McLean County, IL Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Section 282-3F of the McLean County Parks chapter is a blanket ban on open fires anywhere in a county park or recreational area, including Comlara Park, West Park and other Parks and Recreation Department properties. The only lawful cooking fire is one built in a camp grill supplied by the McLean County Board or in a charcoal or metal grill the visitor brings, and that visitor-supplied grill must be approved by the site manager or ranger before use. The County Board can go further and limit metal-grill use altogether in any area 'when there is an unusually high risk of fire,' so a standing approval does not survive a posted burn restriction.

The same chapter separately bans possessing firewood sourced from a quarantined area under § 282-3R, so campers hauling in their own wood for a grill fire must confirm it did not come from a region under state or federal exportation quarantine. Enforcement falls to McLean County Department of Parks and Recreation site managers, rangers and any full-time county law-enforcement officer assigned to park duty. A violation of § 282-3F is punishable under § 282-14C by a fine of up to $500, and park staff or Sheriff's Department officers may confiscate noncompliant firewood or grills on the spot under § 282-3R.

Because the rule sits in the county park code, it governs only property the McLean County Department of Parks and Recreation owns or operates, such as Comlara Park and West Park; it has no reach over private backyard grills or smokers, or over fires within Bloomington or Normal, which enforce their own municipal fire codes.