How to locate a spot for a roaring campfire?

May 30, 2007 9:29 PM

I live in the Portland, Oregon, area. Looking for a place away from the city lights where I and a few others can have a roaring campfire (nothing illegal going on), ideally in the middle of a field of corn under the stars, but you get the idea. Won't be camping there, just enjoying a campfire under the stars into the late evening. Don't have any friends who have a private piece of property in the country, and not interested in state parks or state camping areas. Suggestions on how to locate a spot other than knocking on someone's door???
posted by america4 to grab bag (13 comments total)

You want to have a party in a cornfield? Around Portland Oregon? How many of those are there? And since its spring, how many actually have corn in them? And lastly, what self respecting farmer would allow someone to start a bonfire in his corn crop? The idea is flat out crazed!

You didn't explain why you don't want to go to a State park..would a National park do? If not, why not? How about a commercial park? They have these in Washington so I expect there'd be some in Oregon too. Would that be acceptable?

Knocking on stranger's doors asking them if you can light a fire on their land doesn't seem like too smart an idea. Who could accept the property damage? Who could accept the liability?
posted by Osmanthus at 10:03 PM on May 30, 2007

In my defense, lol, i'm not married to a cornfield...being an attorney for 33 years, i think i can conceptualize the liability concern; wouldn't knock on a stranger's door unless it was Halloween and i thought i could pull off acting as an 8 year old. Don't want a campfire in an "organized" setting such as a park, local, state, national...just looking for a "spot" out in the country, under the stars, away from the city lights, and wondered if anyone had any magical ideas...if not, may peace, a cold beer and a good philly sandwich be in your future :)
posted by america4 at 10:07 PM on May 30, 2007

There are plenty of places that you could do this (minus the corn) on forest service land that will not be in developed campgrounds. I'm not sure how private these areas will be near Portland. Campfires may be allowed, or may be banned due to fire danger.

Call the forest service office in the area you would like to do this in, and ask them.
posted by yohko at 10:31 PM on May 30, 2007

You also might consider just buying a piece of land in the boonies. Sometimes you can get these dirt cheap at auction, especially if they arent buildable. Yeah, thats an expensive party, but it holds its value and you can sell it later.
posted by Osmanthus at 10:46 PM on May 30, 2007

I think the "I want to light a fire but don't want to do it in the kinds of places people are ordinarily permitted to light fires [campgrounds, parks, etc.]" provision has potential answers treading dangerously close to the "don't use AskMe as a way to tell people how to break the law" group conscience, which is why you're not getting a flood of answers. Furthermore, even if there are "secret" "spot"s of the kind you seem to want (a location discrete enough that you can keep a decent sized fire going without attracting unwanted law enforcement attention yet available enough that you and some friends could get there without too much trouble or hiking or camping) I think its unlikely that people would be willing to publicize its existence to the entire planet.

So for those reasons and others I belive is why you are mainly getting temper-your-expectations "This is a bad idea / This isn't possible / Do something else" -style non-answers that are so prevalent of late on AskMe. Sorry.

Good luck, anyway.
posted by ChasFile at 10:49 PM on May 30, 2007

ChasFile...thanks for the reply, I promise on my cat's paw, I was just wanting a spot to take my kids out in the country and enjoy a good campfire under the stars without camping overnight, but not in a regular campground or park setting. Only questionable activity would be holding the marshmellows in the fire too long
posted by america4 at 10:52 PM on May 30, 2007

Make some friends who have a large field and make use of it. I know lots of people, but none anywhere near Oregon.

Alternatively, you could do what the organizers of large events do, and pay some person with a field a sum of money to allow you to do it. That may require knocking on doors.

You don't want a corn field, though, you want a pasture.
posted by wierdo at 11:21 PM on May 30, 2007

wierdo...you're probably right re the pasture, but i grew up in iowa 3 or 4 decades ago, and the memory of actually having a nice campfire in a corn field has stuck with me :) but i've learned to adapt...
posted by america4 at 11:29 PM on May 30, 2007

I've lived in Oregon moast of my life, and this doesnt seem to be the kind of thing you can get away with in the metro area unless you know the person with the land.

I suppose its a different culture or land use situation than a lot of areas. The times I lived in Arizona, when we would go camping, we'd just drive out to the woods, pull off the highway somewhere and set up camp. I would ask where we were and people would indicate that we were on somone's property, but no one knew the owner. Large campfires were the norm.

Here in oregon, Portland area specificly, nearly everyone goes camping at state parks. Most of the land surrounding portland is either very expensive farmland, or soon to be developed housing developments. I cant honestly think of a place around town that there would be large tracts of 'unwatched' property to have a fire.

