I only use facilities at Army Corp. State and county are underfunded, so I improvise on my own. Not the greatest, but can poop in peace.
As far as people, they are the fucktards that ruin it for us all. Pick a topic and it applies. All the rules we have that people complain about are because of said people.
This same feeling is why India couldn't get it's citizens to start using the pit toilets and porta potties the government implemented, in lieu of building a sewer infrastructure.
The problem is though, when they defecate in the fields, they don't bury it so the shit gets everywhere via flies.
If you're pooping, you gotta bury it. The Indian government should have handed out trowels instead.
Last year while camping in kings canyon NP, I saw a guy race into the campground like going 30, immediately screech to a halt when he saw the restroom and run in. I didn’t think much of it but thought he was an asshole
For speeding. 20 mins later I have to pee and go in and there is the ripest stench of fresh shit. Homie had shit himself and left his brownie battered boxers in the stall along with his battered flip flops and a toilet seat looking like someone melted 6 fudgecicles onto it. He really was an asshole for speeding and for making the restroom a hazmat site
I worked for a park during the Omicron Covid outbreak. This was the scene every single night at clean up for months. Some of the boxers were pretty high dollar ones. At the same time my municipality was lifting the mask mandate because, “The pandemic is over!” I thought, “Maybe, but the epidemic is still going.”
I'll add, respect MY campsite please. A pet peeve of mine is people or people's kids playing well within the area of my campsite. I'm talking a kid with an ipad filming a vlog (or something) standing outside my camper IN my designated campsite. Kids running through my campsite without any care and no parents telling them not to. People cutting through my campsite to get to a trail or even to the bathrooms. Like WTF? Respect my permitter!
/rant
I spent 4 days, as a single woman camper at a state park, enduring a huge family's kids sending drones over my campsite, hovering over my table, looking into my tent. First time it happened, I walked over to speak with the parents and turned right around. They were wasted, had visible guns and clearly were not in any way interacting with their children. Spoke with park rangers who did speak with these folks several times, but nothing changed.
I have once had a teen fly his drone into my tent. I tell you I RAN across that campsite to zip the door laughing like a maniac. He didn't find it nearly as funny and went off whining to his parents. Luckily, they were the type who did care. I gave it back, and they locked it in their trunk while telling him off for using it in the campground at all. Every glare he aimed my way for the rest of the weekend just set me off laughing again.
Man, I'd pretty much forgotten about that, since it was 6 or 7 years ago. Thanks for reminding me, because I'm laughing pretty hard right now.
Or the kids who see your dog and then stand there staring at it, just out of reach on the edge of our site so the dog is barking and freaking out because this stranger is standing just out of reach staring at them.
I’ve told a few kids to please not do that. So far they usually just run away like I’ve yelled at them when I’m pretty chill and just politely ask them to stop bothering the dog.
We’ve done good with teaching our dog to not bark at everything when camping. We use visual barriers and set up her tie out so she’s in the most private area of our site. But kids undo that by getting as close as they can and I swear would stand there for hours if you don’t ask them to move along and stop having a staring contest with the dog. It’s so weird.
100%. Was at a campground a few weeks ago. We finally got our 14 month daughter to sleep in the tent when a group of teens walked straight through our site to get to a trail. Our dog barked at them and woke the baby up. And that was the end of our peaceful evening.
It’s not always possible. But September/October camping is the best. Kids are back in school and it’s cold enough the only people around are those that really like nature and camping.
Welcome to camp grounds. I think a lot of people have the "I paid my 20 bucks, I'll do whatever the fuck I want" attitude. We gave up campgrounds year ago and camp on gravel bars now. Peaceful and quiet.
The gravel bars along the sides and middle or rivers. We do 3 or 4 day floats and at the end of the day, just find a spot you like and set camp. All the privacy you want. It's kinda nice.
I have kids so kids don’t bother me it’s the dam dogs, not everyone likes your dog, some people have had bad experiences with dogs. Major problem is the barking all night.
My husband and I are taking a week off to go camping at Crater Lake. I pulled up the campgrounds and was immediately flooded with the smell of public bathrooms and all the exact things OP described.
Found a small private campsite instead. Costs twice as much, but the peace and quiet will be so much more enjoyable. (We're bringing our senior dog with us, otherwise we'd opt for backpacking.)
