The campfire is, in a lot of ways, one of the crown jewels of your camping experience.
In the evening, you’re probably somewhat tired and ready to relax and enjoy everyone’s company. The most wonderful thing about camping is just sitting around the campfire. Everybody’s relaxed. You get to enjoy your family’s company in a way you can’t do otherwise because we don’t have that sit on the front porch and relax kind of mentality anymore. But at the campsite, everybody is out of their element and more available for conversation. You may learn something about some person sitting around the fire that you didn’t know before because people relax and open up.
As an added benefit, the smoke from a fire will keep bugs away. It’s just one of those primal experiences we all enjoy. Make sure if you can have a campfire that you do! Even if you have to spend ten dollars to buy wood from somewhere, it’s worth it. It really, really is.
Alternatives to a campfire.
You may be somewhere you can’t build a fire and that’s fine, there are always alternatives. Maybe you can find a bluff to park at, put your chairs out on, and watch the sunset. Perhaps there’s a park in a town close by with a view. Or, instead of a campfire, listen to some music.
Invest in some comfortable chairs.
One basic thing to do is sit around the campfire in a folding chair. The now-common camp-chairs, cloth on metal frame, are a wonderful investment. They’re inexpensive; you can use them for other things, like going to hear outdoor music. We use ours a lot, we throw them in the back of the car when we go to somebody’s house for a barbecue, or sometimes sit on the back screened-in porch in them. Sometimes a campsite will offer benches, but don’t count on it. Scope the amenities out ahead of time, you don’t want to end up sitting on the ground. There are a lot of options for inexpensive, lightweight chairs.
The infamous S’mores.
Sitting around the campfire and eating S’mores is a must-do. It gives everyone something to do while first settling down. Just in case you’ve never had them, they are a sandwich of graham crackers with a square of Hershey’s chocolate and a toasted marshmallow. Yes, they are a high sugar kind of endeavor.
You need something to cook the marshmallow on. You can buy marshmallow cooking sticks at Dick’s or any sporting goods store. Or, you can harvest a stick from a sapling or a small tree. Note that there are places where you can’t harvest any vegetative matter, so you need to bring your own cooking stick. The nice thing about the metal marshmallow sticks is you can also use them for hotdogs and biscuits-on-a-stick. Yum.
One method of cooking marshmallows is to put it in the hot spot of the fire, wait for it to catch on fire, blow it out and put it on the S’more. This tends to give you a “rare” marshmallow, which means crispy on the outside, maybe not so melted on the inside. Hey, there are a lot of people who like them that way. So if someone in your family, especially kids who aren’t as patient, wants theirs rare, smile and watch them enjoy the S’more. I’m more of the take-it-slow, keep-the-marshmallow-higher, and slowly cook it until it goes from round to starting to be in a blob and one part starts to drop down. The toasted marshmallow will slightly melt the chocolate. And then eat your S’more, they are sooo good.
Now I will say just about anything cooked over the campfire is good. You could probably cut the sole off your shoe, throw it over the campfire for a couple of minutes, and come back and go, Wow, I just need ketchup. But S’mores are awesome. How much to pack ranges, depending on the age of the campers. A teenager may eat many more than a calorie-counting adult. For planning purposes, expect everyone will eat two, which should average things out.
Popcorn.
Another time-honored tradition is popcorn. Jiffy Pop makes a pan cooked popcorn that comes in a self-contained disposable aluminum popping pan. The trick is to have a long glove so you can shake it long enough for all the corn to pop. Once done, pull the foil with a fork and serve. Delicious.
Make some hot beverages.
Another nice thing around a roaring campfire is a hot drink. Either coffee, or instant hot cocoa with mini-marshmallows, or tea, or a simple water with lemon juice. Especially if it is chilly, holding a hot drink is soothing.
For cool weather, a hoodie.
The other thing you want to do is make sure you have a hoodie, depending on where you are, of course. If you’re cold, you won’t enjoy the evening as much. If you’re in eastern North Carolina in late July or early August, you might not need one because it doesn’t get that cold at night. If you’re out west or up in the mountains, you want to have a jacket to throw on. Depending on how close you are to the fire, you may need some additional clothing. Of course, you can always adjust the distance you are from the fire to kind of self-regulate your temperature. But I would suggest having a way for people to stay warm.
Have a beer, but not too many.
