Going to the Bathroom Outdoors: A Practical Guide

01Use the Facilities First

Everything below applies only when there are no facilities. Where a campground has washrooms, or a backcountry site has a privy or an outhouse, use it. Concentrating waste in one managed location is always lower impact than distributing it across a landscape, and those facilities exist precisely because the sites around them are heavily used.

Two things worth knowing before you travel. Some parks require visitors to pack out all human waste rather than bury it, particularly in alpine terrain, on rock, or in heavily used areas, and they will say so. And facilities close seasonally, often well before the gates do, so a campground that is open in October may have no working washroom. Check the operator's own hours-of-operation page rather than the booking page.

Plan on the assumption that you will need to handle this yourself at least once, and carry what that requires. It weighs almost nothing and the alternative is improvising badly.

02Choosing the Spot

Location does more work than technique. Leave No Trace Canada, the Canadian authority on this, sets out the criteria clearly, and each one has a reason behind it.

Avoid beaches and sandbars entirely, even when they are dry, because water covers them. And on a multi-night stay, or with a group, disperse the sites rather than returning to the same area twice.

Seventy adult paces is further than it sounds, and it is the criterion people compromise on most. It is also the one that matters most, because it is what protects the water that you and everyone downstream will be drinking. Our hiking hydration guide covers the other half of that relationship.

03Digging It, and the Right Tool

The cathole itself is straightforward once the site is chosen. Dig 15 to 20 centimeters deep, roughly six to eight inches, and 10 to 15 centimeters across. Keep the soil you remove in a pile beside the hole rather than scattering it, because you will need it.

Afterwards, fill it in and disguise the surface with earth, stones, twigs, pine needles and leaves, so it looks like the ground around it. Disguising is not vanity; it stops animals digging it up and stops the next person finding it.

The tool

A small lightweight trowel is the standard tool and the right one for anyone carrying their gear, and it is worth buying rather than improvising, since the blade length also gives you a depth gauge. If you camp with a vehicle and want one tool that covers this alongside fire pits, levelling and snow, a folding multi-purpose camp shovel is the heavier option, and one kept in a storage case can live in the vehicle rather than loose in the boot.

What does not work is a tent peg, a stick or a boot heel. In hard or root-bound ground, none of them reach the depth required, and a shallow hole is worse than no hole because animals will find it.

04Paper, Products and What Leaves With You

The distinction to hold is between what decomposes and what does not, and the list of things that leave with you is longer than most people assume.

• Toilet paper: pack it out in a sealed bag
• Wet wipes: always packed out, they do not break down
• Hygiene and menstrual products: sealed and packed out
• Any packaging, without exception
• Pet waste: bury it in a cathole or pack it out, never bag and leave
• A second sealed bag, because one is never enough

Never burn toilet paper. It is no longer considered good practice, and in dry conditions it has started wildfires.

Urine

Urine has little direct effect on soil or vegetation, but it can draw wildlife attracted to the salts, and animals will defoliate plants and dig up soil to get at it. Aim for rocks, gravel or pine needles rather than vegetation, and diluting with a little water from a bottle reduces the effect further. Keep the same distance from water sources and campsites.

05Washing and Hygiene With No Tap

Hand hygiene after any of the above is not optional, and it is the single most effective illness prevention measure available on a trip. Carry hand sanitizer and use it every time, and wash properly before handling food.

For washing yourself or dishes, carry water away from the source rather than washing at the edge of it. Keep the same distance you would for a cathole, use a small amount of biodegradable soap or none at all, and scatter the strained water rather than pouring it in one place. Soap, sunscreen and insect repellent all affect water chemistry, and biodegradable soap is still soap when it is in a lake.

Water for all of this has to come from somewhere, which is why washing-up water belongs in your trip planning rather than being an afterthought. Our hydration and water filtration range covers carrying and treating what you need. If you would rather have a private, standing-height place to wash or change at a drive-in site, our camp privacy tent guide explains what an enclosure does and does not include.

Staying reasonably clean for several days

• A small towel and a litre of water goes a long way
• Change socks and base layers rather than washing them
• Deal with hands and face daily, the rest can wait
• Keep sanitiser accessible, not buried in a pack
• Store toiletries with your food at night, since they attract wildlife
• Bring more sealed bags than you think you need

06Special Cases

Three situations change the standard advice, and each is worth knowing before you meet it.

Frozen or snow-covered ground. You cannot dig a cathole in frozen soil, and burying in snow simply delays the problem until spring. In winter conditions the answer is to pack it out, which is what dedicated waste bags exist for.

Rock, alpine terrain and very thin soil. Where there is no organic soil to decompose anything, burying achieves nothing. Many alpine and heavily used areas require packing out for exactly this reason, and the requirement will be published by the operator.

Groups and repeat visits. The guidance to disperse sites exists because concentration overwhelms the soil's ability to process. With a group, or on a stay of several nights, spread the locations widely and keep a mental note of where you have been.

07Frequently Asked Questions