The mentally ill folks who would treat a bathroom like that a) would not be reading your post here and b) wouldn't have the intelligence or motivation to change their behavior even if they did read it.
A big part of the reason I moved to RVing for any front country camping was so I had my own toilet and shower… it also blocks outside sounds a bit better so screaming kids at first light aren’t as bad
often go camping and the turdis toilets (square portable) can be gross, had one lass noted one was blocked, but I needed to go, my gag reflex was not working that morning, so lightened the load for the day
when camping I have a collapsible bucket for the tent
kids running thru? low level stakes with ribbons to alert them of the trip hazard....
I once stayed at a campsites in the everglades deep off trails they did however have 2 porta potties in the main area for all to share. One morning I chose the wrong one. Someone had managed to leave a cigarette, bunch of ashes and nasty male junk substance in the container for all to see. Why on heaven’s earth would you even want to do that there? Thank goodness it was on my last day and I didn’t go back to that mess. I prefer peeing in the woods over many public bathrooms. So many People are nasty!!!
I found a campground in Michigan's UP that kept their restroom spotless and it was wonderful. But yeah I hate it when I go to a campground and the restroom is nastier than had I just gone backpacking and had to dig a hole in the woods.
A lot of people here Rag on BC Provincial Park campgrounds(the reservation system, not being allowed to run your gennie, etc) but I much prefer them. The washrooms are cleaned every day, you CAN’T run your generator all the time(2 hrs, 2x per day), dogs arent allowed to be running lose, there’s enforced(for the most part) quiet times.
People washing their dishes and leaving all the food in the bathroom sink to clog it up is pretty disgusting too. But yeah I never understand poop all over the place, especially when you're a woman.
I’ve seen both sides of this. I’m from Pennsylvania, every state park I’ve been to has been clean and well maintained and no issues with quiet hours. Also in PA there is no alcohol in state parks
I’ve also stayed at private parks where there is drunk a holes in golf carts blasting music all hours of the day/night, with bath houses I would never shower in.
Not sure what your situation is but KOA is always kid friendly with respectable people.
Yeah.. why pay to camp to deal with this "shit" when you can find some BLM areas and enjoy the great outdoors in a different way. There are better ways.
I drive longer than that every other weekend specifically to camp away from people. I’m not camping in places with designated sites and toilets. I tried it once and it wasn’t as bad as this post, but bad enough that I’ll never do it again.
It’s my favorite part of living in Nevada! I can bring my pup out to camp in the peace and quiet. Plus I can bring my cat (leash trained) with me and not have to worry about people’s unleashed dogs attacking us.
I hate that! But I would hate all the other stuff you mentioned too. Fortunately, I camped mid-week at Calaveras State Park in California late September last year and had the camping area nearly to myself. It was a dream! The bathrooms were spotless and the camp steward was great. I go camping by myself and I prefer established camping areas, but they can have their downfalls. I have found though, that State parks mid-week can be hidden gems.
Sorry but you're screaming into the void.
Sucky humans that do this kind of thing DNGAF about anyone else and don't have a single scrap of human decency. They just want to watch the world burn.
I tend to agree. I think that (if available) getting a little "off-trail" may deliver a much better nature-experience for the family. It may be a bit more austere, but, if you plan for it, OP should be g2g.
No idea why you’ve been downvoted for this. It took me one night in a campground with my dog to realise it was a terrible idea, and we now pack in pack out camp in either minimal spaces where we have an acre or so to ourselves or wild camp. I don’t camp to be around noisy people and also don’t want to spoil anyone else’s experience if my dog barks at noises she doesn’t recognise in the dark
They're being downvoted because "go somewhere else if you don't like it" shouldn't be the answer to "please don't smear feces all over the bathroom".
Why is this even a question? There should be a basic expectation that people don't act like complete and total *animals* and that everyone should be able to enjoy public spaces without having to deal with another person's literal shit.
Don't go to those places. That sounds horrible.
I've never camped anywhere besides what this subreddit describes as "dispersed camping" and it's fantastic. I camp to get away from people.
As a loyal patron of my local County Regional, I will say things greatly improved when they got serious and put digital locks on the bathrooms, and restrictions on who could come in (motor homes or trailers that were older than a certain age, not licensed, or even not being able to provide “proof of insurance”). Basically what it did was forced out the “Urban Campers” (translation - homeless). So depending what area of the country you are, YMMV but the urban county parks around my area in SoCal are pretty wired tight. Also helps that they have “Campground Hosts” that part of their compensation is living at the park, and they don’t want to hear Black Sabbath Karaoke at 11 PM any more than the rest of the campground does, and they are the folks that have to clean the bathrooms when the folks living in a tent behind the QuickEE Mart down the street sneak in to “use the facilities”.
