Taking Wood Camping

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

daveswoodhauler

Minister of Fire
May 20, 2008
1,847
Massachusetts
Just curious to see if there are any campers out there, and if so if you folks bring your own wood with you to go camping?

Reason I ask is that I am headin up to the White Mountains with the fam for 4 days, and it would irk me to drop $5-10 bucks at the ole store when I can bring up my own for free.

I am outside the borer zone, and just curious to see what other folks do? (Reason I ask, is that I have about a cord or so of pine from the last ice storm)

Just wondering.
 
I believe that a lot of areas are not allowing you to bring your own wood in. There are many pests that they don't want moving around. You may be well served to call ahead to where you are headed and ask if they allow you to bring in your own wood before heading out. Sad fact of the matter may well be that we will all have to stick to local supplies and/or kiln dried wood for camping.
 
Iam just of 93 15 min west of Littleton in STJ stop by and I'll hook you up if you are coming this far.(No charge)
 
I just stayed at a Campground in N. Conway, NH. The wood there was expensive and wet. A guy told me about a place about 16 miles South that sold dry camp wood for a very reasonable price. I didn't go but saw the wood he had and traded for some. I may be able to give you better directions if necessary let me know.
 
Thanks Chris G for the offer...a little out of our way, as we are on the other side of NH....appreciate your help though!
ArcDad, be curious to see where you stayed in N. Conway....we stay in Glen, as the kids like it...but always looking for other options.
Thanks.
 
Moving wood here in Michigan is the sin of all sins....I wouldn't do it for fear of being shot by DNR....
 
Yeah that would be alittle far to come from Glen. Hope you get some good weather for your trip.
 
just got back from 4 days I took 1/2 rick and was a little more than needed
 
Other side of the Rockies from most of you so probably a very different story, but I bring wood for camping. Depending on where you go, you can sometimes find decent downed limbs to cut up for a campfire, but generally there's not much left in a campground.
 
In the past I have brought wood with me, but it seems as though many places are not looking at that practice very favorably with the various pests popping up in the different areas. While the pests haven't (to my knowledge) affected my area yet, I have no issues playing it safe and leaving the wood at home for winter (or Summer burning as the case has been lately) . .. but as Madrone mentioned I bring my Razor saw and have no problems finding downed, dead wood in the are for campfires . . . as long as you're willing to scrounge a bit and haul it back to the campsite since any wood right around the campsites tend to be pretty much non-existent.
 
I usually look for wood to purchase when i get within 20 miles or so of hte camp ground. You can get a better deal and way more wood. Filled the back of my 4runner for 20 on Memorial day weekend.
 
stee6043 said:
Moving wood here in Michigan is the sin of all sins....I wouldn't do it for fear of being shot by DNR....

You can move wood anywhere in the lower, you just can't move it out of the lower into the upper or out of the state. http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-30301_30505_40936-140070--,00.html

http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1568_2390_18298-115218--,00.html

"The state's EAB interior quarantine is designed to restrict the artificial spread of EAB. The elements of the quarantine are as follows:

* All the sixty-eight (68) contiguous county area of the Lower Peninsula is quarantined as Level I. Movement of hardwood firewood within this 68 contiguous county area is allowed; however, movement of hardwood firewood out of Quarantine Level I and into the Upper Peninsula (UP), Canada, or other states is prohibited. "
 
ilikewood said:
Just curious to see if there are any campers out there, and if so if you folks bring your own wood with you to go camping?

Reason I ask is that I am headin up to the White Mountains with the fam for 4 days, and it would irk me to drop $5-10 bucks at the ole store when I can bring up my own for free.

I am outside the borer zone, and just curious to see what other folks do? (Reason I ask, is that I have about a cord or so of pine from the last ice storm)

Just wondering.

Depends on where I'm camping. In the National Forrest I bring an axe and a saw. Everywhere else I bring wood with me.
 
All I brought this year was untreated lumber scraps due to all the "Quarantines" from state to state. I used the scraps to get the fires going with locally bought wood.
I stayed at Jigger Johnson on the Kang in June. There were posters on every restroom not to bring in out of state wood.
"It sported a big picture of the Asian Longhorn Beetle with larve"

WoodButcher
 
SolarAndWood said:
There is a regulation in NY that restricts transport of firewood to 50 miles from its source. Fines of up to $350 and jail time of up to 15 days.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/28722.html

Should be 250 dollars for a violation...15 days in jail probably would never happen.

