It is discouraging to walk into a scenic backcountry campsite only to find that others before you have left large, charred logs lying across the fire pit. These types of fires are not all that impressive or warm, plus what they leave behind is ugly and detracts from the aesthetics of the area. The key to a hot, bright and ethically clean campfire lies on the ground under your feet, even at campsites seemingly scavenged of all suitable wood. The reckless fire builder looks for the largest log in the forest. The responsible fire builder looks for small twigs and branches, which are much more abundant and typically overlooked by others.

Smart campfire building begins with the collection of small branches and twigs in three sizes: small, medium and large. Be sure to collect only material already on the ground. Do not cut or break branches from standing or downed trees. The smallest branches and twigs should have a diameter similar to a pencil and be broken into 6″ lengths. These will be used to build the initial pyramid. Branches in the medium category should have a diameter of approximately 1/2″ to 3/4″ and be broken into 8″ to 10″ lengths. Finally, large wood for our purposes is anything you can break by hand or foot. This typically includes branches and small logs up to approximately 1″ to 2″ in diameter. If you are packing an axe or saw, then you can go a little bigger. Try to keep the length of wood in the large category to around 12″. As you collect the wood for your campfire, create three piles. One pile for each size mentioned above. The amount of wood in the picture to the right will keep a campfire burning for approximately one hour.

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Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is located in Northern Minnesota. BWCAW has roughly one million acres of wilderness, over 1000 lakes and over 4000 miles of canoe trip routes. Boundary Waters Canoe Area is one of the few remaining true expanses of pure wilderness, in a world where development and sprawl are constantly encroaching on natural eco-systems, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness remains one of the most pristine examples of wilderness preservation. In order to stay inside the boundary waters canoe area wilderness, you must have a permit. Your permit will grant you access to a particular entry point, but will not reserve a campsite. During the off season (October 1st through April 30th) over night permits are not necessary and you may pick up a day permit. Similarly during the summer, you may get a day permit if you do not plan on spending the night.

The BWCAW is a great place for backpacking and camping with over 2,200 back country campsites available for use (most of them only accessible by water, canoeing being the best mode of transportation). The BWCAW is one on Minnesota’s top tourist attractions drawing visitors from all over the United States, Canada and Abroad. The BWCAW is managed by the USDA-Forest Service, under principles of ecosystem management and multiple use, the forest provides for a diverse community of plants and animals. The most popular recreation activities in the area include fishing, hunting, camping, canoeing, swimming, hiking, snowmobiling and skiing. Over 445,000 acres of the forest is surface water. In addition, more than 1,300 miles of cold water streams and 950 miles of warm water streams flow within the boundaries of the Superior. The most abundant fish that can be found in the BWCAW are walleye, northern pike, small-mouth bass, lake trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout.