This post first appeared here two years ago this month. This has been a particularly explosive week for wildfire in California, and across the West, and that in mind, here’s an opinion piece arguing that campfires aren’t really all they’re cracked up to be, wildfires or no. Should go without saying, but so often it doesn’t, opinion pieces are not necessarily the opinions held by the editors. – Ed.
In 1972, Grand Canyon National Park outlawed campfires in the backcountry. Backpackers like me considered this an outrage. After all, the only people who carried those fancy little stoves back then were people incapable of building a fire. I bring this up because we are living through another explosive fire season in the West.
Of course, popular campsites back then looked a lot like parking lots. No downed wood, no dead (or live) grasses, no bushes, no bark on the trees as far up as you could reach. When a dozen people a night are building campfires, anything burnable vanishes pretty quickly.
Note: Fires denude the camping area.
I had a stove. I remember setting up my tiny SVEA, putting the pot on to boil, and turning to organize my sleeping place, because when cooking on a wood fire, it takes forever for the pot to boil.
But my pot boileth over, more quickly than I expected.
Note: Stoves are more efficient than wood fires.
A fire is convivial, although I usually don’t sit next to it: I spend a lot of time skulking around to avoid smoke. Said smoke also fills the whole camping area. I can see and smell a campfire from a mile away.
Note: Fires stink.
Fires are a survival tool. Everyone who goes into the backcountry knows to carry waxed matches, so that in an emergency, you may bask in the warmth of a fire. I once spent the night at 10,000 feet in midwinter and 14 feet of snow, huddled near a fire, but not basking. I would much rather have had my down parka. The wood kept burning up, and someone, usually me, had to stumble around in the snow gathering new fuel.
Note: Even survival experts admit that the value of a survival fire is mostly psychological.
One day, I found myself hiking in the mountains right at tree level. It was a lovely meadow with delicate alpine flowers–a verdant hanging valley. I pictured myself dragging the weathered wood into a ring, starting a fire, killing the fragile plants underneath, and then, in the morning, dealing with the debris and blackened soil.
“No one would mind, would they,” I asked my fellow backpackers, “if we didn’t have a fire tonight?” No one would, and that was the beginning of the end of my fascination with campfires.
I became notorious for my refusal to let my companions build an illegal fire at the bottom of Grand Canyon. And then, to let them build a fire anywhere. We had a stove; we had warm clothing. Why did we want to destroy old wood and leave an unholy mess? We didn’t, everyone decided.
There is a person in the Sierra Club (who shall remain nameless) who is still not speaking to me because I would not let him build a fire on an overnight trip, and he had not brought a stove. I volunteered the use of my stove, but no, he had to have a fire, and I wasn’t going to build one. He ate cold, dry food for three days.
I discovered that if one is not blinded by a fire, there are stars. Small animals creep about. There is a distinct lack of stench in clothing –well, it smells like a sweaty human body, but not combined with stale smoke.
Soon, I began to clean out abandoned campfire rings, realizing that there is a persistent belief that anything thrown into a campfire will vanish. It doesn’t. Cans don’t burn. Nor does glass, plastic, leather, clothing, or leftover food. The doused fire itself contains charcoal that will last for thousands of years.
I have carried the remnants of countless discarded campfires out of the Grand Canyon. This requires a frame pack, a shovel, work gloves and several high-grade garbage bags.
It is, of course, possible to build a leave-no-trace fire. It takes a fireproof blanket spread on cleared ground covered with a mound of mineral soil. This shields the soil from being sterilized. A small fire built from wood no larger than the size of one’s finger is allowed to burn to ash. As soon as you leave, any pieces of charcoal must be crushed to powder and scattered to the winds. For light, it is far easier to use a solar lantern, or a candle.
I spent a week car camping in Yellowstone with a friend, and we–well, me–chose not to waste money purchasing firewood. There was some grumbling, but I rose above it.
At the end of the week, my friend said, “I did kind of miss a fire, but when you aren’t looking for wood and tending the fire, and staying out of the smoke, and cleaning up after the fire, you sure have a lot of spare time.” Indeed.
This story originally appeared in High Country News. Photo by Courtnie Tosana.
Agree to a point…….. The down parka wont work as well in the snow after it gets wet. You may want fire then to dry stuff out.
All things are ok in moderation.
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1493853018
Cook and eat inside in comfort when the wind blows.