You can have a beer and relax, that’s fine. But be discreet. You don’t want your kids’ memories of camping to be their dad drunk and grumpy, or combative. The experience is wonderful without the alcohol. So, don’t ruin the adventure by drinking too much. There’s always the option to not partake. But if you do, keep it in moderation, especially if you’re the type of person who becomes an angry or sleepy drunk. You’re just going to miss out, and everybody else is going to miss out. Be cautious with your decisions.
On the other hand, if you’re out in the woods and someone gets drunk and walks off, they could die of hypothermia or fall and hit their head. Be careful, drinking in moderation is the way to go.
Priceless moments.
You will have funny stories around the campfire, and you want to remember them the next day. This is the time when everybody unwinds. You start telling stories, maybe you’re laughing about an adventure from the day. Campfire and stories go together. This is a unique experience; it’s hard to get that close bond these days as a family. The time before everyone goes to bed is precious, so enjoy.
Be considerate of neighbors.
If you’re in a campground, always be considerate of your neighbors. When you start to see other campfires die down and lanterns being shut off, it’s time to quiet your group down. Usually what we’ll do is light the fire around five, cook dinner, and then sit around the campfire for the rest of the evening. We’ve gone to bed at nine p.m., we’ve gone to be at one in the morning. It really depends on the people there. Some groups will hang out and talk and have a great time; other times, everybody’s ready to go to bed rather early. It also depends on how demanding your day was.
Be cautious of what you say.
Keep in mind that when everybody goes to bed, tents make a horrible acoustic barrier. Once everybody’s in bed, make sure any additional conversation’s appropriate for ears that might be listening. Don’t assume they can’t hear you, because they can.
Make sure the fire is completely out.
One of the things you want to do when you’re ready to turn in is to make sure the fire is out. That means you can put your hand everywhere there were flames and hold it there comfortably. Water’s a good way to accomplish that. Another option is about thirty minutes before you want to go to bed, start spreading out the coals. Fire requires heat, fuel, and oxygen. Take any of those three away, the fire will die. Those coals will burn for a while by themselves, but if you spread them out and deprive them of heat, the burning process slows down and the coals will begin to cool off.
The reason to spread the coals out is two-fold. One is they begin to cool on their own so when you do go to bed you know what coals are still hot so you can pour water on them, that way there are no hidden coals. The second is if you have a huge pile of coals and you pour water on them, the water may not reach all the hot spots. Those spots may not be obvious and all they need after you’ve gone to bed is a gust of wind to send a spark into the night and ignite a forest fire. You absolutely do not want to do that. Sparks can be deadly and do massive damage to property. So be safe with your fire.
Are you even allowed to have a campfire?
Before you have a fire, find out if you can have a fire at your campsite. This information will be available when you check in, which changes from day to day. Sometimes when things get very dry, there’ll be bans on open flames because the risk of forest fires is too high. This is usually on a county by county basis. If you’re in a national or state park, call the ranger station; a campsite, call the office. That’s why putting the fire out when you go to bed is so important.
To pee or not to pee, that is the question.
If you or your child has the temptation to pee in the fire, there’s nothing wrong with that. Just keep in mind you might be cooking over that fire in the same spot the next morning. Or consider the person who has the site next will be cooking there. The area will smell, it’s not sanitary. So, my suggestion is just don’t. It sounds a lot cooler than it really is. Maybe just remind yourself or your child that breakfast will be cooked there in the morning, and perhaps that will change their mind. I bet you’re wondering why I would bring this issue up. But, if you’re a male teenager, standing by a fire, at some point this probably crossed your mind.
Fire Pits at Rental Houses
Check to see if there is a pit you can use instead of building a fire in a new spot. A lot of vacation homes have fire pits and offer wood, though ask to make sure. You want to build a fire in a location where there has been one previously, that will add zero footprint to your campsite.
No horseplay around a campfire.
And the other thing you want to think about is no horseplay around the fire. It happens every year. Someone somewhere is horsing around the fire and falls in the coals. It’s very dangerous and several days in the burn ward will ruin your trip. Also, try to avoid horseplay after dark as people can fall and hurt themselves.
Don’t allow underage drinking.
Some national forests, state and local parks have no alcohol rules. I had an underage family member sitting by a campfire at a lake, and the game warden walked up in the dark unnoticed. After he figured out who was who, he handed my family member a painful ticket.
Enjoy the campfire!
I hope you have as good a time as we’ve had over the years sitting by the campfire, just chitchatting. Some of the stories are great, some of the things you learn. Things you realize about people you didn’t know before. There’s a huge smile on my face as I’m remembering all those precious moments around a campfire.