How to Build a Campfire

Whether it’s your first time glamping or you’re a seasoned camper, one of the trickiest aspects of the outdoor wilderness experience is getting the campfire a blazin’. By far the most common question we receive from our guests is “how do I build a campfire?”. Here are a few helpful tips & tricks to get your campfire aglow and impress your friends (or that special someone) on your next glamping getaway!

Along with your firelogs (which are provided free of charge at Whispering Springs), you’ll also want to make sure you have some kindling and tinder or fire starter. Here is the difference between the three:

1. Tinder: Tinder is the smallest of the three and consists of materials that burn fast and easily. Small twigs, dry leaves and needles make great tinder, however there is no shame in stopping by The Watering Hole to stock up on our Fire Starter sets which consist of dried bug-repellant herbs, pinecones and fire starter.

2. Kindling: Kindling consists of twigs and branches that burn slightly slower than tinder and will help to ignite the firewood. Paper and cardboard also work well as kindling. The sticks and twigs are generally less than one inch around and serve as the medium that helps transport the flame from the highly flammable tinder to the larger fire logs.

3. Firewood: Firewood is slow to burn and is what will give your fire life and longevity throughout the evening. Ideally you’ll wan to ensure that your firewood is dry and is not cut too large.

You’ll generally find that there are two schools of thought when it come to the best way to build a campfire:

The most common method of building a campfire is the teepee method. In the teepee method you will want to congregate your tinder fire starter in the centre and surround this with your dry kindling. Once this is complete, place your fire logs around the tinder & kindling in a teepee fashion, leaving enough space to ensure air flow through the structure. Once you have created your teepee use a lighter or match to set the kindling ablaze and watch your campfire come to life. This campfire style is quick & easy to construct and is great for the glamping newbie.

The log cabin (or cross cross) method of building a campfire is slightly more complex and involves stacking your firewood to create a box-like structure around the tinder and kindling. Start by placing two logs in your pit parallel to each other, then stack two more on top perpendicular to them. At this point you will want to place the tinder and kindling in the centre and then continue to stack logs to your desired height. When you are ready, ignite the tinder and continue adding kindling to the centre until your logs catch fire. Voila, you’ve got yourself a campfire! 

Our campfire building experts at the Springs like to create a hybrid of these two methods, with a log cabin base and a teepee top. Once you have the basics down feel free to get creative and invent your very own campfire method that works best for you. Happy glamping!