A 2”x40” chimney that serves as centre pole weighs only 24 ounces
Vents a 6”x8” cookstove
I have been anti camp fire for years. Not worth the trouble, the high impact or the smell. Generally just a waste of time and energy better spent else where. And a camp fire makes me paranoid about inadvertently causing a wild fire which is a quick way to kill your stoke. Trouble is my 10 year old son thinks camp fires are “the best”. I will be very happy when he grows out of that believe.
You Environmentalist are know nothings about real conservation.
If you’d have had just a down Parka, at 10k ft ASL in 14 ft of snow, you surely wouldn’t have lived through that experience to write this article without a fire.
Coal/Charcoal is a natural element, and is a part of healthy soil compositions.
Likewise, in previous generations just 150 years ago. Fires were used by virtually every person on the planet in both developed country, and indigenous peoples.
Taking dead standing wood, is actually beneficial, and will spur new growth.
By the way, “Pine Trees” need fire to reproduce, as it’s only large amounts of heat that open pine cones, and reseed the forest.
The Sierra Nevada is dry, and I think it’s important to treat the land responsibly, but let’s get real here. Fire lays are part of “natural living” and is a practice that’s been in use for thousands of years, and our forests are still here.
Also, if you have an abundant supply of meat, you’ll need more than a rocket stove to cook it without having to boil it.
Thank you Matthew Petto. Rabid devotion to a singular and myopic POV is what’s wrong with the world today.
The same can be said of both perspectives. Why not trying to build bridges instead of, well, burning them?
Speak for yourself, chilling around a camp fire is one of the great pleasures of life and personally I like the way my clothes smell like wood smoke after camping. And if you want to see the stars simply walk a short distance away…
The more time I spend in the woods, the longer backpacking trips I go on, the less I make fires. One maybe every 30 nights on my last thru hike, and rarely even just on overnights. Now my nights are filled with stars, conversation in the dark(try it it’s great), and listening to all the wildlife that you don’t hear or doesn’t come around when you have a fire. Either that, or you can always go to bed early and be up for dawn, the most magical, beautiful, and activity filled time of the day in the backcountry.
The problem with all of this, is that one group is limiting the freedom of another group. Backcountry camping is about freedom, and a fire is something many want to be free to enjoy.
I think we may be right and wrong at the same time. As a boy scout, the wood fire was magical, primitive, and as a mountaineer, the stove has no match. We have to find a way to enjoy both. But also know that nature is not made to give us unlimited freedom. It’s all the way around. The natural world is in balance when all creatures know their limits.
Well said, Pablo. I’m on the fence with this one. I mostly go without campfires, because I’ve learned that I have more interesting evenings without one while in the backcountry. I’m not really concerned about starting a wildfire, because I’m a responsible adult with a functioning brain that tells me it’s a bad idea to have a fire when it’s a bad idea to have a fire. But that’s what you’re getting at here — a balance. Lots of people reject the idea of not having a fire simply because they want one. That’s their only justification. They want. It’s also my two-year-old’s justification for asking for ice cream for breakfast.
Whoa, Justin, this is among the most heated arguments from any of AJ prior posts I have seen. No pun intended. Good work presenting this.
ps Chinese food & ice cream for breakfast? Rules! Some days, at least.
Pablo, great argument! And for those with asthmatic people in their family, we need way more smokeless family campsites please! Smoke is actually very harmful for everyone, and a cumulative way to gather significant carcinogens and inflammatory reactions, to just name a couple bad things that happen to everyone with smoke. Thank you so much, Marjorie Woodruff, for writing this and enlightening others.
“Fires Stink”, is an opinion. Quite a few people enjoy the smell. And, like most people, moderation is the key. Also, you can look at the stars before or after a camp fire. I.e. You can have a camp fire and look at the stars. ( Not at same time for optimum viewing)
I get no campfires in the backcountry where fire danger is real and/or when resources are scarce, but I cannot get behind no campfires while car camping. I’ve cancelled or shifted car camping trips because of campfire bans (due to fire danger). Campfires are an integral part of my car camping experience.
If there is a fire ban, absolutely. If it’s not allowed, OK – I’ll follow the rules.
But make no mistake, fire is a natural occurrence in the wild. It’s been happening for all time. Part of our wildfire mess is our not letting fires burn naturally. And I like the smell of woodsmoke. I like the smell on my clothing. After a week on the trail it can mask some of your fellow hikers’ stank. And sitting around a fire with friends and sharing stories is ingrained in our collective experience, regardless of race or culture. You may want to give up this ancient pleasure, but don’t piss on my fire……
of all people it was my American friend that thought me how to have a visual/psychological fire without the damaging effects of a real one. And I have been having them since. Here is what I do to create a portable “fire in a can” http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/diy-candlefire.html
Love this!
