Wow you guys get fancy. I dug a hole in the ground. I put stuff in the hole and light it on fire. When it ceases to be a hole I make it a hole again. I actually have two yard holes. One is for burning natural stuff (trees, clippings, etc) the other hole is for scrap wood and such. One gets ashes spread on the lawn, the others ashes get thrown away. I highly recommend making your yard hole big enough to fit a recliner... Answer from Deleted User on reddit.com
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Instructables
instructables.com › outside › fire
How to Build an in Ground Fire Pit : 8 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables
October 2, 2017 - Here's how I did it! I built my fire pit using 30 landscaping flagstones and 4 tubes of heavy duty construction adhesive. 30 stones will give me 3 rings of 10 with an approximate inner diameter of about 30 inches.
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This Old House
thisoldhouse.com › home › how to build a diy fire pit
How To Build a DIY Fire Pit - This Old House
May 16, 2025 - Once you’ve marked the area, it’s time to start digging: Dig a circular trench about 12 inches deep and as wide as one block along the marked circle. Excavate the interior area to a depth of 6 inches.
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Yard Focus
yardfocus.com › news › how to build a fire pit in the ground
How to Build a Fire Pit in the Ground: A step by step guide — Yard Focus
July 30, 2025 - Use a rope or string to mark the center point and outline the desired diameter for your fire pit. A typical size ranges from 3 to 6 feet across. With a shovel or spade, trace the outline to mark where you'll dig.
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A Beautiful Mess
abeautifulmess.com › home › diy project › make your own fire pit in 4 easy steps!
Make Your Own Fire Pit in 4 Easy Steps! - A Beautiful Mess
May 15, 2023 - 3. FILL YOUR FIRE PIT. Once you have a 6” hole dug, you’ll want to pour your gravel into your hole until the gravel is level with the ground.
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HGTV
hgtv.com › home › outdoors › landscaping and hardscaping
How to Make a DIY Fire Pit | HGTV
September 10, 2025 - Learn how to create a DIY fire pit using paver bricks, pea gravel and a metal ring. You can do it in an afternoon, with a little elbow grease and less than $100.
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Quora
quora.com › How-do-I-build-a-fire-pit-in-a-ground-design
How to build a fire pit in a ground design - Quora
I took off the other legs, dug a big hole in the ground, set 4 rocks in the hole and set the round charcoal grill top and rack over it where it was flushed with the ground. I had some scrap gra...
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Lowe's
lowes.com › home › diy projects & ideas › how-tos › outdoor living
How to Build an In-Ground Fire Pit
The actual fire pit itself will be deeper than the patio surround to accommodate the height of the concrete blocks. The ring doesn’t have to be a perfect circle — you can always fill in behind the blocks with dirt or paver base. ... Keep sod slightly wet after digging up if you plan to reuse it. ... Tamp the ground to form a solid surface for the paver base and concrete blocks.
Published   March 20, 2023
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Wikihow
wikihow.com › home and garden › heating and cooling › fireplaces › 4 ways to build a backyard firepit - wikihow
4 Ways to Build a Backyard Firepit - wikiHow
February 28, 2025 - Use concrete, cobb, clay, or other fire-resistant materials to join the bricks together into a solid, strong ring. Let this material dry completely before continuing.[3] X Research source ... Fill in the edges. Fill in any space outside the circle with dirt. This is so the ground leads right up to the top edge of the brick. ... Fill the center. Pour a layer of river rocks into the central pit.[4] X Research source
Find elsewhere
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/selfreliance › guide: how to build a backyard diy fire pit 101
r/selfreliance on Reddit: Guide: How to Build a Backyard DIY Fire Pit 101
October 2, 2022 - I think above ground style is better if you leave some ventilation in the sides - once the fire is big enough to establish a draft it doesn't need it, but starting fires down in a sealed pit has made me feel sympathy for smoked hams.
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The Home Depot
homedepot.com › diy projects & ideas › outdoor living ideas › outdoor recreation
How to Build an In-Ground Fire Pit - The Home Depot
October 4, 2023 - The in-ground fire pit described in this guide will be 36 inches across and surrounded by pavers. Find the center of the your new pit. Put a stake in the ground to mark it. You will use this center point stake to draw two circles. To make each circle, tie a string loosely to the stake.
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YouTube
youtube.com › the home depot
How to Build an In-Ground Fire Pit | The Home Depot - YouTube
When chilly weather comes, a fire pit is a welcome spot in outdoor spaces. Surrounded by chairs or outdoor furniture, a fire pit adds a cozy backyard space f...
Published   January 5, 2023
Views   42K
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Old World Garden Farms
oldworldgardenfarms.com › home › how to build the perfect backyard stone fire pit – simple, inexpensive & elegant!
How To Build The Perfect Backyard Stone Fire Pit - Simple, Inexpensive & Elegant!
August 26, 2025 - We used inexpensive limestone “D” rock as the stone edge. It stacks easy and looks great. The first key to building the perfect fire pit is to keep it slightly below the soil line.
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YouTube
youtube.com › watch
Learn to Landscape: Easy Backyard Projects— Installing an In Ground Fire Pit - YouTube
Install an in-ground steel ring fire pit for your backyard with just a few tools as Rachael guides you through the process. This project is a simple way to c...
Published   January 24, 2024
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Cabinlife
cabinlife.com › articles › in-ground-fire-pits
How to Make an In-Ground Fire Pit
July 29, 2015 - Some people like to add about 4 to 6 inches of pea gravel or sand to their fire pit, as this helps with overall drainage. Of course, this would then require a slightly deeper hole.
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Walden Backyards
waldenbackyards.com › home › about fire pits › about fire pits
How to Prepare Your Yard for a Perfect Fire Pit Setup
June 24, 2024 - Don't place the fire pit under power lines or trees. If you have the perfect spot for your firepit, but the ground is not level, you can level the area using sand or dirt. Check out how people have used landscaping to build a firepit into areas ...
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The Spruce
thespruce.com › diy-backyard-fire-pits-4142011
26 DIY Fire Pit Ideas and Plans for Any Style and Budget
March 11, 2025 - For less than $25, The Art of Doing Stuff crafted this contemporary fire pit out of glass frame coverings, a metal planter, and a metal grate, with some river rocks for decoration. If you cannot find a metal planter, a terracotta planter will work just as well. ... B Vintage Style used salvaged bricks to create an in-ground fire pit.
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The Home Depot
homedepot.com › diy projects & ideas › outdoor living ideas › outdoor decor ideas & projects
How to Make a Fire Pit - The Home Depot
September 7, 2023 - For a square or rectangle fire pit, temporarily lay out the first layer of concrete blocks for your design on the ground and check the layout for the square.
Top answer
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If you absolutely must have a fire, reset your thinking from "fire pit" to "fire mound"

