How Much Is a Bundle of Firewood?

If you're going camping or just want a fire in the backyard, you're probably wondering how much a bundle of firewood costs.

A bundle of firewood costs between $5 and $7 dollars. This price will vary depending on your location. In rural areas where wood is more plentiful, firewood will be much cheaper than in the city. Homeowners often cut down trees and sell the firewood at a discount to get rid of it.

Important note: It's often illegal to transport firewood beyond a certain distance. To prevent invasive species that firewood may carry, it's best to buy as local as possible. This means buying firewood as close as possible to where you plan on burning the wood. To read more about your local laws and regulations, see the Firewood Map.

Cost of a bundle of firewood by location

Here's a simple chart I put together about the cost of firewood at different locations:

Treat any chart like this as a rough guide. Prices move with the season, the region and how close you are to a campground, and a bundle that looks cheap can simply be a smaller bundle. Always compare what you actually get for the money, not just the sticker price.

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Where to buy a bundle of firewood

Firewood is readily available in most towns and cities. The closer you are to camping areas, the more available firewood will be. Often you'll see people selling it on the side of the road as you get close to the campground. Roadside sellers are fine if the wood is local and dry, but it's worth asking where it came from, since the point is to keep wood close to where it was cut.

1. Local gas station

Your local gas station is one of the easiest places to find firewood. The bundles are often stacked outside the building but can be inside as well. Buying wood at gas stations is usually more expensive than buying it elsewhere, but often gas stations will have "2 for $6" deals. You'll probably want at least a couple of bundles anyway, so you'll save a few bucks. The trade-off is convenience: it's the easy stop on the way in, and you pay a little for that.

2. Grocery stores

Grocery stores aren't a place you would think sells bundles of wood, but they often do. They are usually in a certain spot in the store, sometimes tucked under a shelf near the produce department. If you can't find it, ask one of the employees.

3. Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart

Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart are a good place to get firewood. Walmart doesn't always have firewood in stock, but they'll have everything else you need for your trip. It's good to check Walmart if you're already shopping there. If you're picking up fuel and cooking gear in the same stop, our guide to the most efficient camping stoves is worth a look.

4. Craigslist

Depending on where you live, getting firewood off Craigslist is another option. People usually sell wood by the cord, but if you just wanted a few bundles, it doesn't hurt to ask. You might even save a few bucks this way.

5. Ask around

Asking friends and family if they have extra firewood is probably the cheapest option. Some people have firewood laying around in their yard that they are happy to get rid of. One thing you want to make sure of is that the firewood isn't wet or moldy. Mold on the bark or a musty smell means it has been stored damp, and it will smoke badly.

6. Campsites

Campsites often sell firewood themselves. This can actually be a really good option, and campgrounds prefer it. Not because the campground makes money, but because campgrounds are careful about bringing in invasive species. It's always best to buy firewood as close as possible to where you are burning it. For a wider look at where to pitch up, see the best campsites in the US.

Why firewood prices vary so much

If you've ever paid $7 for a bundle at one campground and then seen "$12 a bundle" at a gas station half an hour later, you're not imagining things. Three factors drive the price:

• Distance from the source. Wood trucked into tourist areas gets marked up heavily. Rural roadside stands near timber country are almost always the cheapest.
• Certification. Kiln-dried, "heat-treated" firewood (required in many states to prevent invasive pest spread) costs 30–50% more than untreated wood.
• Species. Hardwoods like oak, hickory, maple and cherry burn hotter and longer, and they cost more. Softwoods like pine, spruce and fir are cheaper but burn fast and leave more creosote.

Heat treatment is worth paying for when rules demand it, because it kills the insects and fungi living under the bark. Species is the factor you control most. I'd argue hardwood is the better buy for a long evening, since you feed the fire less often and end up with a steadier bed of coals.

How much wood do you actually need?

A standard bundle is about 0.75 cubic feet, roughly 6 to 8 split logs. Here's what that gets you:

• 1 bundle: one 2-3 hour campfire if you keep it small, or about 90 minutes of a roaring fire.
• 2 bundles: a typical evening campfire from dinner through s'mores.
• 3+ bundles per night: if you want a big social fire going from sunset until late, or if you're cooking on the coals.