Agree with lots of the comments, no fires in the backcountry, but fire, and what happens around the campfire ring, is an integral part of car camping or slack-country camping, and the out-of-doors experience. Wouldn’t have my boys miss out on that.
Two other things, sometimes the fire keeps away the night and what it contains, that we should properly fear. And, cooking over a fire is a lost art, lost to plastic bags of cardboard food heated by boiled water. Bleeagh.
Dawn does show the worlds secrets as she softens the landscape….
hey anti-fire lady. are you the scrooge of summertime fun? i’ll take your message and use it as kindling for my next campfire. long live the flame of an open fire!!!
Stay home intercity
Goodbye campfire, I won’t miss you too much. At the end of a long day of hiking, I’d rather be making dinner on my stove than tromping around in search of wood. I’d rather be stargazing than tromping around for yet even more wood, and I’d rather be sleeping than outing the fire with water. Anti-fire lady, would you come hike with us?
it’s all a matter of context. in the east a fire is no big deal; there is wood everywhere if you are backpacking. western high altitude fires are not so good in my opinion. fragile environment is the main reason so leave no trace includes fire debris and moving around dead wood that should be rotting and replenishing the soil. lower altitude western fires can be a good thing in some areas. it helps clean up the excess deadwood that for decades has not been burned by smaller wildfires do to the belief that all wildfires are bad and should be put out.
I do love campfires but limit them to the right time and place.
well said Phred!
I totally agree. Ditch the fire. The chances of causing a forest fire are all too great. I hate coming upon fire rings and piles of wood on the side of the trail. Leave no trace of your passage and the wilderness will stay wilderness. no one has the right to start building fire rings and breaking branches off of trees.
You don’t “break branches off trees” you use a saw, and only take the dead standing wood, which is good for the surrounding forest, and the tree you’d essentially be pruning. This is what is done to make a bows bed. It’s beneficial if done not haphazardly.
The soil argument is nil, because burning wood just speeds up the exact same natural process as letting it rot into the soil. It all reverts to “carbon”
Using a saw to “prune” trees in the wilderness is hardly a leave no trace approach. Also insects feed on dead branches in the tree and birds feed on insects. Just sayin…
Three different references to you not letting your compadres build a fire. Always fun to camp with a control freak.
Wow, you nailed it. The best and most intelligent way to respond when you don’t agree with someone’s opinion is to insult them…
I only have fires on the beaches (where allowed, e.g., Olympic National Forest) or car camping. But I mostly backpack in the high-alpine in WA, and fires are NOT allowed, and I have no desire to create a fire there, although sadly, I often see illegal fire rings:
1.) The trees grow very slowly there, and every bit of “fallen” wood is needed to decompose and replenish the soil.
2.) The area is vulnerable to forest fires, and a friend of mine who used to volunteer as a ranger told me that depending on conditions, the fire can radiate underground for up to 8 feet! So you think you put it out with water… but it’s still there, waiting…
3.) I don’t want to pack out ash and charred wood.
https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/minimize-campfire-impacts/
Brilliantly stated
That’s funny seeing as how the area you’re speaking of is the most heavily logged region in the U.S.
Sorry bro, but Doug Firs actually grow pretty fast! That’s why only 50-60 years later you have 3rd growth forrest.
Mathew, you seemed to miss that Ontogenesis was writing specifically about the high-alpine in WA.
No Douglas-fir there fella.
Get out into nature (low-, mid-, or high-elevation), observe, and then write about what you’ve observed.
We’ve been camping for almost three months straight now, and I think we’ve had two fires. Even our kid doesn’t miss it.
I don’t like smoke, burned holes in the camp chairs, or having to put out the fire and stay up to make sure it’s really out.
On our last trip through Arches the whole campground was so thick with smoke, I didn’t enjoy it. Burning eyes, breathing smoke… it’s not what I look forward to in the outdoors.
If you don’t have a campfire, it ain’t camping.
Wrong
If people spent half as much effort putting their fires out as they do starting them, we’d have a lot less wildfires. But humans are lazy so that’s wishful thinking. I also find that humans who gather around campfires are often VERY LOUD, much more so than when there is no campfire. I do not want to hear your drunken conversation and laughter at midnight when I’m trying to sleep.
You said it perfectly
University of Colorado did a study looking at 20 years worth of Data and campfires account for 5 percent of wildfires.
Amen to this one.
So others laughing and having a good time bothers you?
Why’d you pitch so close to the collective? You didn’t have a choice?
Sadly I think no campfires should be the case and mostly becasue there are just too many knuckleheads out there. Certainly we should only have fires in existing fire rings or in a desiginated fireplace.
