Regardless of where you pull up your chair to the campfire, the smoke will drift your way! Hard woods such as oak, hickory, and ash burn steady and slow and without a lot of smoke, making them great choices for a relaxing fire. Soft woods, like cottonwood or pine, burn quickly and produce more smoke than hardwoods. Elm falls in the middle of the two, so it is perfectly good for a campfire; it just won’t last as long or have the higher heat output as the hardwoods.
Especially if you are traveling out of state, it is important to buy your firewood locally. Diseases and insects can be inadvertently introduced to a new area by bringing your own firewood. Most states request or require the use of local firewood for those reasons. We know it can be a hassle and it is likely more expensive, but it is a small price to pay to have the forests around for a long, long time.
There are a lot of choices for local wood for sale as you travel around the country. Hopefully, it is tagged with identification of the species. If not, you are taking your chances, unless you can identify it by the grain or bark of the wood. Check out Burly Beaver’s video on how to identify the most common types of firewood.
We want to mention that not all wood is good to burn, even in a campfire. Odd and end lumber left over from a project or pallet wood scraps (and never that which is marked with MB) may contain chemicals that, when burned, can produce some toxic smoke. And even if you collect your dead wood from the area around the campground, take the time to identify what it may be so that you don’t use something like dead poison ivy for kindling. Inhaling smoke from burning poisonous woods can create serious skin and breathing issues.
Our Choices
For Conversation and S’mores – Due to the long burn times and lower amount of smoke produced, we like Ash, Oak, or Maple.
For Open Flame Cooking – Because it burns slow and hot and also adds a nice flavor to the food, our choice for cooking is Hickory. Fruit woods, such as cherry or apple are good choices, as well, but are pretty tough to find.
For a Quick Evening Fire and Aroma – Cedar burns quickly, hot, and gives off a nice smell around the camp.
Do you have a favorite wood to burn for a campfire?
Leave a Reply