/purple ones and always considered them un-ripe. But now you give me a new perspective to consider...

The red variety are more of a coastal thing I see lots of them in western Washington up into Southeast Alaska where they're very common also. Different flavor than the black or blue ones for sure. I have a friend who makes wine out of them, one year he picked enough of them to make 50 gallons!

Where I was there were mixed patches of bushes with red and purple berries. The bushes looked the same except leaves were slightly larger and looked healthier on bushes with red berries. Red berries were bright solid red and were softer than purple/black huckleberries.

Maybe ya otta send me a gallon of them and i'll check them out for ya!

Good try, racer man !

Eric, they are really good too, when fully ripe.

Waggler, thats a lot of berries !

A cool fact Ive learned on huckleberries in general....most folk pick them in August - mid or late month....depending on the elevation. I have found, that after a frost bite or two, the ones still on the bushes turn very very sweet and nice. The bushes are red in the leaves and those berries are a deep indigo against beautiful red orange tones. Thats usually in early to mid September .

Some of the most enjoyable times for me berry picking have been then, in cool Azure skies , on top of the high mountain ridges, enjoying the views amongst those bright red shrubs glowing in the sunlight. Quiet as can be. Berries with frostbite are so sweet and juicy then. Just watch out for bears

Sharon, thanks for the info. I'll try picking after frost.

Google Earth shows I was picking at 7180' elevation.

Furvor, still check your places this month too. Ive found that so many mountainous areas have such diverse micro climates. Elevation, valley exposure, all changes the berries in their stages. Sometimes if frost is late, the berries dry out sooner.

Make sure the crop is there and take stock of how it all looks. Also, if there are spots that people pick through heavily, there wont be much by the time first frost hits, so you may have to go ahead and pick this month , out of necessity anyway.

It all is timing, Ive found, the first frosts , the summer conditions, weather, people , or lack of.

Just enjoy checking up on your places anyway this month and see how things look. Happy gathering ! And take good measures in protection , just in case you run into a four legged varmint.

Some of the berries around here are more red even when ripe. I’m not sure if it’s a different species or just a different variety. Look up huckleberry in Wikipedia. It explains that there are several vaccinnium species. I find some red berry bushes along side the regular color ones where we pick. The red ones are usually a little larger.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huckleberry

Let's clear this up, it's real easy; "red" huckleberries are not merely unripe huckleberries (blue, black, dusty blue, etc), but are a distinct species of huckleberry.
"Vaccinium parvifolium, the red huckleberry, is a species of Vaccinium native to western North America, where it is common in forests from southeastern Alaska and British Columbia south through western Washington and Oregon to central California. In the Oregon Coast Range, it is the most common Vaccinium. Wikipedia"