A campfire is pure magic—whether it's the crackling warmth, the hypnotic dance of the flames, or the way it brings people together. It's a storyteller’s best friend, turning ordinary nights into unforgettable moments where people gather to share stories, a few cold ones, laughter, and even a few ghost tales under a star-studded sky.
Plus, the scent of burning wood lingers in the air like a nostalgic embrace, wrapping you in the essence of adventure. Raise your hand if you’ve ever noticed how food tastes better when cooked over an open flame. It’s science, but also a little bit of campfire charm.
Now, about that fire. First things first.
Properly planning your campfire is essential. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re going to land at your campsite and find firewood lying all around, ready to burn. Fact is, you cannot have enough dry, seasoned firewood, good fire starters, and small kindling. (this is where my pickup truck with a crew cab has come in handy many times over.) Dry pine makes for great kindling, with oak or maple providing lasting heat and light.
My ‘go-to’ fire starter is sawdust packed into cardboard egg cartons, topped with melted paraffin. This is a bit labor-intensive but provides you with 12 individual starters, so it's truly worth the time and effort. There's nothing like it.
Over the years there are other methods I have used with a fair degree of success: cotton balls smeared with petroleum jelly (Vaseline), dryer lint stuffed into toilet tissue tubes, and for the pioneers in the crowd, there’s the old-fashioned flint and steel method, which is great and fun to watch, but takes a little practice.
If you really want to dazzle your campmates, take a 9-volt battery and touch the terminals to a steel wool pad. The arc from the battery ignites the thin layer of oil in the pad and now you have an instant flaming briquette ready for a heap of kindling to get your fire rolling.
As far as I’m concerned, those popular propane torches are convenient but take the romance out of campfire building. (Yeah, maybe that’s just me.)
Novice campers insist on using gasoline or kerosene to (try) to start a fire, only to end up with blackened, smelly, smoky logs and no flames once the gas burns off. It's the absolute worst (and most dangerous way) to start a campfire, especially if you’re going to cook over it.
A word of advice – have all your firewood ready. With all the methods listed above, you’ll need to be organized and have your tinder, kindling and firewood at arm's length to build the fire and keep the flames rolling with glowing embers long into the night and the next morning.
Oh yeah – before bedtime, don’t forget to keep some wood handy to build your morning fire for coffee and breakfast. You’ll likely have some embers deep down in there to get you started. No need to waste another fire starter.
Beyond its practical uses—providing heat, cooking food, and warding off the dark—a campfire has a way of bringing people together in a way that few things can. The embers slowly fading into the night, stories carried away in the smoke, the fire mirrored in the faces of those who sit around it.
Sitting around a campfire is a place where time slows down. The glow of a campfire feels ancient, comforting, and primal, connecting us to generations who’ve sat around fires before us, lost in deep conversations or silent reflection.
Staring into those flames of orange, red, white and blue, it has always amazed me that, despite all the ways society has changed, the act of gathering around a fire remains constant—a reminder that, no matter how advanced we become, we are still drawn to its warmth, light, and the quiet space it creates for connection.
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