Beach fires are legal here under one state rule — 100 feet back from the dunes, four feet across — but burn bans close them for weeks at a time. Check the day you go.
Check before you load the car
A burn ban closes beach fires, and on this coast bans run for weeks at a time through late summer and early autumn. While one is on, no wood or charcoal fire is legal on the sand. Gas and propane are normally still allowed, and the alert page says so where that applies.
Two places carry the current answer:
- Washington State Parks alerts — this is the one that covers the beach itself.
- Grays Harbor County Fire Marshal, 360-249-5579 — for everywhere in the county that is not the beach. The state’s DNR burn line, 1-800-323-BURN, carries the same information.
Check the day you travel. Bans go on quickly and come off quickly, and a ban that was lifted last week can be back.
The rule
The beach from Point Chehalis south to Willapa Bay is the South Beach area of the Seashore Conservation Area, run by Washington State Parks, so one rule covers all of it. WAC 352-37-105 says a recreational fire on an ocean beach must be:
- at least 100 feet from the dunes
- no more than four feet across
- no more than four feet high
And: no fire on a shellfish bed. That line matters more here than in most places. These are razor clam beaches, and the beds are the flat wet sand you would walk out to for the view. Build well up on the dry sand instead.
A park ranger can add restrictions on the day. That authority is written into the rule, so a ranger asking you to make it smaller or put it out is not a request.
Which beaches
Westhaven, Westport Light, Twin Harbors and Grayland Beach are all state park beaches and the rule above is the same at each. Parking at all four takes a Discover Pass.
What you can burn
Driftwood. It is already there, it is free, and it burns well once it has had a dry day. Beach wood that has been sitting in the wet needs a real start, so bring kindling rather than counting on paper.
What you may never burn is also state law, not beach etiquette: garbage, treated wood, construction debris, plastics, rubber, paint and cardboard are all on the prohibited list in WAC 173-425-050. That is where “no pallets” comes from. Most pallets are treated, and the nails stay in the sand after you leave.
Putting it out
Water, and stir it. Pour, stir the embers, pour again, and keep going until you can hold a hand over it and feel nothing.
Do not bury it. Sand insulates. Coals under a few inches of sand stay hot enough to burn a bare foot hours later, and sometimes into the next day. It is the most common way a beach fire hurts somebody, and the person who finds it is usually a child who was not there when it was lit.
Two other things about this beach
Fireworks are prohibited on the beach alongside a state park, all year round (WAC 352-37-240). That covers all four beaches above.
Camping and overnight parking on the beach are not allowed. The campgrounds at Twin Harbors and Grayland Beach are a few minutes inland.
Where these rules come from
Every rule on this page is state law. These are the sections it is written in.
- WAC 352-37-105 — recreational fires in the Seashore Conservation Area: the distance, the size, the shellfish beds, and a ranger’s authority.
- WAC 173-425-050 — what may not be burned outdoors anywhere in Washington.
- WAC 352-37-240 — fireworks on the seashore.
- Washington State Parks, Seashore Conservation Area — who manages this beach and where South Beach begins and ends.
The Chamber office is on South Montesano Street in Westport and is happy to answer a question the pages above do not: get in touch.