The wood we use should be hauled in and not taken from the area and low impact guidelines suggest hauling out the ashes.
I can tell you I’ve found between 20 and 30 “extinguished” fires that we still hot and smoking because some twerp didn’t have enough water to finish the job. And a couple of years ago in November during second elk season near Grandby, CO a unattended hunting guide’s fire started a forest fire that required 1/2 a day of fire bombers (6 to 8 runs) and helicopter supression for 2 days. I would have never thought there could be a forest fire in November in Colorado high country.
It would be nice if everyone had some sense of low impact camping.
How about ditching camping all together. You’re encouraging the knuckleheads!
Get out of the woods. You don’t belong there in your wool socks, designer boots, above the knee shorts, and long sleeve flannel.
Ha!
Don’t ditch the fire, ditch the fire pit. If you can afford a mountain bike, skis, or any of the other expensive outdoor gear “required” for an outdoor experience these days, you can afford a fire pan. Fire pans make for cleaner camps and safer camping.
Or even a woodstove, yes!
Here in the northeast US, I can’t remember the last time I went camping without making a fire.
Google “Tinder Fire” and see what resulted from an abandoned, hot campfire here in AZ last summer. One careless, negligent camper caused a lot of personal loss and pain.
i would point out that in the east building a fire, even in the summer is not such a big deal, there is down hardwood everywhere. it’s probably a good thing to burn some of it up. in the winter it’s a no brainer. the temp is often in the single digits at night where we winter pack and fires are pretty useful. or you are in your tent at 5pm!
out west I always try to get above tree line (something we can’t do out here in the east) so fires are not possible.
I areas with a high concentration of people camping, fires can be a problem, for the reasons you outline.
In remote areas that are infrequently visited, it seems silly to prohibit something that has a very limited impact.
I disagree with this post. I feel that this issue is very much regional and while I can empathize with not having fires outside of established campsites with fire rings, saying that a person shouldn’t start a campfire is pretty heavy handed. Fire stinks? Really?
Where I live, most camping and fire building is done at either State Parks or other managed spaces such as the BWCA. The key word there is managed.
I do support using common sense and I can also appreciate that a campfire in a non designated camp spot is probably not a good idea, but to promote an outright ban is a non starter for me.
OK, lots of pros & cons for campfires and most have merit. But, what bugged me immediately about the article is the photo of the so-called ‘campfire’ at the head of the article. I’ve seen and built a lot of campfires in my 72 yrs but have never seen anything as ugly as the one pictured. Was it it chosen on purpose to make campfires seem ugly?
I would say that a lot of variables go into the fire vs no fire debate and it can go either way. A long time ago I stopped building fires because I am lazy. I found that a small candle lantern was plenty to sit around and chat and a lot less work. My close friends and I were all cooking with stoves anyway and no one complained. Occasionally there was the right group at the right spot at the right time and someone would make a fire and we would bury the potatoes and get out the s’mores, but that is rare. I cant say a hard yes/no on this issue, but the only reason it’s an issue at all is because people suck.
Samuel, it’s a huge issue in wilderness areas because it defaces the landscape.
… Because too many people do it wrong, and people suck.
Three cheers for this article. I 100% agree with the no campfire policy. The deliberate destruction of vegetation and habitat that far too many people engage in when setting up and maintaining a fire is awful. The collection of old logs and fallen timber on the ground removes shelter and food for a huge range of wild life. Then later in the night when people refuse to move far from the light, the removal of green wood from trees and bushes nearby is appalling. Oversized fires, beyond what is required for cooking. All for ambience and rarely a useful purpose. Missing the chance to enjoy the stars, the sweet scents of the bush and the quiet of the night.
Thank you for this article. Outside of campgrounds with established fire rings, there is no question that fires deface the landscape. I ran a wilderness school in North Carolina for six years in the 1970’s and we never used fire for either warmth or cooking. I can’t begin to tell you how many lovely spots I’ve encountered where campfires have left ugly scars.
Bottom Line: If you know how to use clothing effectively, you don’t need a fire to keep warm, and if you carry a backpacking stove you don’t need a fire for cooking. Not building fires should be the foundation of Leave No Trace camping – no matter where your wilderness travels take you. It’s a critical part of preserving the wilderness experience for those who follow in your footsteps.
Naturally occuring wildfire, says you’re wrong!
