Fire restrictions · North Dakota
Cedar River National Grassland fire restrictions
We don't read this grassland'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
Cedar River National Grassland is managed as part of Dakota Prairie Grasslands, so its fire orders are signed there and posted on that unit's alerts page. Our Dakota Prairie Grasslands page has more on that unit.
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 grassland, 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.
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 North Dakota pages cover that side.
Fire orders change with the weather — check the grassland's alerts page or ranger district before you light anything.