Poop, National Parks, And You

The biggest challenge national parks, public lands, and visitors to them will face this summer

Poop: It’s what’s coming for public lands. Budget cuts aimed at slashing taxes for billionaires are eliminating the people who service toilets in national parks and on other public lands. Scale that across the approximately 325 million visitors those places will see this summer, and you can understand what a big problem poop is going to be. It also creates a personal conundrum: How will you go poop outside? Here’s everything you need to know.

In the absence of adequate staffing levels, toilets in national parks, campgrounds, national forests, and at trailheads and on other forms of public land will be locked, overflowing, broken, or a combination of all those things. You can no longer expect to find an accessible toilet in those places. You must prepare to poop by other means.

Poop preparation is going to be crucial for people who plan to visit national parks and other public lands this summer. Not only is it the responsible thing to do, but with a little preparation and minimal expenditure, you’ll save yourself a bunch of embarrassment and discomfort.

Most experienced campers will be familiar with these techniques. My goal in creating this article is to give you something you can forward to less experienced types when you hear about their summer travel plans. I’m going to explain the gross ins and outs so you don’t have to.

Let’s focus on affordable options you can easily acquire in any gateway community near a national park, or order online and ship to a hotel, in the event you’re flying in and renting a car.

The Basics

No matter which method you choose to collect your poops, you’re going to need a few accessories first.

The first is toilet paper. That might seem painfully obvious, but again, toilets in national parks and similar are not going to be maintained or open this summer. Places where you have traditionally been able to score some TP will not be available.

Next is hand sanitizer, for obvious reasons. Grab the kind with aloe in it if you can find it, and use it liberally, all the time, even when you’re not pooping. Failing to adequately wash hands following a poop is a major cause of diarrhea during camping trips. Poop in, poop out.

You will also want some ability to dig holes. A small shovel if you’re traveling by vehicle, or a lightweight plastic spade if you’re going human-powered should be considered an essential part of your poop kit.

But, you can only leave behind human waste in any hole you dig. Any toilet paper, baby wipe, or other sanitary product needs to be packed out and disposed of in a serviced trashcan or dumpster. Bonus points if the trash bags you choose are black, strong, and sized to your individual needs.

You may also want some Imodium, Pepto Bismol, or other medicines of your choice for an upset tummy. Store all this in your vehicle, backpack or luggage, so that it’s accessible when nature calls.

The Cheapest, Most Basic Receptacle: Doggie Bags

Dog owners will be familiar with the routine. You do your business on the ground, unravel a little black bag, pull it over your hand like a mitten, pick up the poop, turn the bag right-side out again, tie it off, and throw it away. Make sure you do the same with any toilet paper or baby wipes.

My personal collection of dogs totals about 300 pounds, so I count myself as a reasonably experienced user of doggie bags. The best I’ve found are the ones sold by Amazon Basics, which reliably resist holes caused by tears and abrasions during use. A pack of 300 costs $9.

Less Mess: Wag Bags

Designed for you to go poop inside a liner bag instead of on the bare ground, these allow you to leave no residue behind, and enable you to pack out poop without worrying about leaks. These are a good option for both car campers and backcountry adventurers as a result.

The system includes three components: a liner bag, a shell bag, and a powdered gelling agent.

To use a Wag Bag, simply roll the sides of the black liner bag down to create the largest, most stable repository possible. Next, empty the powder into that liner bag before you do your business, this will minimize the potential for splash. Squat over that liner, make your poop, then seal the liner and place it inside the silver shell. Make sure that’s all sealed up, and you have a sanitary package that’s leak and puncture resistant which you can then transport to a trash can.

These Wag Bags sold at REI are compatible with this toilet seat also sold at REI, should you want to spend $85 on something you can sit on.

A Place To Sit: Home Depot Bucket With Seat Lid

Squatting while pooping is something many people may find uncomfortable or impossible. And pooping on the ground may leave behind residue. You can address both problems by grabbing a 5-gallon bucket of the kind popularized by Home Depot, lining it with a trash bag, and snapping a seat attachment over the top.

If you plan to deposit more than one poop in the bag before disposing of it (again, something you may find hard to do until good management is returned to Washington), you will benefit from a seat designed with a lid that firmly, securely snaps closed in such a manner that odors and liquids are prevented from escaping.

You may also benefit from adding a scoop of kitty litter, and a toilet deodorizing agent or liquid.

No, I Really Need An Actual Toilet: Trelino Evo S

These things are $400, but if you really want your waste to just disappear without any grossness, this is the minimum viable option. Inside, poop goes down one hole, pee down another, and that then helps your waste compost without odor. All you have to do is throw away a bag and drain/rinse a urine container once every few days. They’re small, and easy to carry in a car, truck or van.

What About Privacy?

A large bath towel, hung over an open door on a car or rear liftgate on an SUV provides a rudimentary solution that may be just enough in a crowded parking lot. Attach it with gaffer tape (which unlike duct tape will come off cleanly), magnetic chip clips, or by tying it around a luggage rack.

Floorless privacy shelters that pitch like tents are also available both online and at many camping stores.

Water: Where Poop Goes

Shitting in a bucket or into a plastic bag while hiding behind a towel is an experience you should expect to have in national parks and on public lands this summer. This is one of those costs involved in giving billionaires those tax cuts.

The big problem here is that a substantial percentage of those 325 million visitors are not going to show up as prepared as you now are. And as infrastructure breaks, toilets overflow, people go behind bushes, and both waste and toilet paper are left laying around, further consequences are created. Follow those consequences downhill, and you’ll find human poop entering streams, lakes and other water sources.

If you plan to draw water from those streams, lakes or rivers, you need to prepare for that water to be contaminated with human waste. This creates a less obvious conundrum, because most water sources in this country have historically been free of human waste, and the viruses it can carry. Many of the popular filters that have been safe to use with American water sources will no longer be capable of dealing with all the pathogens in them. Again until we have better management in Washington, we need to adjust our expectations accordingly.

The Free Option: Boil It

Bringing water to a roiling boil and, if you’re below 6,500 feet, keep it there for at least a minute. If you’re above that elevation, keep it boiling for three minutes. That will kill anything in it. You can do that on a campfire or stove, it doesn’t matter.

The Expensive Option: An MSR Guardian

These were originally designed for the military, and are expensive ($400), heavy (17 ounces) and slow (2.5 liters/minute) as a result. But this is also the only filter actually capable of dealing with “worst case” water in which viruses, parasites, and protozoa may be present. And with human poop now entering our water sources, we very much need to expect those pathogens.

The Hybrid Approach: It’s Complicated

Consult this chart produced by the Centers for Disease Control, and create some combination of treatments that checks all the boxes for bacteria, viruses, parasites and spores.

Note that I do not recommend UV light devices. Not only do they require perfectly clear water in order to work as advertised, but they also require batteries, and break easily.

Oh, and think twice before eating any fish you catch from potentially poop-filled water sources too.

Top photo: Omar Bárcena / Creative Commons

Wes Siler is your guide to leading a more exciting life outdoors. Upgrading to a paid subscription supports independent journalism and gives you personal access to his expertise and network, which he’ll use to help you plan trips, purchase gear, and solve problems. You can read more about what he’s doing on Substack through this link.