We all know it's not a camping trip without a campfire. Sitting around a campfire toasting marshmallows and hot dogs, maybe drinking a couple of beers and swapping stories - well, there's just not much better fun to be had. Bundled firewood, however, can cost, well, a bundle.
The gas stations and grocery stores in the area of our favorite campground sell firewood for about $3.00 a bundle. We use 2 bundles of firewood a day; that's about $18.00 alone for firewood for a 3 day camping trip. Your mileage may vary. Here's how to save some money on firewood for your next camping trip.
Bring firewood from home. Check the rules and regulations of your local campground to see if this is permitted. There are signs around the campground that we frequent telling us to burn firewood where we buy it (at the campground, of course, not at the gas station) and not to bring the firewood home because of the State of Illinois' efforts to stop the spread of the emerald ash borer (an insect).
There are many ways to get free firewood. If one of your neighbors is having a tree cut down, ask the tree trimming company what they're planning on doing with the wood. If they tell you that they'll be putting the wood in a chipper, tell them that they'll take it and ask whether they could cut it in pieces for you. It will save you a lot of elbow grease - cutting wood is hard work. If the tree trimming company is leaving the wood for the homeowner (and if you're brave), ask the homeowner if you could have the wood. The homeowner may be relieves that he won't have to find a way to dispose of the wood. And of course, if you're having a tree cut down on your property, you can tell the tree trimming company that you want to keep the wood and that they need to cut the branches and trunk to an easy-to-carry size.
You can also check on craigslist.org and on freecycle.org for people who are giving away firewood. It may be well worth a bit of a drive to pick up free firewood.
Once you get the wood back to your house, however, you can't burn it right away - it's still green. You need to season (dry out) the firewood in order for the firewood to burn a long time when you make your campfire. The easiest way to season the firewood is to just stack it up in your garden shed or your garage for a few months. So you don't have a garage or garden shed? Stack the firewood up outside and cover it with a tarp. Secure the tarp around the wood so that water or snow doesn't get to the firewood. Fall is a great time to obtain wood and store it up for spring camping trips.
Look around the campground. While you're taking a hike through the forest or just walking around the campground, pick up branches and limbs to use for the campfire. You may even find a log or two. This is, of course, to supplement either store bought firewood or firewood you've brought from home. You're also doing the campground a favor by picking up branches and limbs to keep the campground clean.
Other sources for firewood. The convenience store at the campground we frequent also sells wood. They have a fenced enclosure with firewood in it - you pay $3.00 at the store and they give you a tote to use. You can take as much wood as you can fit in the tote, put the firewood in your vehicle and then return the tote to the store. We usually do this on the first night of our camping trip since we don't have time to go to town to purchase firewood.
If you bring wood from home to the campground, you might want to consider purchasing a large plastic tote so put the wood in so that the tree bark doesn't get all over your vehicle. It will be easier for you to cart the firewood over to the fire pit in the tote. Just don't leave the tote too close to the fire or the tote will melt!
Are there other places that you obtain firewood from? Comment below and let me know!
On another note, in order to make a reservation at any Illinois state park campgrounds, you have to use the recreation.gov website. This means you have to pay for your entire reservation in advance, plus a $5.00 handling fee. Ugh. It was nice when you only had to pay $5.00 plus the first night's camping fee in advance. We will finally have the money soon to reserve a campsite for Memorial Day weekend. I only hope they have some good spots left.
Do you have plans for camping soon? Comment below and let me know!
See you all soon!
Diane
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