Elkhart County, IN Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Section 93.017(A) of the county Park Rules, adopted by Ord. 12-177 on April 16, 2012, sets four conditions for any fire, including cooking and smoker fires, inside a county park: the fire must be 'constructed and maintained only with safe, appropriate, ordinary, natural, untreated materials'; it must be contained 'in a fireplace, furnace, oven, range or other non-combustible container with sides and bottom sufficient to prevent the spread of fire or flames'; if outdoors it must sit 'a minimum of six feet away from any building, facility or combustible vegetation'; and it must be 'continuously monitored and cared for from kindling to complete extinguishment by a competent person.'

A fire that does not meet all four conditions is unlawful unless the Director of the Park Department has issued a specific written permit covering it. The ordinance treats charcoal grills, smokers and campfires the same way: treated lumber, pallets or trash cannot be burned, portable fire pits and smokers need the six-foot clearance from tents, pavilions and dry brush, and whoever lit it has to stay with it until it is completely out, not just banked down.