Fire restrictions · Arizona and New Mexico
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests fire restrictions
We don't read this forest's fire orders yet, so you won't find a live stage here — and we won't guess one. The current order is one click away below, and the stage system is the same everywhere the Forest Service uses it.
Where the current order lives
Fire restrictions here are signed orders from the forest supervisor — ranger districts can add their own for the land they manage — and every current order posts on the forest's own alerts page, with the map of what it covers and the exemptions written out.
The ranger district office nearest your trailhead can tell you the same thing over the phone, which beats guessing from a sign at the boundary.
What the stages would mean
Forest Service fire orders come in stages, and each order spells out its exact prohibitions — the short version:
- Stage 1 — campfires and charcoal only in the permanent rings at developed campgrounds and picnic areas; a rock ring at a dispersed site doesn't count.
- Stage 2 — no wood or charcoal fire anywhere on the forest, campground rings included; a bottled-gas stove with a shut-off valve is usually still allowed.
- Closure — the gate: roads, trails, and campgrounds inside the closed area shut, and being out there is itself the violation.
The whole ladder in plain words — or the Forest Service's own framing on its fire management pages and in the text of each order on the alerts page above.
Camping out here
Where you sleep is a separate rule book from what you may light. You can camp up to 14 days in any 30 on this forest — the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests dispersed camping rules cover the stay limit, the setbacks from water and roads, and which roads allow it.
The county side of the line
A forest order covers this federal land and stops at the boundary. The counties you drive through run their own burn rules — the Arizona pages and the New Mexico pages cover that side.
Fire orders change with the weather — check the forest's alerts page or ranger district before you light anything.