Remains of campfires are not uncommon sights along hiking trails, especially in popular camping areas. Knowing how to properly dispose of campfire ashes can help to reduce the impact of campfires in the backcountry.
What are Campfire Ashes?
Campfire ashes are the burnt remains of wood used to have a campfire. Typically the ashes that have been completely burned are charcoal or white ash, although there could also be pieces of wood remaining that have not completely burned.
In popular front-country camping areas there are established campfire rings that are maintained and cleaned out by campground staff. However, at remote backcountry campgrounds there may not be anybody maintaining the campsite, except perhaps a local trails organization that may not get to every single part of the trail they maintain every weekend. Therefore, it is up to individual backpackers and hikers to clean up after themselves.
Why Clean Up Campfire Ashes?
If left unchecked, ashes will build-up in fire-rings used by multiple visitors, until the ring has completely filled up with ashes and is unusable. Hikers may try to expand the fire-ring to create more space, or start another fire-ring nearby. All of these situations goes against low-impact camping, and can be an eyesore.