For a 3-night car camping trip with one fire per evening, budget 6–9 bundles. Buy them near the campground to avoid violating transport regulations (more on that below).

Burn time depends on more than bundle count. Wind, how tightly you stack the logs, and whether the wood is dry all change how fast a fire eats through fuel. A small, tidy fire burns cleaner and stretches a bundle further than a big pile built in a hurry.

Firewood buying hacks that save real money

• Order a cord in advance if you own rural property. A full cord (128 cubic feet) costs $150–$450 depending on your region. That works out to around $1–$3 per campground-equivalent bundle.
• Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. Homeowners clearing a fallen tree will often give wood away free or sell it for $30–$50 a pickup load.
• Grocery stores instead of campgrounds. In a lot of gateway towns, grocery stores and hardware stores sell the same bundles for $2–$3 less than the in-park stand.
• Buy in bulk. Many campgrounds sell "rack-packs" (4–6 bundles shrink-wrapped together) at a 20% discount per bundle.
• Seasoned wood beats kiln-dried. If you can find properly seasoned (air-dried for 6–12 months) firewood, it burns better than kiln-dried and usually costs less.

Cheap only counts if the wood is usable and legal where you'll burn it. A free pickup load from a distant yard saves nothing if it's green, or if you can't bring it into the campground.

How to tell if you're getting a bad bundle

Not all firewood is ready to burn. Before you pay:

• Check moisture: good firewood is under 20% moisture content. Bang two pieces together. Dry wood makes a sharp crack, wet wood makes a dull thud.
• Look for cracks on the end grain: visible checking means the wood has dried properly.
• Smell it: seasoned wood smells faintly sweet or earthy. Green wood smells sappy and fresh.
• Weight: if a bundle feels unusually heavy for its size, it's holding too much water and will hiss instead of burn.

Green or damp wood is the usual reason a fire sulks, smokes and never settles. It's also why a pricey bundle can be worse value than a cheap, dry one. If a seller won't let you pick one up and look at it, walk on.

The firewood transport rule most campers break

This one catches a lot of campers off guard. Most US states and Canadian provinces prohibit moving firewood more than 50 miles from its source, because of invasive insects like the Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Longhorned Beetle and Spotted Lanternfly that hitchhike in bark.

Buying wood near home and driving it to a campground two states over is illegal in many places and can carry fines of $100–$500. The rule is simple: buy firewood within 10 miles of where you plan to burn it. Use the Don't Move Firewood map to check your state's regulations before you load up.

Insects can hide in bark, under it and inside the wood, so a clean-looking log proves nothing. Rules also differ between states, provinces and individual parks, so check the land manager's own page, such as the National Park Service, for the place you're visiting. Never leave leftover wood to be picked up by the next camper unless the campground says that's fine.

Alternatives when wood's unavailable

Drought conditions trigger fire bans across the western US every summer, and some campgrounds ban open fires year-round. Keep these backups in the car:

• Propane fire pit. Allowed in most "no-wood-fire" restrictions because there are no embers or sparks.
• Wood pellet grills / Solo Stove. Efficient, low-smoke, uses 1/3 the wood of a traditional fire.
• Charcoal briquettes. Enough heat to cook and warm hands, and they stay in a grill so they're legal during most fire bans.

Rules during a ban vary, and some bans cover everything with a flame, so confirm with the campground or the local land agency first. If you only need a hot meal, a stove is the simplest fallback. Our piece on what fuel you can use in a lantern or stove covers the options.

Firewood FAQ

Is it cheaper to buy firewood at home or at the campground?

Almost always cheaper at home, but it's illegal to transport it more than 50 miles in most states. Factor the fine risk into the math.

How long does a bundle of firewood last?

About 2 hours if you keep the fire small, or roughly 1 hour if you're burning a full-size campfire.

Can you bring your own firewood from home?

Only if you're staying within roughly 50 miles of home and the destination's state doesn't require certified heat-treated wood. National parks almost universally prohibit non-certified outside firewood.

What's the best wood to buy for a campfire?

Oak, hickory and maple for long, hot fires. Birch and pine for easy ignition and quick heat (but they burn fast and leave more soot). If you're cooking over coals, stick to hardwoods, since they produce cleaner, longer-lasting heat.