Can You Bring Your Own Firewood Into Ontario Parks?

Short answer: don't bring firewood from home. Buy it at the park, or from a supplier close to the park, and leave anything left over when you go. Ontario restricts moving firewood out of areas regulated for emerald ash borer and other forest pests, and campers hauling in a load from their own backyard is one of the easiest ways that spread happens. This question comes up constantly on r/Ontariocamping for a reason — the rule isn't obvious until someone explains why it exists.

Why this isn't just a park being fussy

Firewood can carry insects and fungal diseases without any visible sign on the bark. Emerald ash borer is the one Ontario talks about most: it's not native here, it has no real natural predators in Canadian forests, and once it establishes in a new area there's very little anyone can do to stop it. A camper driving two or three hours with firewood from their own woodpile can — without meaning to — drop a new infestation hundreds of kilometres from where it started. That's the whole reason the rule exists. It isn't about running up firewood sales at the park store; it's pest control, and it only works if people don't move wood around.

The same logic applies more broadly to other invasive insects and tree diseases that get tracked under the same kind of regulated-area system, not just emerald ash borer specifically.

What's actually restricted

Ontario designates regulated areas for emerald ash borer and other pests, and it's illegal to move firewood out of one of those areas without a certificate from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Provincial parks layer their own restriction on top: firewood from a quarantined area generally isn't allowed in, full stop.

Here's the part worth being honest about: whether your home address sits inside a currently regulated area, and what the exact fine is if you show up with firewood you shouldn't have, are things that change and that we don't track in this app's park data. For both, check the CFIA's firewood movement information and the official Ontario Parks firewood page before you plan around an assumption.

The simple rule that avoids all of this

You don't need to memorize a regulated-area map to get this right. Follow one rule and you're covered almost everywhere in the province:

Buy it where you'll burn it.

In practice that means:

• Buy firewood at the campground office or self-serve stand when you check in.
• If the park doesn't sell enough for your trip, buy from a store or gas station near the park entrance, not one near your house.
• Don't bring firewood across a provincial or international border for a camping trip.
• Leave any unburned wood at your site or in the designated spot when you leave, rather than taking it home or to your next stop.

That last point matters as much as the first. Carrying leftover firewood from park to park on a multi-stop trip can move a problem just as easily as bringing it from home.

What this looks like at a specific park

At a popular destination like Algonquin Provincial Park, with dozens of access points and campgrounds spread across a huge area, firewood is normally available for purchase at campground offices and access point stores, and the "don't bring your own" guidance applies the same way it does anywhere else in the system. The same goes for a park like Killbear Provincial Park, where wood is sold on site near the gate.

What we can't tell you from our own data is the exact current price per bundle, or whether a specific park has temporarily tightened its rules beyond the general provincial policy — that's the kind of detail that's worth a quick check on the park's own Ontario Parks page, or a call to the office, especially if you're arriving late and were counting on buying wood after hours.

If you're planning a group trip

Firewood is one of those shared-gear items that's easy to get wrong when a group is splitting responsibilities — someone assumes someone else is handling it, and then nobody buys any, or worse, someone shows up with a trunk full from home without thinking about it. Our group camping checklist covers how to assign gear like this by name instead of leaving it to "someone," and it's worth deciding who's grabbing firewood, and where from, before the morning you leave.

The bottom line

Don't pack firewood from home. Buy it at the park or from a local supplier close to the park entrance, burn what you buy, and leave what you don't. It's a small habit that costs you nothing beyond a quick stop, and it's the single biggest thing an individual camper can do to keep pests like emerald ash borer from spreading further through Ontario's forests.

PitchPeek is a small, growing app for finding Ontario Parks campsites like Algonquin and Killbear, saving the ones you're considering, and planning the trip with your group.

Free · plan the trip with your crew · rate the site when you get home

Questions

Can I bring firewood from home to an Ontario park?

It depends entirely on where home is. Ontario enforces firewood movement restrictions tied to emerald ash borer and other regulated pests, and moving firewood out of a regulated area without authorization is illegal. The safest default is: don't bring firewood from home, buy it at or near the park instead.

Why is firewood such a big deal for one insect?

Emerald ash borer, and other forest pests and diseases, can travel inside firewood without being visible. Once a pest like that reaches a new forest, there's often no practical way to remove it. Preventing the ride-along is the only real control.

Where do I actually buy firewood at an Ontario park?

Most campgrounds sell it at the park office or gatehouse when you check in, and some have a self-serve stand. Local gas stations and stores near the park entrance are another option. Check the specific park's page for what's available on site.

What happens if I bring firewood I shouldn't have?

Ontario Parks can refuse it at the gate, and moving regulated firewood illegally can carry a fine. The exact rules and penalties are enforced under provincial and federal regulation, not anything PitchPeek tracks, so check the official Ontario Parks firewood page for current details before you pack a trunk full of split logs.