I don’t know how many beautiful wilderness areas scarred by wildfires you’ve seen, but we have a lot of them in Washington and Oregon. They’re natural, yes, but also heartbreaking. So no, you don’t get to use that as an argument in favor of campfires. I don’t know why you find it so hard to comprehend the value of “leave no trace” camping in pristine areas. In established campgrounds that have already been trashed, OK. But not in unspoiled terrain.
Outside of established fire rings I think it is very disrespectful to create a new fire ring scar to mar the landscape or the true wilderness experience for others. Leave no trace; and be conservative and keep the fire small – just get closer to it and learn to enjoy the smoke in your face and clothing.
There are far too many boneheads that think it is completely appropriate to create a monster bonfire in the remote back country or the in-between wild public use zones.
What a crock.
You don’t like camp fires? Fine, don’t have them.
But don’t tell others what to do.
Honor diversity.
Thank you.
Your argument makes no sense. According to your reasoning, someone who craps on the bare ground and leaves toilet paper strewn about is exercising “diversity”. Responsible backcountry travelers who appreciate natural beauty strive to “leave no trace”.
I have camped during fire bans with people that bitterly complained that they could not have a fire. They then complained the whole trip of the smoke caused by to near by wild fires.
https://www.wintercampingsymposium.com/forum/gear-equipment/wood-stoves/2329-new-ideas-for-cooking-under-tarp
Hi, you forgot a few important arguments yet:
1) Wood smoke is very cancerous, a lot more than cigarettes. The smoke is very unhealthy and contains many toxics. Beter start smoking cigarettes then sitting at a camp fire for your health.
2) The fire creates sparks and they float in the air and make small holes in tents and synthetic clothes.
3) Environment. Burning wood releases the CO2. It raises the atmospheres tempurature.
4) People with lung diseases can’t go camping and enjoy nature, because of the fumes of the camp fires. Their breathing is necessary to stay alive. Your campfire: not so.
Couple other thoughts, are campfires part of global warming, I believe so, and are trees being cut down to supply people with firewood, again, I believe so. Correct me if I’m wrong. Leave no trace.
I looked at my post from 2016 and realized I’m a pretty funny guy. And I still like fires if permitted
I enjoy campfires, though not as much as when I was young. But I have always kept my fires small – you do not need a bonfire to cook on or even to sit around comfortably in the evening. A single armload of wood usually lasts me an entire evening or longer. (And when the fire danger is high, I use a stove or don’t cook at all.) I am too old now for backpacking and long hikes into the backcountry, so most of my fires are built in existing fire rings in established campsites using purchased wood. People who cut or kill all the trees around established campsites annoy me greatly – they ruin it for everyone else. Support some of the locals and buy from them! Take your garbage out with you, it seldom burns completely. On the other hand, if charcoal lasted forever as the author suggests, the soil would all be black from the many fires of Native Americans over the last 30,000 years or so.
In Maine, campfires are part of summer. Here, you need a permit for any campfire not in an established fire-ring. They’re simple to get, but you need to call or go online to check the fire conditions. Its simple, if there’s a fire warning, no permit and no campfire. Otherwise, grab some downed wood and light-up.
I love the way not having a campfire is now the “Environmentally friendly” thing to do. Forget that you probably drove your Tacoma at 18MPG a few hundred miles to get to the trail-head. The CO2 coming from that dead wood would have been converted to Co2 with or without the fire. That car drive spewed out 20 pounds of CO2 for every gallon of gas consumed.
I get it, having an open flame in an area of fire danger is a bad idea, but dont try to impose your feelings on the rest of us. Some of us love the smell of a campfire.
I don’t agree. It’s time to start holding people accountable for being lazy and entitled and stop making excuses. I will continue to have a fire because I am a responsible adult.
Some real hubris….
“I wouldn’t let others build a fire”…..
Rationalize your own silly behavior if you like. Imposing your values on others…..arrogant.
Educate – don’t dictate & yeah, I’ll have a campfire at the appropriate place and time. There is nothing better than breakfast, after a chilly night, cooked on an open fire…IMHO
Totally agree with this article!
Wow… just, wow. While I would agree with you on 85% of your beliefs. The last fascist, intolerant and void of science 15% has left me standing outside your circle.
That “person in the Sierra Club” is not wrong to speak to you. I wouldn’t want to speak with someone as intolerant as the Taliban either…
Sitting here car camping. People near by having a campfire. The smell of smoke makes it hard for me to breathe. the temperature feels hotter since they started the fire. it seems so wrong to me.
People who cook outside in the wind do not go out much.
Everyday is fun to be camping if you use a 14 ounce centre pole chimney inside a square tarp pitch, all sides tight to the ground or all sides raised to cool off.
Google chimpac