Campfire Wood?

[renodesertfox]

Howdy,
Here a question for thought. What is a camping experience without a campfire?
What kind of wood have you used? Store bought, chopped and hauled in by yourself? I love a great campfire and it doesn't have to be a huge bonfire either! Have you ever used pressed lumber and if you have ever rolled your own newspapers into service, now is your chance to speak up? Have do drove around vacanted campgrounds looking for wood? Do you use culled lumber? I certainly do! Opinions count here, so what do you use? Have you ever been cited for having a campfire when it's been posted "No Fires". Thirty-five years ago when I was camping with my father, he was cited and we spilt the cost. Valuable lesson learned there. So what kind of wood do you use for your campfire?

[donnyonee]

i was buying bundles of clean light pallet wood already cut & wrapped. then found it burned to quick so i chopped it for the kindling. and then used the heavier wood the rangers sell. $5 - 7 a small bundle. now i try to get to the local firewood store and buy a wheel barrow full before going and i use a fire starter. dont need the kindling, 1 starter on top of the logs, light and your fire will happen. www.ezfire.com i think.

[AdamGOGC]

In Wisconsin State Parks your firewood must be obtained within a 50 mile radius of the park to help prevent the spread of pests and diseases. So we usually look for locals near the park that sell wheelbarrows of firewood. If we can't find that, then we have to settle for the wood bundles that the park sells. The cuts of wood usually aren't that great (mostly pine) and the cost usually runs $3-$5 per bundle.

We don't have to have a large campfire, but it is nice, especially when it's cold.

[renodesertfox]

In Wisconsin State Parks your firewood must be obtained within a 50 mile radius of the park to help prevent the spread of pests and diseases. So we usually look for locals near the park that sell wheelbarrows of firewood. If we can't find that, then we have to settle for the wood bundles that the park sells. The cuts of wood usually aren't that great (mostly pine) and the cost usually runs $3-$5 per bundle.

We don't have to have a large campfire, but it is nice, especially when it's cold.

Howdy AdamGOGC,
So if I decide to go camping in Wisconsin, at a State Park, I can't haul in my own lumber from Nevada which really wasn't cut here either? The wood could have been cut in Georgia and then shipped to Nevada. Another example is the wood for sale in Walmarts or grocery stores. Are those wood bundles from within a 50 mile distance of a specific state park? I don't see how this could be enforced?
Could you explain further?

[rxcamping]

40$ Truckload

I bought mine from a guy who runs a tree service locally. He sold me enough wood to fill the bed of my 69 Ford Ranger (8 foot bed) for 40$. It lasted my son and I all summer. We camped an average of 3-5 nights every couple of weeks from May until October. I think I got an excellent deal on this considering if I had to fill my truck with the 3-5$ bundles I would have had 5 or 6 hundred dollars worth of wood at least.

It made it nice because we could have guilt ($) free fires that were big enough or small enough based on the weather and not our budget.

[AdamGOGC]

To be honest, I'm not really sure how they enforce it. I think it is just one of those honor system things. We almost always get wood from around the park so I've never really been asked where my wood came from. I just think they're strongly encouraging campers to be aware of the problems that transporting wood can cause.

[ontariocamper]

Where we camp in a Provincial Park, they sell firewood at the park for about $7/bag.....at the supply post it is $6/bag.
The wood that both of these sell is useless.........it is still wet.
Not wet from rain, but unseasoned.
We asked all over if there is anywhere else that sells firewood..........no one seemed to know.
I felt like I was asking a Floridian where I could buy a case of oranges.
I really expected SOMEONE to know, seeing as how this campground is way up north in Ontario, and a good part of the population probably heats with wood??????
Well after 4 years of buying the crappy wood.........we asked a maintenance guy at a visitor centre.
He told us there was a guy about 5 miles up the road and around the bend..................etc etc...........well, we found this guy.
That's what he does for a living.........logging and firewood.
We half filled a 6x8 utility trailer to the siderails for I think $25.
And he even tossed in some softwood kindling too, N/C.
Next year we will set up camp and then do our firewood run!

[renodesertfox]

Holly molly, I thought you got blinded by the snow and cold and couldn't find you way back to camping forums! We are excited that you found a fella that helps supply you with great camping wood! Your story is great! So where have you been! How cold, how much snow?...we lower 48 people want to know, or I do? I don't know about the rest cause they haven't decided to sign up for free here yet! I didn't realize you had problems finding non-wet wood?:D

[ontariocamper]

Hey Vegas....
I am still here.........and I was really surprised that there are still so many posts going on..........but then I realized that not EVERYONE lives up with the ice and snow.............lol
Yep, it is gettin cold here.............we have had a few nights less than 0C......
tonight is supposed to be 0.
We have had some sprinkly snow, but nothing to cause any problems.
Now that I know there is still some good activity on here, i will check back in every other day or so.
Cheers

[JohnJohn]

Last time we went, I took some old fence pickets and posts. We had a fence blow over a few years back and we cut it up into small pieces. I got enough for next year too.

[Bigdog57]

Down here, I live right on the edge of the Apalachicola National Forest - they have a free permit to gather blown-down wood - as much as you can haul out. So, periodically we go get a P/U truckload. Mostly pine, but by looking carefully one can find some hardwood that burns better.
I have had some small trees and larger branches coming down that I cut into proper sized pieces and stack away.

When 'on the road', we buy it at the campgrounds - lousy stuff that burns too quickly.

[Christn2000]

I like to cut some firewood at home(I live on 2 1/2 ac with some woods) to use for campfire and in my smoker. Mostly I'll cut oak and pecan, but I will also use the snatch method of collecting firewood. Buying it is down on my list of druthers, but I have occasionally bought it.

[nearlywild]

My husband picks up used wood from construction projects on base. They put the scrap wood in bins for anyone to pick up if you want it. We also have some birch that we cut up from a few trees that snapped in a wind storm.

[surmisez]

Here in Massachusetts, we're battling the Asian Longhorned Beetle. Due to that, none of the private and state parks allow anyone to bring in wood. You must purchase your wood at the campsite.

If you are caught transporting wood at all, in and around the infected areas, you will be fined $30,000.00+. The area pretty much covers most of central Massachusetts and a new area was just posted near Boston. The only folks allowed to transport any type of wood or tree trimmings are licensed/permitted by the EPA, Forestry Service, or some other such agency.

The state campgrounds sell seasoned hardwood for a *donation* of $5.00 per bundle. I don't know why they call it a donation, they don't give you a choice. But the wood is great, and it burns nice.

The state park we camped at last month, Pearl Hill, had firewood stacked at each site when you got there. There was so much wood that after having huge bonfires each night, there was still wood left over after our four night stay. They didn't split the logs, but my husband always brings an ax, and he did that himself.

[tplife]

Tplife, raised in a wilderness area, was a logger in his youth for red cedar. As an adult, my 55cc Husqvarna (my first motorcycle had a 50cc engine) does the job at reducing the landscaper's work to fireplace-sized logs, found in piles now and then by the roadside. We burn eucalyptus, second in these parts only to oak for a long hot burn. Once dry (3-4 months) euc will also naturally crack and plit without the need for a ram. Three or four logsare good for hours, so a 2-night fire means about 16 pieces of cut euc. As a chemist I don't bother with firestarters since I already have Coleman fuel on hand as well as waterless hand cleaner (flammable ethanol base). Right now I probably am down to about a cord of wood for both my fireplace and my campfire.