Find exactly how many firewood bundles you need for your camping trip.
When buying firewood for home use or a long camping season, you'll hear three measurements thrown around. A full cord is the standard: 128 cubic feet of stacked wood, typically arranged in a pile 4 feet wide, 4 feet tall, and 8 feet long. A face cord (also called a rick) is one-third of a full cord — the same 4 × 8 foot face, but only as deep as the individual log length, usually 16 inches. Campground bundles typically hold about 0.75 cubic feet, so you'd need roughly 170 standard bundles to equal a full cord. Knowing these units helps you avoid overpaying when buying bulk firewood from a roadside seller.
Not all firewood delivers the same heat. BTU output per cord varies dramatically by species. Hardwoods like Osage orange (32.9 million BTU/cord), black locust (26.8), hickory (25.7), and white oak (25.7) are at the top. Apple and cherry are excellent mid-range performers at roughly 20 million BTU. Softwoods like pine and cedar burn around 15 million BTU per cord — significantly less, but they ignite faster and are useful for kindling. At a campsite, hardwood gives you longer, hotter burns with fewer embers flying; softwood gets a fire started quickly on a damp evening. Mixed bundles sold at campgrounds usually combine both for a practical middle ground.
A general rule is 2–5 standard bundles per night, depending on how large and how long you burn. A small ambiance fire for 2 hours may only consume 1–2 softwood bundles. A cooking and warmth fire for 3–4 hours with hardwood typically requires 3–4 bundles. A large social fire running all evening can go through 5–8 bundles. Weather matters too — wind and cold dramatically increase consumption. Always bring one extra bundle per night as a buffer. If you're car camping, overbuy slightly; unused wood can often be left at the site for the next campers.
A full cord is a legally defined measurement of 128 cubic feet of stacked firewood. In practice, that is a stack 4 feet high by 8 feet long by 4 feet deep. Because logs are round and stacking leaves air gaps, actual solid wood volume is around 80–90 cubic feet per cord — the rest is air space. A face cord or rick is the same 4 × 8 footprint but only one log length deep (typically 16 inches). Always confirm log length when buying a face cord, because a seller cutting 24-inch logs is giving you significantly more wood per face cord than one cutting 16-inch logs.
Osage orange and black locust top the BTU charts for North American species, but they are hard to find in campground bundles. Practically speaking, hickory, white oak, red oak, and sugar maple are the best commonly available options. They burn long and hot, produce dense coals ideal for cooking, and put out roughly 70% more heat per piece than pine. At campgrounds you usually take what is available, but if you are sourcing your own wood for a hunt camp or base camp, oak or hickory is worth the extra effort to source and season properly.
Freshly cut (green) wood contains 50% or more moisture by weight. Burning green wood is inefficient — much of the heat energy goes into evaporating the water rather than warming you or cooking your food. Most hardwoods need a minimum of 6 months of outdoor air-drying, and a full year is better for dense species like oak or hickory. Properly seasoned wood has moisture content below 20%. Signs of well-seasoned firewood include cracks or checks on the cut ends, a grayish tone, and a hollow "clunk" sound when two pieces are knocked together rather than a dull thud.
Stack wood off the ground on pallets, rails, or a simple firewood rack to allow air to circulate underneath and prevent ground moisture from wicking up. Keep the top covered with a tarp or metal roof but leave the sides open — completely enclosing a wood stack traps moisture and promotes mold. Store firewood at least 30 feet from your home or cabin to avoid creating a habitat for termites and carpenter ants. For a camping trip, pre-wrap your bundles in a trash bag if rain is forecasted; campground wood is often stored loosely and absorbs moisture quickly in humid conditions.