Tigard, OR Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Tigard regulates outdoor cooking on park property through § 7.52.230, the park fire section of Chapter 7.52. Subsection B is the cooking rule, and it draws a line between fuels. Portable propane cook stoves and gas grills can be used, but only if confined to established picnic areas where fires are allowed. Portable charcoal grills are not allowed. The section does not use the word smoker; its cooking rule is written in terms of propane cook stoves, gas grills and charcoal grills.

Subsection A explains where a flame can burn at all. Fires are prohibited on all park property except in areas designed and set aside for such purposes, and fires on park property must be confined to city-provided barbecue stands or fireplaces. Subsection B then places gas appliances in the established picnic areas where those fires are allowed, so the two subsections work together.

Subsection C applies to cooking fires as much as any other fire: no fire on park property can be left unattended, and every fire must be extinguished by the user before leaving park property. Subsection D prohibits dropping, throwing, or scattering burning material, including lighted matches, cigarettes or cigars, within any park or on an abutting highway, road, or street. Subsection E lets the Park Manager restrict or prohibit fires further when fire hazard conditions are high.

In practice the Tigard park rule sorts cooks into two groups. A cook using a city-provided barbecue stand or a propane or gas appliance in an established picnic area is inside the text. A cook arriving with a portable charcoal grill is outside it. This page covers park property in the City of Tigard, Oregon, Washington County, and does not address cooking on private property.