Nothing says camping more than the iconic campfire. However, you’re going to need plenty of firewood to keep that iconic campfire going. Which might lead you to wonder just how much does firewood cost for camping?
The answer to this question can vary greatly depending on where you buy your firewood, what type of wood your burning, and how much firewood you use.
On average though you can expect to spend between $5 and $10 for a bundle of wood bought at a campground and burning on average about two bundles per night. So if you plan on camping for a long three day weekend and have a campfire all three nights you can expect to spend somewhere between $30 and $60 on firewood while camping.
How Much Does Firewood Cost for Camping?
While we know the average cost of firewood for camping bought at the campground, there are other options for firewood that can help reduce the cost. Below we’ll explore some of these alternative sources for firewood to help keep your camping trip budget-friendly.
As with most things, the most convenient place to buy something is often not the most cost-effective place to buy it and this is especially true when it comes to firewood for camping.
Buying Firewood at the Campground
You will pay a premium for firewood when you buy it directly at the campground, which can range between $5 and $10 per bundle. One thing you also will quickly find out when camping is the term “bundle” can mean many different things to many different people in regards to the size of that bundle.
For example, a bundle of firewood at one campground that costs you $5 might last you all night. While a firewood bundle at another campground that costs you $10 might not last you half the night.
Now before you start thinking “well I just bring some firewood with me from home and I won’t have to pay anything for firewood”, be advised most campgrounds prohibit burning outside firewood that is not from the area.
While you might think this is just a scheme to sell more firewood. It actually makes sense from an ecological standpoint as bringing wood from other areas can spread pests and diseases that can harm the local ecological environment.
Top 5 Places to Find Cheap Firewood for Camping
So what are you supposed to do if you want to save money on firewood and you can’t bring it from home?
The Local Wood Guy
Well, the first place to search out cheap firewood is the local guy selling firewood from a shed or wheel barrel near the campground. They can sometimes be hard to find and locate but they are almost always around. If your having a tough time finding sources of wood other than the campground ask your camp neighbors as they might have been there longer than you and know the lay of the land better.
Lowe’s or Home Depot
If there is a Lowe’s or Home Depot nearby they usually are a good source for firewood and typically sell it cheaper than buying it from the campground directly.
Local Gas Stations
While the price might be a little higher than the first two mentioned, gas stations can also be a good source of local firewood, while they might not be as cheap as the local guy with a pile of wood they can be better than buying directly from the campground. The key with gas stations is to check around for the best price on firewood between several different stations.
Wood Provided by Mother Nature
Don’t forget about free firewood, while most campgrounds prohibit foraging the campground for firewood, national forest land usually have no such rules allowing you to find all the firewood you could ever need for free. When foraging for firewood just make sure you are following all local ordinances and rules.
Check out this great video on campfire prep and foraging for firewood.
Scavenged Firewood
Another great place to find free firewood in a campground is to scavenge wood from sites where past campers have moved out. Often times you might be able to find one or two only partially burnt logs that still have a lot of life in them.
How Much Firewood do I need for Camping?
Now that you know some great places to find cheap firewood, the next logical questions you might ask is how much firewood do I need for camping?
Size and Duration of the Campfire
One of the biggest factors when it comes to figuring out how much firewood you’ll need is how large and how long you plan to have the campfire burning.
Obviously, the larger and longer you let a campfire burn the more firewood the campfire is going to consume.
In order to cut down on the quantity and cost of firewood while camping it’s a good idea to only have the campfire going as long as it’s needed for warmth and cooking. Also as tempting as it might be to have a large roaring campfire especially if you don’t camp often, try to keep your campfire small and manageable in order to conserve wood and energy around the campsite.
Breaking Down How Much Firewood You’ll Need for Camping
As most campers will buy their firewood in bundles we’ll stick with this form of measuring firewood.
While bundle size can vary, in general, a bundle will consist of 4 or 5 pieces of wood that should last between 1 and 2 hours for a small to medium size fire, depending on the type of wood being burnt.
For example, If you plan on having a campfire burning for 4 hours you will need between 3 and 5 bundles depending on the type of wood being burnt and how large you make the fire.
So when trying to figure out how much firewood you’ll need, first figure out how many nights you’ll have a campfire and then how long the campfire will burn each night.
Once you’ve figured out the approximate amount of hours you plan to have a campfire burning, remember that each bundle will provide one to two hours of burn time.
Armed with this information you should be able to easily figure out roughly how many bundles of firewood you will need for your camping trip.
If your planning on cooking over your campfire check out our article on “Best Camping Cookware for Open Fire and Campfires“.