Forsyth County, GA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Forsyth County splits outdoor cooking and ambiance fires into two rules within its general open-burning ordinance. Subsection (b)(4) puts cooking food for immediate human consumption, campfires in designated camping areas, and barbecue grills on the list of activities allowed without a fee or county permit, though it notes that recreational bonfires specifically are subject to location and fuel-type limits elsewhere in the section. A separate device-based rule in subsection (s) governs outdoor fireplaces, chimneas, fire bowls and similar manufactured devices: they must be built and used according to the manufacturer's instructions, may never operate inside a structure or on a combustible surface, must stay at least 25 feet from combustible material, and may burn only untreated wood, lumber, manufactured fire logs or charcoal, ruling out treated lumber, trash or other debris as fuel.

-to-one-hour-before-sunset window under subsection (h), and the fire marshal retains authority under subsection (m) to have any device extinguished if it becomes a danger to public safety or property or a sign of environmental harm. Subsection (g)'s May-through-September restriction leaves recreational and cooking fires on the approved list, so a backyard grill or smoker used for actual cooking stays legal through the summer months even while most other open-burning categories are suspended.