By Corey Green, Wilderness Ranger and WNPF Creative Partner
“Dispose of waste properly” is one of the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace. Most people associate this principle with trash, but what about poop? Going to the bathroom in the backcountry can be a daunting task for some. Luckily many of the backcountry campsites in Washington’s national parks have backcountry toilets. If you’re lucky, you might even get one with an epic view!
Keep reading to learn why there are toilets in the wilderness, the different types of backcountry toilets you might come across, and how they are maintained.
The most common way to dispose of human waste is by digging a cat hole at least 6” deep (read more about this here). But what happens when you are camping in an area with very little soil or lots of rocks? It can become very difficult or impossible to dig a cat hole. Thus, the need for backcountry toilets. Without them, there would be surface poop everywhere – ew.
The other primary need for backcountry toilets is that in high-use areas even if you can dig a cat hole, the high capacity of people would likely mean that one would dig a cat hole only to find someone else’s poop. Essentially, backcountry toilets aren’t just a luxury, they are a necessity.
There are two kinds of backcountry toilets in Washington’s national parks: pit and composting toilets.
Pit toilets are simply a hole in the ground with a wooden toilet seat perched on top of the hole. Sometimes, they can be covered – like the image here – other times they are simply a pit covered with a wooden seat. In these, you do your business like normal and you can even put toilet paper in there, but only toilet paper. No wet wipes, feminine products, or other garbage. A lot of work is put into these toilets by park staff. The hole must be dug at least five feet deep in the shape of an upside-down lightbulb. This means that in order to dig the hole correctly park staff must climb into the hole to dig deep enough. But because the hole is so narrow the preferred method is to use a helmet to shovel dirt out and raise it over one’s head until it makes its way out of the hole. This project can take several days and is a dirty and labor-intensive task. Park staff continue to monitor how full these toilets get and once a toilet gets filled, it is covered and a new hole is dug in a neighboring area.
Composting toilets are large structures consisting of a toilet seat with a large metal bin below it. These are placed in areas where digging into the soil is not an option, such as rocky, alpine terrain. With compost toilets, it is preferred that users only poop in them, as peeing can make them overly saturated. It’s best that these toilets stay relatively dry inside. Toilet paper can still go in compost toilets, but again, no wet wipes or other garbage. And remember to shut the lid, to keep it dry inside.
Compost toilets require regular maintenance, so park staff will often hike out to these remote toilets to give them a stir. The metal bin can be opened from the side revealing a very unpleasant display. With a metal shovel, park staff give it a stir, mixing the fresher poop towards the back of the bin and mixing in some pete moss if the toilet appears to be overly saturated. Solar fans are also placed onto the chimney in order to increase oxygen flow and maintain a dry environment.
Park staff also take note of how full these compost toilets are and when they are nearly full an even bigger task begins. Park staff will shovel all of the compost into large plastic drums to then be flown out of the park. At this point in the process, any garbage found in the compost toilet must be removed.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by North Cascades National Park (@ncascadesnps)
A post shared by North Cascades National Park (@ncascadesnps)
If you are in an area without any backcountry toilets and you can’t dig a cat hole then you will need to use a blue bag or wag bag. You are essentially packing out your poop in a doggy bag. And please pack it out; the last thing people want to see is a used blue bag in the wilderness. This is commonly used by mountaineers, for example, while traveling on a glacier.
It’s apparent that a lot of thought and planning goes into disposing of waste properly. The next time you head out on a hike be sure to plan ahead and research if there are toilets in the area you’re going, if not be sure to pack your trowel and blue bags!
Interested in securing backcountry permits in the parks? Check out our other Backcountry Beginner blogs for Mount Rainier, North Cascades, or Olympic National Parks!
Cover photo: North Cascades National Park backpackers. Photo by Michael Silverman/NPS.