Right now we are just educating the public on this reg, I am sure soon they will want us to start ticketing violators but people would have to probably tell me to "Go to hell" before I ticket another fellow wood stove guy :) Education first in my book....
 
I always Take my wood with me as I am far too cheap to pay for wood when I have wood.
Besides how are they gonna tell where the wood came from. Did trees start growing the area code in to every piece of wood?
 
Bigg_Redd said:
Depends on where I'm camping. In the National Forrest I bring an axe and a saw. Everywhere else I bring wood with me.

I brought an armload of campfire wood to Gifford Pinchot last week, but found plenty of well-seasoned branches around. I always bring my little bow saw.
 
Your "don't tell me what to do" free-spirit, buck-saving mind may tell you to bring your own firewood, but the cost to the public (that's yours and mine tax dollars), forest-products industry, jobs, shade trees, etc, etc, is huge. Minnesota faces a multi-billion dollar loss due to spread of the Emerald Ash Borer. While it is impossible to state with certainty that moving infested firewood brought this into Minnesota, firewood is highly suspect.

The simple answer is, get your firewood locally for camping. And if you bring your own firewood and are in areas where quarantines are in effect, you deserve to be fined heavily and jailed, with the kind of jail friends that like to explore the places where the sun doesn't shine.
 
JFK said:
SolarAndWood said:
There is a regulation in NY that restricts transport of firewood to 50 miles from its source. Fines of up to $350 and jail time of up to 15 days.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/28722.html

Should be 250 dollars for a violation...

on top of that is a $100 civil penalty and court fees. Not a big fan of the 50 miles as it makes bringing a load back from the camp a violation by 20 miles. Would be more than happy with it if it kept downstaters that actually have infested wood from polluting the state forest on the other side of the lake though.

I would be better off selling the firewood to the Mcmansioners up there anyway. Might even put a dent in the 50% increase in the property tax assessment year over year.
 
"Would be more than happy with it if it kept downstaters that actually have infested wood from polluting the state forest on the other side of the lake though. "

I would like to see anything that supports that statement. i haven't seen an emrald ash borer in any of the ash that i have split in the down portion of the state in the last 20 yrs.
 
f3cbboy said:
"Would be more than happy with it if it kept downstaters that actually have infested wood from polluting the state forest on the other side of the lake though. "

I would like to see anything that supports that statement. i haven't seen an emrald ash borer in any of the ash that i have split in the down portion of the state in the last 20 yrs.

From that same page:

"The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) was first confirmed in New York State in 1996. Areas of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau and Suffolk Counties are also under Federal quarantine which prohibits the movement of firewood and wood products of all hardwood species out of these regulated areas."


My comment was intended to be more sarcasm than anything...I'm pretty confident that no one from NYC or Long Island is going to take firewood with them camping in the middle of the Adirondacks. However, this policy does make me harvesting some of the 60 acres of hardwoods at the camp and bringing it home 70 miles as the crow flies a violation. While I wouldn't make a special trip for it, I can almost satisfy our annual needs by doing this while we are there anyway. Not a big fan of arbitrary regulations that restrict property rights. That said, I'm also pretty confident that the folks at the DEC would consider my case an unintended consequence and say that they had to draw the line somewhere.
 
It is a tough regulation and like I said before it is tough to enforce being DEC Ranger and also being a wood stove guy. I am in the same boat as my cabin is more than 50 miles to my house. So I am just going to use that wood from the property at the property and maybe sell some extra to some folks around there. I look all the time near where I live and so far getting wood near my house has not been too difficult, lots of people just put their wood by the curbside. I would rather enforce and follow these regs than have no trees to burn.....

I do know right now the DEC staff is hard at work trying to stop this Emerald Ash Borer invasion that is in the Randolph, NY area right now. A lot of people are pushing 12-13 hour days doing their best in this tough, maybe impossible fight......
 
i must say that I interpreted your comments differently from your intention having just got home from Lake George.....but i must also say that i responded prior to reading the link. I find this stuff pretty interesting and can't imagine living in an area that is dependant upon this for a living, but could certainly understand angry/frustrated and feelings of resentment. I need to do more reading on this subject - untill now i have basically ignored it. definatly need to get smarter.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.