Camping Firewood Calculator
Calculate how much firewood to bring or buy for your camping trip. Estimates by group size, nights, and fire size.
Quick Answer
Standard estimate: 1 bundle (5-7 pieces) of firewood per person per night for a moderate evening fire. A 4-person, 2-night camping trip with 3-hour evening fires needs about 6-8 bundles. Cooking-only fires need much less (1-2 bundles/night).
Moderate fire for warmth and ambiance, 2-3 hours per evening
Plan for extras
Add 1-2 bundles for kindling, wet weather, or longer evenings. Many states ban transporting firewood across counties — buy local within 50 miles of your campsite.
About This Tool
The Camping Firewood Calculator estimates how many bundles of firewood you'll need based on group size, nights camping, fire size, and burn hours per evening. The numbers are calibrated against real-world camping consumption — running out of firewood at 10 PM is a common camping fail, and overpacking wastes money. This tool gets you in the right ballpark.
Standard Firewood Units
Firewood is sold in three units: bundles, face cords, and full cords. A standard bundle is 0.75-1 cubic foot, holding 5-7 split pieces, sold at gas stations and campgrounds for $5-10. A face cord (4×8 feet, 16 inches deep) is about 1/3 of a full cord, sold for $80-150. A full cord (4×4×8 feet = 128 cubic feet) is the standard heating measurement, sold for $250-500 depending on wood type and region. For camping, bundles are the standard purchase.
How Much Wood a Fire Uses
A small cooking fire burns 3-5 pieces per hour. A medium warming fire burns 5-8 pieces per hour. A large group fire burns 8-12 pieces per hour. For a typical 4-person camping evening with 3 hours of moderate fire, expect to burn 18-24 pieces — about 3-4 bundles. Multiply by nights for the trip total. Add 1-2 bundles as buffer for unexpected weather or longer evenings.
The Don't-Move-Firewood Rule
Many invasive forest pests (emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, oak wilt fungus) spread via firewood. Most US states and Canadian provinces have rules banning long-distance firewood transport — typically “buy within 50 miles” or “buy from a state-certified vendor.” National parks are particularly strict. Always buy firewood near your campsite. Don't bring leftover wood home, and don't bring home wood from a different state. The rules sound bureaucratic but they protect millions of acres of forest.
Wood Types and Burn Quality
Hardwoods (oak, hickory, maple, ash, cherry, beech) burn slowly and produce excellent coals — ideal for sustained warmth and cooking. Softwoods (pine, fir, spruce, cedar) ignite easily but burn fast — great for kindling, less good for evening fires. Most commercial bundles are mixed hardwoods. If you have a choice, oak is the gold standard. Always avoid: green wood (high water content, hisses and smokes), pressure-treated lumber (toxic chemicals), driftwood from saltwater (corrosive smoke).
Make Wood Last Longer
Build a small, controlled fire — not a roaring inferno. Teepee or log cabin starts use less kindling than haphazard piles. Add wood one piece at a time as needed; don't pre-load a fire. Snuff the fire down to coals when not actively cooking or socializing. Coals retain heat for hours, so you can rebuild the fire from a glowing bed. A fire ring or stones around the fire reflects heat back and reduces the wood needed for warmth.
Backcountry vs. Car Camping
This calculator assumes car camping with bundle purchases. For backcountry camping, regulations often prohibit fires entirely (Leave No Trace ethics, fire restrictions). Even where fires are allowed, you're foraging wood from the ground — collect only deadfall the diameter of your wrist or smaller, never standing dead trees. For backcountry trips, plan a backup stove for cooking and rely on tents/sleeping bags for warmth instead of fires.
Plan Your Camping Trip
Pair this with our tent capacity calculator, our sleeping bag temp rating, our backpack weight calculator, and our hiking time calculator.