Michigan campfire rules come down to four things. A recreational or cooking campfire doesn’t need a DNR burn permit anywhere in the state. Fires belong in a designated fire ring and are never left unattended. In dry weather, local fire officials can restrict open burning, so check before you light. And firewood should be bought where you camp, not hauled from home; at Walnut Hills and The Oaks, outside firewood isn’t allowed at all. The rest of this guide covers burn bans, the exact rules at our Michigan parks, what you can cook on, and how to put a fire out properly.
Do you need a permit for a campfire in Michigan?
No. The Michigan DNR issues burn permits for burning yard debris, brush and leaves, and it says plainly that no permit is needed “for cooking and recreational campfires.” The DNR only issues permits in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula anyway; in southern Michigan, where both of our parks are, debris burning is handled by local fire departments and townships. None of that applies to a campfire in a fire ring at a campground.
How do Michigan burn bans work?
Michigan doesn’t have one statewide “burn ban” switch. Fire restrictions come from a few places:
- The DNR’s daily burning status. For the northern counties it covers, the DNR posts whether burning is allowed each day on its burn-permit map (michigan.gov/burnpermit). When it says no, debris burning is off. The DNR also issues fire-danger advisories during dry spells, usually in spring before green-up and in late summer droughts.
- Local declarations. Counties, townships and fire chiefs can restrict open burning when conditions are bad, and those orders can include recreational fires.
- The campground itself. Private campgrounds and state parks can suspend campfires on their own property when the ground is tinder-dry or the wind is up.
What a ban usually means for a camper: no open wood fire, but a propane or canister stove with a shutoff valve is still fine for cooking. If the summer has been dry, call the camp store before your trip and ask whether fires are on. Michigan’s biggest fire-danger months are April and May, before everything greens up, so early-season campers should pay the most attention.
Campfire rules at Walnut Hills and The Oaks
Both of our Michigan parks post the same fire rules on their rules pages (Walnut Hills and The Oaks):
- Fires in the fire ring only. Every RV and tent site has its own fire ring and picnic table, so there’s never a reason to build a fire on the ground. Our campgrounds with fire pits guide has more on how the sites are set up.
- Never leave a fire unattended. Someone stays with it until it’s out, including when you head to the beach or the pavilion.
- No outside firewood. Buy it at the camp store. At Walnut Hills, the store will deliver firewood right to your site.
- No fireworks at any of our parks, on the Fourth of July or any other day, so the dogs and the deer stay calm and the dry grass stays unlit. Leave the chainsaw at home too; the store has wood ready to burn.
- Quiet hours are 11 PM to 8 AM. Your fire can keep going after 11 as long as the conversation around it drops to a murmur, which is what lets the kids on the next site actually sleep. See our campground quiet hours guide.
- Treat the trees gently. No nails, ropes or hatchets on the trunks, and no cutting live branches for kindling. The shade over your site took sixty years to grow.
Michigan state parks run on the same core idea: campfires in designated fire rings only, never unattended, and don’t burn garbage. If you’ve camped at a state park, nothing here will surprise you.
Can you bring your own firewood to a Michigan campground?
At Walnut Hills and The Oaks, no. The reason is the trees. Invasive insects and tree diseases such as emerald ash borer and oak wilt travel in firewood, and the DNR’s guidance is that firewood should never move more than about 10 miles from where it was cut unless it has been heat-treated and certified. The state is tightening this further: beginning January 1, 2027, untreated firewood can no longer be brought into Michigan at all; only certified heat-treated wood may cross the state line.
For us this is personal. The old-growth trees at Walnut Hills were likely planted when the campground was built in the 1960s, and the older section of The Oaks (sites 22 to 109) is known for its big trees and quiet. You can rebuild a bathhouse or a power grid, but you can’t replace a 60-year-old oak. Our team’s view is that protecting those trees for the next generation of campers is worth the small inconvenience of buying a bundle at the store. The wood we sell is sourced locally and is dry enough to light without a fight.
Michigan state parks ask the same thing: leave firewood at home and buy local or certified heat-treated wood at the park or a nearby stand. Some national parks and national lakeshores in Michigan prohibit outside firewood outright.
Campfire cooking rules: what can you cook on?
The fire ring is the only place for an open wood fire, but it isn’t the only way to cook at your site:
- Propane stoves and gas grills are the standard camp kitchen and are fine at your site. Set them on the picnic table or another stable, non-flammable surface, well away from the tent and the awning, and keep spare cylinders upright and out of the sun. These are also what you’ll cook on if a burn ban ever shuts down wood fires.
- Charcoal is best used in the fire ring or a grill on legs. Cool coals completely in the ring; never dump them on the grass or in the trash.
- Cooking over the ring works with a tripod, a grill grate laid across the ring, or foil-packet dinners on the coals. Dutch ovens and pie irons are the campground classics. Our camping cabins at Walnut Hills come with a fire grill outside.
- Keep a lid on it. Food and garbage put away before bed means no raccoons on the picnic table at 2 a.m.
Skip this list if you’d rather not cook: Walnut Hills has a food truck every weekend from Memorial Day through the end of September, always Saturday and often Friday dinner and Sunday breakfast, and the store scoops ice cream.
How to put out a campfire
Drown, stir, feel. Pour water on until the hissing stops, stir the ashes with a shovel or stick to expose anything still glowing, add more water, and hold the back of your hand near the ashes. If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave. Don’t bury coals in dirt or sand; they can smolder for hours underneath and flare up in the wind. Do this every time you leave the site for the day and before bed, not just at checkout.
Campfire safety with kids
- Set a “no-go” line around the ring, a few feet out, and make it a rule before the first marshmallow.
- Roasting sticks point at the fire or the ground, never at a person. Long metal skewers beat found sticks.
- One adult is the fire tender for the night. Everyone else keeps their hands off.
- Keep a full bucket of water or a hose within reach the whole time the fire is lit.
- Kids and bikes are back at the site by dusk at our parks, which is also when the fire gets lit, so the whole family is together for it.
Michigan campfire rules FAQ
Are campfires allowed in Michigan state parks?
Yes, in designated fire rings only. Fires can’t be left unattended, you can’t burn garbage, and campers arriving on foot, by bike or by paddle can only have a fire where a ring is provided.
What happens if I break the campfire rules at a campground?
It varies by park. At our parks, a friendly reminder from staff is almost always all it takes; the rules are there to protect the trees and the family on the next site, and most campers follow them without thinking about it. On public land, violations can bring citations and, if a fire escapes, responsibility for the cost of putting it out.
Can I burn pallets, scrap lumber or leaves in the fire ring?
No. Treated or painted wood and trash give off toxic smoke, and pallets throw nails into the ring that end up in the next camper’s fire. Burn clean firewood only.
Does the camp store deliver firewood?
At Walnut Hills, yes. Call or stop in and a bundle shows up at your site. Firewood, ice and the things you forgot are all at the camp store.
