Fire restrictions · South Dakota and Wyoming
Black Hills National Forest fire restrictions
Stage 2 fire restrictions — since July 27
Where this forest sits today
- No order Everyday rules — fires in the rings, out cold before you leave.
- Stage 1 Campfires only in the permanent rings at developed sites.
- Stage 2 No wood or charcoal fire anywhere — gas stoves usually still fine. In force here
- Closed The forest, or a marked part of it, is shut to public entry.
Read from the Black Hills National Forest alerts page on . That page is the order; this one is our reading of it.
What this stage means
Stage 2 means 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. Saws, generators, and other engines normally run only in the early hours with a spark arrester and a shovel on hand.
Stage 1, stage 2, and closures explained in plain words — including how a county burn ban is a different rule with a different boundary.
Read the order yourself
The forest's own alerts page has the current order, with the map of what it covers and the exceptions written out. The ranger district office nearest your trailhead can tell you the same thing over the phone.
Fire orders change with the weather — check the forest's alerts page or ranger district before you light anything.