A ring of stone and a stack of split wood can turn a Smoky Mountain evening into the highlight of your trip—provided you treat Mother Nature, our property, and local fire code with respect. Read on, and you’ll walk away knowing exactly how to enjoy the backyard fire pit without singeing memories, tall pines, or your rental deposit.
Adulting First
Only guests who are 23 years old or older may start, manage, or extinguish the fire. If that’s not you, stand back and soak in the ambiance—hot cocoa in hand—from a safe distance.
Gear Up Before You Light Up
• Water, not wishes: A charged hose or a bucket of water must be within arm’s reach the entire time. The garden hose is attached by the hot tub. A bucket is provided inside the cabin.
• Supplies: Fallen branches or store-bought, kiln-dried firewood. Cutting live (or even standing dead) trees on the property is strictly off-limits.
• Skip the cocktail of chemicals: No lighter fluid, gasoline, kerosene, or sketchy “fire starters” that smell like a tire factory.
• Clean fuel only: Plastics, trash, cans, bottles belong nowhere near the flames—they pop, stink, and can lug toxic fumes into pristine mountain air.
Strike & Tend
• Tepee or log-cabin, not bonfire tower: A neat stack no taller than the pit wall ensures heat drifts up, not out.
• Keep the circle small: Minors outside the stone perimeter. A “toasty bench” is a half-ring from the pit, not a front-row seat.
• The Centurion Rule: If the fire is hot, an adult is on watch. Bathroom break? Dinner bell? Extinguish first.
• No drunken fire-tending stories that need an insurance adjuster. Save the moonshine tasting for after the coals are black.
Extinguish Like a Pro
Douse, stir, douse again: Water until the hiss dies, stir embers with a stick or shovel, then add another cascade. If it’s too hot to press your bare hand six inches above the coals, it’s not out.
Ring of Compliance
Sevier County can issue a fire ban at the drop of a dry wind advisory (usually announced on local news and the county website, state website, or check with the Owners). When red flags rise, the pit stays cold. Disregarding a fire ban looks impressive on a violation docket, but impressively awful on your wallet.
Damage & Liability 101
As the signer of the rental agreement, you are the de facto Fire Marshal for your group. Inform every cousin, toddler, and Instagram influencer of these rules; the blame (and the bill) stops with you if embers escape, property scorches, or someone gets hurt.
Final Spark
A responsibly run fire pit is the heartbeat of a mountain evening—soft crackle, marshmallows gliding to golden perfection, the Milky Way overhead. Follow the playbook above, and you’ll trade in emergency-room stories for lifelong vacation memories.
Light responsibly, Burn brightly, Sleep soundly.