Yosemite Forum

I will be going to Yosemite this month and I'm planning day hikes to Elizabeth Lake, Dog Lake, trailing Tuolumne river, and some others in the area and was wondering if I am allowed to make a fire out in the wilderness outside of the campsites. Maybe set up a picnic area around the lake, would I be able to construct my own fire? Are fires only restricted to designated campsites?

With how dry it is up there, even though you may be able to have a fire, please seriously consider not having one.

Well, yeah, it's pretty dry, so a fire is sketchy. Besides, you're day hiking, why would you need a fire?

But if you really think you need to, the general regulations basically say that you can't have one above 9600 ft and in certain areas, you have to use an existing fire ring (no making your own), it obviously has to be fully extinguished when you leave, and it needs to stay within a reasonable size and within that fire ring. That said, currently Yosemite is at what they call Stage 1 Fire Restrictions. With how dry and hot it is, wait much longer and it's probably going to Stage 2 pretty quickly. Then it's no fires anywhere in the park at all except at designated campgrounds and picnic areas.

So here's the official story:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/f ... ctions.htm

Fires are only allowed in existing rings, even in the backcountry. Also, with the Stage 1 restrictions currently in place, you can't have fires under 6000 feet (and above 9600 as usual).

I know a lot of fishermen build fires to cook fish they caught, on the spot. But it's too dry. The surrounding national forest wilderness areas all have fire bans. I am disappointed that the parks still allow fires at all - millions of dollars of damage with every major fire, and destruction of huge areas of forest, which is already dying off due to bark beetles and drought.

If you must cook or boil water, take a stove. There are enough lightning fires - we don't need another Rim Fire (which was caused by someone letting a campfire get out of control).

Thanks all for the replies, my primary reason for a fire was to cook fish if I caught any but since fires are only a danger I'll either just throw the fish back or find a way to get it to camp.

I take a gallon ziplock freezer bag. Cleaning the fish and storing it in the bag with wet grass is enough to keep it until you are back to the trailhead to get it in an ice chest.