Creating a fire mound is a great way to enjoy a back-country fire with little to no impact to the ground / vegetation.

  1. Carry a small sheet of plastic, burlap, or a section of an old fire shelter, or anything of the like (it shouldn't get hot enough to burn if your mound is constructed properly, though embers might land on the edges)
  2. Find a previously-disturbed source of mineral soil (a downed tree root ball, a sandbar in a creek, etc.) near your camp
  3. Lay the sheet out on a level bit of ground (rock/bare soil preferred but not necessary)
  4. Make a flat "mound" of mineral soil 3-5 inches thick on the sheet, making it a bit wider than your expected fire
  5. Build a small twiggy fire on top of the mound
  6. When finished, scatter the ashes charcoal twigs (or pack out if required)
  7. Return the mineral soil back to its source

BAM! Absolutely no trace of your fire, except maybe flattened vegetation where the was. The mineral soil mound insulates the ground so grass underneath is unharmed.

For areas that don't have available mineral soil (slick rock?), you might consider a small fire-pan (think disposable aluminum turkey roasting pan) to minimize char/scar from the fire.

For more info, check out Leave No Trace principle 5.

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Well, insulating the floor from a campfire, which usually has 900-1200 degrees Celsius and burns for several hours, is quite difficult. The soil itself does a decent job, but of course that's the part that you don't want to burn... Restoring life to a scorched patch of soil will take a while, but relatively speaking a couple of scorched patches won't make much of a difference to a big forest. I would guess that collecting garbage or some other efforts would help the forest a lot more.