Campsites without toilets…what do you do?

[4fingerKitKat]

I’m looking at some “campsites” which are basically farmers’ fields with no facilities.

What do you do for a toilet in such situations? Most advice I seem to see about camping toilets seem to be people using it as an emergency night time option that they then empty down a toilet.

How do you manage if there are no toilets? Or do we just admit defeat and find a campsite with toilets!

If you’re really keen make sure it has a chemical loo empty point at the very least.

It’s neither pleasant nor relaxing but basically you can buy a bucket with a seat + lid use it in a dedicated loo tent then empty it at a designated drain point (usually open a man hole cover, pour). Make sure you’ve put disinfectant in the bucket before you start and in between empty’s. Needs scrubbing at end of trip of course.

On the other hand you could just, book a site with facilities…

Clench!

That's not a campsite, it's just a field...

I wouldn’t stay there!

Even the "wild" campsites I've stayed at have compost loos for number 2s. Otherwise dig a hole but as PP have said that's kind of gross if everyone is doing it.

I’m totally happy with proper wild camping of the ‘dig a hole’ variety. Also happy at campsites with very basic facilities (composting loos, no showers etc).

This does seem to be a slightly weird ‘in between’ category - there seem to be literally NO facilities - no toilets, no water, no nothing. But even though it’s a small site you can’t have everyone digging holes and there’s no evidence they’ve got anywhere to empty chemical loos either.

It’s a great location and idyllic setting but even for a couple of nights maybe this is too much of a faff!

If there is truly nothing then it isn’t a campsite it’s a field full of human waste. Don’t go.

Have you checked with the landowner that there are definitely no toilets? Is it possible that they have hired a portable toilet block / portaloos for the summer?

Are you certain there's no portaloo provided? Because a field where the current and past campers are shitting in the hedgerows is unsanitary to say the least and very different to genuine 'wild' camping where you can go off the beaten track a bit and dig a hole to do your business.

I wouldn't go to a campsite without them or an emptying point because even if you deal with waste safely you can't guarantee other campers will and it could be horrendous

I've camped on sites without toilets. We have a chemical toilet and a tent to put it in.

But drinking water and a chemical disposal point are essentials. If those are missing it's not really a campsite.

We've been camping for years. But no way would.i.go somewhere with no toilet facility and running water. You'll end up with toxic waste on site and dysentery. You ll all be sick.

Gross. No way would I pay someone money to stay in a field and have to take my literal shit home

Our friends once booked us onto an opportunistic farmers field site for August bank holiday weekend. There was one loo with no light, lots of spiders webs and a tiny sink with no working tap. The grass hadn't been mown making pitching difficult and the site was strewn with used nappies and dog shit. We had toddlers who would not go to sleep and by 11 pm the first night we had had enough and packed up and drove home through the night!!!

No water is a bigger problem.

Even if you have a porta-potti or similar for the loo issue, most campers would run out of water very quickly. It's also a major hygiene consideration.

Composting loos are an option, rather than a chemical loo. We stayed at a back-to-basics site this week with a "simploo" in a little tent. Topped up with sawdust, and emptied it around every 48 hours. No problem.

We went away in our motorhome when that was allowed but toilet and shower facilities were closed. We used our own on board toilet and the disposal facility was open.

The type of campsite with no toilets at all is really only for motor homes and caravans. You could use a tent and have a porta potti in its own tent but I suppose you would have to take the contents home to dispose of which would be grim. They really ought to have a chemical toilet disposal point.

You stay in a hotel

Last year, we stayed on a site which had its toilet and shower block closed. It did have a waste emptying point, and water and EHU.

We took a toilet tent and our own loo. However, we had to empty it at least once a day. It would not have been possible to carry back 6 days worth of waste if there was no where to empty it. You will be surprised just how much it adds up!

It is possible, but as PP have said you need somewhere to empty it, and a water tap. And the site needs to be priced accordingly, i.e. cheap as chips and preferably in a great area.

We take a loo bucket, bags to line it and poo powder (shop.enhancedpro.com/collections/frontpage/products/cleanwaste-poo-powder%C2%AE) for night time wees, but no way would I stay somewhere without a proper loo on site somewhere.

Poo powder is quite pricey, so some people use nappies at the bottom of the bucket (inside a plastic bag liner) as an alternative. We are going to try that this year, so will report back...

shop.enhancedpro.com/collections/frontpage/products/cleanwaste-poo-powder%C2%AE

Shewee and plan your poos for when your offsite.

@fuzzyduck1

Shewee and plan your poos for when your offsite.

Yes, but who wants to be on a site where everyone else is weeing all over the place? And your kids are playing in the grass....

I have taught my older kids when blackberrying to always pick from above the wee-line in case someone has had a wee in the brambles.

I’ve been looking at campsites on pitch up and a few other websites and I’ve noticed a fair few sites with absolutely no facilities popping up.

I can only imagine it’s landowners looking to take advantage of so many people looking for UK holidays.

Agree with PP though a water tap and water disposal point is really the bare minimum.

I definitely think that there’s people taking advantage of the UK holiday demand.

Having researched a bit more I think we could manage a weekend without any facilities using a toilet tent and a makeshift composting loo (people recommend wood chip cat litter). I think it’d be a challenge to do it for longer than that though.

However I’d be more concerned that other campers would rock up without making adequate provision themselves and what the overall state of the campsite would end up being like.