Gathering firewood in a national park is prohibited unless the superintendent has said otherwise

Do not pick up that branch unless the park has told you in writing that you may. The federal rule is a flat prohibition with one door cut into it, and the door is opened park by park.

36 CFR 2.1(a)(4) prohibits “Using or possessing wood gathered from within the park area.” Then it adds: “Provided, however, That the superintendent may designate areas where dead wood on the ground may be collected for use as fuel for campfires within the park area.” We read the current text on eCFR September 22, 2026.

So “can I gather firewood here” is not a national question. It is a question about this park, and often about this campground.

Two parks, two answers

Great Smoky Mountains says yes. Its frontcountry camping page, last updated August 12, 2026, carries both halves of the rule in one paragraph: “Only heat-treated firewood that is bundled and certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or a state department of agriculture may be brought into the park. Campers may also collect dead and down wood found in the park for campfires.” What you carry in is restricted. What you pick up is allowed.

Glacier says no, and says it at the campground level. The Recreation.gov listings for Apgar and Avalanche both read “Firewood collection is prohibited within” that campground.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon say yes at their own campgrounds. The Recreation.gov listings for Atwell Mill, Azalea and Buckeye Flat each carry the same sentence: “Dead and down wood may be gathered for your campfire.”

Most listings say nothing, and silence is not permission

We read the notice text on all 5,435 campground listings on Recreation.gov on September 22, 2026. 375 of them mention gathering or collecting wood at all, which is about 7 percent. The other 93 percent are quiet, and quiet defaults back to 2.1(a)(4). That is a prohibition, not a shrug.

The permit that is not campfire wood

On September 21 Sequoia and Kings Canyon announced free firewood permits: 70 cords at Grant Grove, 50 at Lodgepole (Dorst), 60 at Cedar Grove, six cords per family per year, first come first served until the supply is gone.

It would be easy to read that as the park handing out campfire wood. It is not. This is a woodcutting permit for hazard trees already felled into designated woodlots. The park requires a chainsaw with a spark arrester, a round-point shovel at least 46 inches long, and a UL-approved fire extinguisher within 25 feet of where the saw is running. The release says the logs are generally 12 to 30 inches in diameter. And the release closes with the line worth reading if you are passing through: “Permits are only valid in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, not in Sequoia National Forest or Giant Sequoia National Monument.”

What to do

Read the park’s own camping page, then the notice block on the Recreation.gov listing for your campground. If neither grants collection, assume it is prohibited and buy certified heat-treated wood. Moving untreated wood is how insects move, which is the reason Great Smoky bothers to specify the seal.

Our national park camping rules page covers the rest of the in-park restrictions, and California free camping covers the national forest land next door, where the permit system is a different animal entirely. The posted sign at the campground and the ranger on site beat any website, this one included.