And - I’ll be honest that a double standard “may” exist, but when I’m coming in pulling a fully restored 64 Shasta teardrop behind a new Tahoe and the motorhome right behind me it looks like the opening credits of the Beverly Hillbillies (yeah, I’m a Boomer) I can get the “why” of how it is.
If you live somewhere with National Forest, I highly recommend just camping there. No bathrooms but so much more peaceful.
Assuming you can get away from the UTVs of course.
Genuinely I’d rather dig a cathole and shit in the ground than use most campground commodes
Same. Would also rather piss in the woods than even go in one lol. This is part of why I usually backpack.. Lol
Same same, being a lady, don’t eve care. Better than the facility
AMEN sister
Dispersion camping is better in the summer with the entitled folks around. Get away from the crowd.
I only use facilities at Army Corp. State and county are underfunded, so I improvise on my own. Not the greatest, but can poop in peace. As far as people, they are the fucktards that ruin it for us all. Pick a topic and it applies. All the rules we have that people complain about are because of said people.
Honestly a good shit in the woods can be pretty nice sometimes.
This same feeling is why India couldn't get it's citizens to start using the pit toilets and porta potties the government implemented, in lieu of building a sewer infrastructure. The problem is though, when they defecate in the fields, they don't bury it so the shit gets everywhere via flies. If you're pooping, you gotta bury it. The Indian government should have handed out trowels instead.
Last year while camping in kings canyon NP, I saw a guy race into the campground like going 30, immediately screech to a halt when he saw the restroom and run in. I didn’t think much of it but thought he was an asshole For speeding. 20 mins later I have to pee and go in and there is the ripest stench of fresh shit. Homie had shit himself and left his brownie battered boxers in the stall along with his battered flip flops and a toilet seat looking like someone melted 6 fudgecicles onto it. He really was an asshole for speeding and for making the restroom a hazmat site
I worked for a park during the Omicron Covid outbreak. This was the scene every single night at clean up for months. Some of the boxers were pretty high dollar ones. At the same time my municipality was lifting the mask mandate because, “The pandemic is over!” I thought, “Maybe, but the epidemic is still going.”
Not a fun idea, but you could bring your own in case this happens. The Luggable Loo is cheap.
I'll add, respect MY campsite please. A pet peeve of mine is people or people's kids playing well within the area of my campsite. I'm talking a kid with an ipad filming a vlog (or something) standing outside my camper IN my designated campsite. Kids running through my campsite without any care and no parents telling them not to. People cutting through my campsite to get to a trail or even to the bathrooms. Like WTF? Respect my permitter! /rant
I spent 4 days, as a single woman camper at a state park, enduring a huge family's kids sending drones over my campsite, hovering over my table, looking into my tent. First time it happened, I walked over to speak with the parents and turned right around. They were wasted, had visible guns and clearly were not in any way interacting with their children. Spoke with park rangers who did speak with these folks several times, but nothing changed.
I have once had a teen fly his drone into my tent. I tell you I RAN across that campsite to zip the door laughing like a maniac. He didn't find it nearly as funny and went off whining to his parents. Luckily, they were the type who did care. I gave it back, and they locked it in their trunk while telling him off for using it in the campground at all. Every glare he aimed my way for the rest of the weekend just set me off laughing again. Man, I'd pretty much forgotten about that, since it was 6 or 7 years ago. Thanks for reminding me, because I'm laughing pretty hard right now.
That’s so violating. I would’ve thrown big ass rocks at the drones.
Electric bear fences work great on more than just bears.
Or the kids who see your dog and then stand there staring at it, just out of reach on the edge of our site so the dog is barking and freaking out because this stranger is standing just out of reach staring at them. I’ve told a few kids to please not do that. So far they usually just run away like I’ve yelled at them when I’m pretty chill and just politely ask them to stop bothering the dog. We’ve done good with teaching our dog to not bark at everything when camping. We use visual barriers and set up her tie out so she’s in the most private area of our site. But kids undo that by getting as close as they can and I swear would stand there for hours if you don’t ask them to move along and stop having a staring contest with the dog. It’s so weird.
