York County, PA Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

York County's Department of Parks and Recreation regulates every campfire, charcoal grill, gas grill and gas stove used across its park system under Chapter 75, Article II of the York County Code, adopted by the Board of Commissioners under Ordinance No. 2020-01. Section 75-9, "Fires and lighted objects," sets the ground rules for anyone cooking outdoors on county park property. A charcoal grill can only be lit at an existing grill site already provided by the county; a portable charcoal grill set up anywhere else in a park is not allowed.

Gas grills and gas stoves get a little more latitude: they're permitted in pavilion areas and at picnic tables that have been individually provided for that purpose, but nowhere else on park grounds. Campfires and other open fires are confined even further, since they can only be built inside a fireplace the Parks Director has approved and designated, and every such fire has to burn charcoal or wood, not trash or other materials. Whoever starts a permissible fire, grill or fireplace alike, has to keep a competent person 18 years of age or older watching it the entire time, and the fire must be completely extinguished before anyone leaves the area.

The same section separately bans lit candles, Chinese lanterns and other flammable or nonflammable luminaires anywhere in the park system, and prohibits dropping or scattering lit matches, cigarettes or other burning material except into a designated receptacle. Smoking, including with a vaporizer, is barred inside enclosed park buildings and outdoors during any burning ban declared by a local, county or state government. The Parks Director can post additional site-specific rules under § 75-36, and posted rules carry the same force as the code itself.