Dusk at Goliad State Park found my family enjoying the quiet and hotdogs cooked over a mesquite wood flame. The neighbors were having a good time too, but their fires were not doing so hot. My neighbor's fires blazed fiercely for a while but did not produce the desired long lasting, cheery campfire. While the circumstances of these campers was not as dire as London's character in the short story To Build a Fire, their efforts mirror the results in that story: FAIL.
Everyone enjoys a campfire. My informal surveys suggest many if not most park visitors camp once or twice a year. I figure these folks build a fire as often as they camp. So maybe this article will encourage someone and help them to build a campfire their family and friends will enjoy.
I consider myself a seasoned woodsman, used to river camping. When Dottie and I started camping I found building a campfire in the Texas state parks a new and humbling challenge.
Campers wishing to build a fire in the Texas State Parks face challenges imposed, not by the wilderness and sub zero weather, but by the prohibition of gathering firewood. To build a campfire the camper must buy the wood from the park or from a vendor in town. The park camper is then faced with starting a fire from large pieces of split wood. It is rare that a camper, beginner or experienced, would know or want to bring enough kindling to build several fires from start all the way to the split wood.
The reason for the parks restrictions on gathering firewood is to preserve the park as a more wild state. A few of the parks strive so hard to keep invasive insects out, that they also prohibit bringing your own wood. Their concern is the importation of bugs hidden in the wood. If we follow park regulations to the letter then we are not bringing kindling or firewood to those parks either.
The firewood the state parks sell is generally what is available in the region. You may find oak, elm, hackberry, cedar and pine in their stack. If you camp in the pine woods of East Texas, pine is a likely fire fuel. Pine is not a pleasant burn; lots of sap popping and smoke, but it produces a campfire. So...
Most of the parks sell split or small wood cut in lengths for a cash price. Usually these pieces are dried but not always. I try to pick the best pieces. Typical selling price is ten pieces for five dollars. The money goes back into the park, so I try to be generous when I buy wood. Oftentimes there is a cash box monitored only by the campers' integrity. I appreciate being trusted and I want to be able to enjoy this in the future so I keep honest.
Though I enjoy starting fires with primitive methods, the state parks are not where I hone that craft. I realize kindling can be made from the purchased wood, I have done so. But making kindling from bought wood in a park is some how an anachronism to me. Since we have to start with a wood large enough for an established fire I use an altogether different skill set.
Working within these confines requires some planning, but not much prep. Here are the tools and components I use for starting and maintaining a fire in the parks.
1) store or park-bought firewood, bring cash
2) charcoal,
3) a charcoal chimney
4) a cigarette lighter
5) paper for starting the chimney, (I use part of the bag the charcoal comes in)
6) a fire poker, (I use a Dutch oven lid lifter)
7) a shovel, (I use a Cold Steel Russian shovel)
These pictures are from our recent camping trip at Goliad State Park. When we visited this park we found out they did not sell firewood. We were advised and permitted by park employees to buy wood in town. The wood we bought was on par with what we have bought at other state parks. In the future we'll call ahead to confirm if the park sells wood.
There are other ways to start a campfire. The Goliad park rangers gave me some self lighting charcoal left behind by other campers. I used that half bag to start the fire in the picture with the steak grilling. Fire logs or pieces of fire logs used in the same manner as the chimney and charcoal are also a good way to start a campfire.
A good fire is a joy.
Be safe!
Thanks for reading!
MSM
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