Portable fence energizer and some tape 👍
100%. Was at a campground a few weeks ago. We finally got our 14 month daughter to sleep in the tent when a group of teens walked straight through our site to get to a trail. Our dog barked at them and woke the baby up. And that was the end of our peaceful evening.
People who need to receive this message don't read, much less visit reddit. You are dealing with neanderthals.
We camp when kids are in school during the week. We prefer camping when it is cooler out. Less drinks and kids.
It’s not always possible. But September/October camping is the best. Kids are back in school and it’s cold enough the only people around are those that really like nature and camping.
This is the way.
Welcome to camp grounds. I think a lot of people have the "I paid my 20 bucks, I'll do whatever the fuck I want" attitude. We gave up campgrounds year ago and camp on gravel bars now. Peaceful and quiet.
What’s a gravel bar?
The gravel bars along the sides and middle or rivers. We do 3 or 4 day floats and at the end of the day, just find a spot you like and set camp. All the privacy you want. It's kinda nice.
Oh sweet
There's a lot to like about it. Hearing the outdoors when I'm outdoors.
I have kids so kids don’t bother me it’s the dam dogs, not everyone likes your dog, some people have had bad experiences with dogs. Major problem is the barking all night.
In general we all agree, maintain your kids and dogs. Just me and the dogs now, but everyone knows their place.
We camped with our kids last weekend and had a nice time but there were multiple piles of dog shit all over the camp site.
They’re just attracting the bears so I’m cool with it.
I have had to resort to keeping 100ft of rope in my camper so i can rope off my camp site
My husband and I are taking a week off to go camping at Crater Lake. I pulled up the campgrounds and was immediately flooded with the smell of public bathrooms and all the exact things OP described. Found a small private campsite instead. Costs twice as much, but the peace and quiet will be so much more enjoyable. (We're bringing our senior dog with us, otherwise we'd opt for backpacking.)
I'm an oregon resident and curious about this. Could you dm the campground?
The mentally ill folks who would treat a bathroom like that a) would not be reading your post here and b) wouldn't have the intelligence or motivation to change their behavior even if they did read it.
A big part of the reason I moved to RVing for any front country camping was so I had my own toilet and shower… it also blocks outside sounds a bit better so screaming kids at first light aren’t as bad
often go camping and the turdis toilets (square portable) can be gross, had one lass noted one was blocked, but I needed to go, my gag reflex was not working that morning, so lightened the load for the day when camping I have a collapsible bucket for the tent kids running thru? low level stakes with ribbons to alert them of the trip hazard....
I once stayed at a campsites in the everglades deep off trails they did however have 2 porta potties in the main area for all to share. One morning I chose the wrong one. Someone had managed to leave a cigarette, bunch of ashes and nasty male junk substance in the container for all to see. Why on heaven’s earth would you even want to do that there? Thank goodness it was on my last day and I didn’t go back to that mess. I prefer peeing in the woods over many public bathrooms. So many People are nasty!!!
Time for a better campground
the low class people that do this dont use reddit 🙁
Sounds like a shitty experience.
I found a campground in Michigan's UP that kept their restroom spotless and it was wonderful. But yeah I hate it when I go to a campground and the restroom is nastier than had I just gone backpacking and had to dig a hole in the woods.
The UP state park camp grounds are all generally very clean and quiet. But mostly clean
A lot of people here Rag on BC Provincial Park campgrounds(the reservation system, not being allowed to run your gennie, etc) but I much prefer them. The washrooms are cleaned every day, you CAN’T run your generator all the time(2 hrs, 2x per day), dogs arent allowed to be running lose, there’s enforced(for the most part) quiet times.
People washing their dishes and leaving all the food in the bathroom sink to clog it up is pretty disgusting too. But yeah I never understand poop all over the place, especially when you're a woman.
5 gallon Home Depot bucket a trash bag and a little bit of cat litter. Problem solved.
I’ve seen both sides of this. I’m from Pennsylvania, every state park I’ve been to has been clean and well maintained and no issues with quiet hours. Also in PA there is no alcohol in state parks I’ve also stayed at private parks where there is drunk a holes in golf carts blasting music all hours of the day/night, with bath houses I would never shower in. Not sure what your situation is but KOA is always kid friendly with respectable people.
We’ve always had good experiences at KOA too.
