Campfires

[Guest]

Camping without being allowed to have a campfire to gather around is a strange concept for me...

"C'mom kids, let's gather 'round the briquettes and tell some scary stories and sing some songs, shall we?"

[Ken A Hood]

Camping without a campfire? Never, even when there are fire bans ALL(Most) provincial parks ALLOW campfires. They just have to be contained within the specified firepit, and attended at all times.....

[David Grason]

The times they are a changin'.

Virtually all campgrounds in our neck of the woods have fire rings. To me that's plenty fair enough to stay within the fire ring. Tennessee has some really GREAT state parks. If camping is what we want to do, we much prefer the state parks to just about anywhere else within a 3-5 hour drive.

My wife and I live within 4 miles of the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway. It's part of the National Park System and I do make exception because they have one campground about 45 miles down the Trace from us that is a really nice place to get away but it IS primitive. As long as a bunch of motorhomes don't roll in with their screaming generators, it's GREAT!

[Arne]

I did part of the 'trace' from Natchez up to the cut off for Memphis.... what a joy.... there were times when I saw NO traffic in either direction.... how sublime it was..... and very nicely kept, no litter in sight...

[tdthinker]

All the camp sites I have been to here in Illinois have 5x5 cement pads with movable grates so you can cook on them at any height or just fold them up out of the way. bye

[David Grason]

Since the subject of the Natchez Trace has come up, here is a link to my Yahoo photo album showing a few images of the parkway.


http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/grason_da ... /my_photos

[Joseph]

At "Camp Asphalt" on my teardrop's maiden voyage, we put some firewood around two citronella candles. Of course it wasn't as good as a campfire, but it was good for a laugh and better than nothing.

Joseph

[len19070]

Camping without a fire is,.. just not right!

Happy Trails

Len

[twc3]

If we are not around the fire we are usually not at the campsite.

TC.

[Rob]

I rarely build a campfire, but I can't imagine camping someplace where it isn't allowed. Most of my camping has been in northern California and the fire hazard is always a concern. It the place is too dry I can understand the park police not allowing the fire, but that is only for a month or so during the year.
Rob

[TomS]

All other things being equal, I prefer campgrounds that allow campfires.

One of my favorite campgrounds on lower Cape Cod does not allow campfires. The reason for the prohibition s obvious. This camground is located in a pine scrub forest on sand dunes. The area is very prone to fires.
I don't mind, because we can walk a few hundred yards to the to one of the nicest beaches on the Cape. At night, head to the beach with a lantern, fishing gear and beach chairs. I fish for stripped bass and blue fish in the surf. Wendy sits and reads. It's a very nice way to spend an evening. Fires are allowed on the beach provided you get a permit from the town. But, I'm usually too busy fishing to bother with a fire.

[crankshaft]

This reminds me of a camping trip my wife and took up into British Columbia several years ago.. Beautiful country and a beautiful camp ground. beautiful fire rings But no fire allowed.

It turns out that the camp ground was built over a peat bog . So to forstall a fire they prohibited all camp fires.


The entire camp ground was as dark as coal.

Crankshaft

[DestinDave]

I can't imagine camping without a fire to sit around in the evening. Listen to the cracklin' and poppin', see the flames dancing around casting weird shadows on everyone, smell the smoke when the wind shifts, feel the warmth, stoke the fire pit and work up a good glow and throw on another log! Wake up in the morning, stoke it up again, toss a log on and start the coffee and breakfast! The ONLY thing more serene and relaxing is having this campsite and fire next to a large body of water! That's Shangri-La...

[Nitetimes]

Where would you burn the mushmallows and hotdogs if you don't have a fire?

[Larwyn]

At "Camp Asphalt" on my teardrop's maiden voyage, we put some firewood around two citronella candles. Of course it wasn't as good as a campfire, but it was good for a laugh and better than nothing.

Joseph

Joseph

A campfire is an event of it's own. The flames put on a better show than you can find on any tv screen, but they do not preclude conversation and deep thought. Not to mention warmth when that is an issue. Strangers approach your fire, they become acquaintances, they leave as friends.

For me to say "We had a good fire" means more than we burned some logs. It means we had a good gathering. Your citronella fire fits that description well, you had a "good fire."