On the other hand, you could try checking out the Clackamette park, or the river-beach areas along the Willamette and Sandy rivers at the edges of town. Best solution I can think of.
posted by efalk at 11:57 PM on May 30, 2007

When I was growing up (in a city in SW Ontario) we had a choice of 3 firepits along the river in our neighbourhood, amongst forest that was just sort of left wild. Outside of the city there would have been no end of similar spots to build a fire.
So I would think in and around Portland it might be similar - around creeks and rivers there'd be undeveloped floodplain areas that will have little beaches or clearings with firepits. Maybe you need to get on your bike and do a little exploring and if you look in such areas I'm sure you'll find a good spot.
posted by Flashman at 3:00 AM on May 31, 2007

Dammit, I just erased a long answer. Here is take two:

Sitting outside and having a nice campfire is a really old tradition in the Northwest, and happily there are many places to do so. Don't listen to the people saying "no way, you can't do that," because you have several million acres to chose from for your star-viewing and wood-burning pleasure.

In the metro area, you are probably out of luck (lots of places to enjoy the stars, few places to light fires). However, you are surrounded by public land within a few hours of driving, including National Forests, BLM land, other Federal land, and various forms of State land, on much of which hiking, camping, and (assuming fire restrictions are not in effect) campfires are not only allowed by encouraged. (Traditionally, the big timber companies have allowed a lot of public access on their lands, but have restricted some of that access in recent years; this will vary by company.)

A good resource to start with is a Delorme atlas for Oregon: link (also getting one for Washington would be smart, because you are so close to the border.)

Then you figure out who controls a specific piece of land, and phone to appropriate office, or look on the internet, to check what the current access rules are, and whether fire restrictions are in effect. For example, the Gufford Pinchot National Forest, just to the north of you, allows camping outside of organized campgrounds, and has encouraging words to say about campfires, as well as some common-sense advice for safety:

Campfires are a favorite camping tradition. Help protect he site and forest with a few precautions. Using a camp stove helps conserve ground cover resources. If you must have a fire, use an existing fire ring. If not available, build it small, in a safe place, cleared down to dirt, away from overhanging branches. Remove the upper layers of organic soil (decayed leaves, plants, etc.) and save this soil for covering up the fire scar. Gather only dead and down wood for your fire. Never cut (or nail into) live trees. (A firewood permit is required to remove wood from the Forest.)

You should have a bucket, a shovel, and an axe to control or extinguish escaped fire. Never leave a fire unattended. Put out campfires by drowning them, stirring them with dirt, and downing again. Ashes should be cool to the touch, including charcoal. Do not smoke while walking through the forest. Smokers should stop, clear a space to dirt, and smoke in the cleared area. Matches and cigarettes should be crushed and carried out. Remember Smokey's Message: "Prevent Forest Fires." Be sure your fire is DEAD OUT before you leave. Report any forest fire your see. Contact any Forest Service employee, sheriff's deputy, or telephone operator.

As a general rule of thumb, there is a cascading set of restrictions, with National Parks and wilderness areas at the most restrictive, and National Forests as fairly open for use, and then BLM and state land as the least restrictive. This is public land, and it is there for you to use for camping, hiking, hunting, and running around naked singing silly songs.

You also have the coast within a few hours' drive, and campfires (with plenty of restrictions) are allowed on the beaches in certain areas. Few things are better than an evening campfire near the water. Camping is also allowed, assuming that you are out of sight of houses (but be smart, and pitch your tent above the high tide line...).
posted by Forktine at 7:15 AM on May 31, 2007

Yes, definitely go to some of the public land. I've found that many national forest campgrounds will be completely unoccupied, if you find one that has no running water. They're basically a few flat spots in the woods with fire pits and maybe a pit toilet. You can find them on forest service maps (or websites), and then you have the benefit of an existing fire ring in which to build your fire.

If you decide to just build a fire somewhere out in the great wide open, call appropriate land management agency to make sure there are no fire restrictions in place. The agencies put restrictions in place to help prevent forest fires when the conditions are especially dangerous. Don't ignore them - you definitely don't want to be the guy who starts a forest fire. That said, I have a feeling this is the wetter part of the year for you, so hopefully you won't run into any restrictions.

If you end up building a fire outside a fire ring, please build a Leave No Trace fire. It's better for the environment, much less likely to cause a forest fire, and nicer for future nature-lovers who might happen upon the same spot in the years to come.
posted by vytae at 8:30 AM on May 31, 2007

You can build campfires on the Florence Sand Dunes and at Short Sands.

Short Sands is gorgeous: Beach, rocks, and trees and mountains rising up above. If you go at low tide, you'll see starfish and anemones in pools along the water. You won't have it all to yourselves, but it is really nice.

Florence is a longer drive from Portland, and the nearby beaches aren't as nice, but the dunes themselves are very cool. Some areas have people on four-wheelers tooling about, but others allow no mechanized vehicles. It's such a big area that I had no trouble finding a private spot there on a warm summer day a few years back.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 9:37 AM on May 31, 2007 [1 favorite]