Author Archives: Ken Arsenault

Many people enjoy a back country fire and I am one of them. The Dobson Trail has many ‘official” and “un-official” fire pit areas and as more people discover the trail and hike it the more use these fire pits see. The most popular one is the first one in from Riverview at about the 600 meter mark. It has a built in fire ring and a grate that can pivot over the ring to place pots on. It also has a few tables and log benches around it.

This is a very popular spot for locals to come out in the evening and the weekends with friends and family to enjoy a fire in the woods. Because of the high volume of use the immediate area looks like tidal wave came through and washed everything with a 50 meter radius away leaving bare earth and nothing left to burn. Over the past 7 or 8 years it has gotten a lot more use and a lot worse but at least the local “teen nightlife” has not gone back and destroyed it or burnt a bunch of tires in the last 5 years or so. The trail maintenance folks do their best to have fire wood available when they know a specific group is going in but there is not always wood there to burn which causes people to scavenge and destroy the few tree in the immediate area. We tried to leave a splitting ax there for people to use but it quickly became a problem with people using it to destroy some of the nearby living trees and the posts that were installed to be used as a wind break with a few tarps when the senior and blind groups come in to enjoy the fire pit.

This fire pit is also in need of some TLC that I hope to tackle once it dries up and before the bugs are out.

Below are some tips on how to treat back country fire pits:

• keep it small
• use the provided fire pits
• use the provided wood or bring you own
• burn only wood found on the ground and no bigger than your wrist
• do not strip trees of bark or live branches
• travel as far as possible to collect wood to avoid clearing out the pit area
• time your fire to completely burn out before you leave
• keep the pit clean, no cans, bottle or garbage
• keep the whole area clean and safe.
• do not leave extra brush or wood near fire pit, pile it safely away or in the wood shed.
• Think how you would like to find it and leave it that way for others
• beware of loose dogs they can knock over people and snatch food from kids

Remember that many others and many families with young kids enjoy the fire pit so try to keep it clean, safe and set a good example for others. If you do see someone doing something wrong or destructive ask them to stop please. The trail is maintained by volunteers and we all see this trail as a community trail so lets all try to chip in and keep it clean and safe.