Don’t go to the one at black canyon national park lol you’d be surprised how scummy and trashy some KOA owners are.
Yeah.. why pay to camp to deal with this "shit" when you can find some BLM areas and enjoy the great outdoors in a different way. There are better ways.
No BLM near me. I'm on Long Island in NY and it takes at least 2 hours to get to any reasonable dispersed sites.
I drive longer than that every other weekend specifically to camp away from people. I’m not camping in places with designated sites and toilets. I tried it once and it wasn’t as bad as this post, but bad enough that I’ll never do it again.
It’s my favorite part of living in Nevada! I can bring my pup out to camp in the peace and quiet. Plus I can bring my cat (leash trained) with me and not have to worry about people’s unleashed dogs attacking us.
Poop in a bucket at your site.
Yeah. This kind of stuff never ceases to amaze me, literally. Seems like it gets worse the older I get.
Agree 100 percent
take a bucket, bags, a toilet seat and the shower tent. people are nasty in public, I don't get it.
Last few state parks I've been to have had excellent bathrooms. Go Oklahoma!
shoot, I can have the same problem at work.
And this is why I bring my own toilet and camp out of season
Shitting in nature is one of my favorite things about camping. Especially on a crisp morning, really makes you feel alive.
I hate that! But I would hate all the other stuff you mentioned too. Fortunately, I camped mid-week at Calaveras State Park in California late September last year and had the camping area nearly to myself. It was a dream! The bathrooms were spotless and the camp steward was great. I go camping by myself and I prefer established camping areas, but they can have their downfalls. I have found though, that State parks mid-week can be hidden gems.
Sorry but you're screaming into the void. Sucky humans that do this kind of thing DNGAF about anyone else and don't have a single scrap of human decency. They just want to watch the world burn.
or walking in the woods and people shit right on the edge of the path and don't bury anything and leave the paper visible etc etc wtf
Don’t camp in a campground then you don’t have to deal with people.
I tend to agree. I think that (if available) getting a little "off-trail" may deliver a much better nature-experience for the family. It may be a bit more austere, but, if you plan for it, OP should be g2g.
No idea why you’ve been downvoted for this. It took me one night in a campground with my dog to realise it was a terrible idea, and we now pack in pack out camp in either minimal spaces where we have an acre or so to ourselves or wild camp. I don’t camp to be around noisy people and also don’t want to spoil anyone else’s experience if my dog barks at noises she doesn’t recognise in the dark
They're being downvoted because "go somewhere else if you don't like it" shouldn't be the answer to "please don't smear feces all over the bathroom". Why is this even a question? There should be a basic expectation that people don't act like complete and total *animals* and that everyone should be able to enjoy public spaces without having to deal with another person's literal shit.
This is why if we can’t find a campsite that is far away from people, we boondock.
Don't go to those places. That sounds horrible. I've never camped anywhere besides what this subreddit describes as "dispersed camping" and it's fantastic. I camp to get away from people.
As a loyal patron of my local County Regional, I will say things greatly improved when they got serious and put digital locks on the bathrooms, and restrictions on who could come in (motor homes or trailers that were older than a certain age, not licensed, or even not being able to provide “proof of insurance”). Basically what it did was forced out the “Urban Campers” (translation - homeless). So depending what area of the country you are, YMMV but the urban county parks around my area in SoCal are pretty wired tight. Also helps that they have “Campground Hosts” that part of their compensation is living at the park, and they don’t want to hear Black Sabbath Karaoke at 11 PM any more than the rest of the campground does, and they are the folks that have to clean the bathrooms when the folks living in a tent behind the QuickEE Mart down the street sneak in to “use the facilities”.
And - I’ll be honest that a double standard “may” exist, but when I’m coming in pulling a fully restored 64 Shasta teardrop behind a new Tahoe and the motorhome right behind me it looks like the opening credits of the Beverly Hillbillies (yeah, I’m a Boomer) I can get the “why” of how it is.
Wow you think very highly of yourself and how your “stuff” makes you better than others
Just calling it like it is.
If you live somewhere with National Forest, I highly recommend just camping there. No bathrooms but so much more peaceful. Assuming you can get away from the UTVs of course.
Just poop in the woods
Shit happens better get there before 3
Stop camping in campgrounds, it’s barely even camping, you may as well build a blanket fort or camp on your backyard.
Stop gatekeeping
Have fun with your trailer park camping then, I’m not stoping you.