Where Do You Shower?

This is a question for those of you who prefer state and federal campgrounds, where do you shower? We've been sticking to private campgrounds primarily for the ease of access to bathrooms and showers, which has me wondering what those of you who enjoy the state and federal parks -- especially on long haul trips -- do for facilities?

We would prefer less dense campgrounds if we had a solution to the bathroom/shower conundrum.

 

Having been on several long haul trips cross-country we have found most SP's and NP's have shower facilities and sometimes laundry rooms. There is also Pilot Travel Centers and others with showers. Parks that don't have showers sometimes have a list of nearby public shower facilities.

Jim & Sue

 

Many of the National Parks have showers at the campgrounds. Sometimes, like in Yellowstone neither campground we stayed had them, so we had to go a different campground area to find them. The Great Smokey Mountains in NC/TN are one exception to that and there we just wash up after dark around the camper. The state park campgrounds here in SC have them and we have camped in state parks in NC, VA, MS and Delaware and they had them there too. We've run across ones where you have to buy a token and get a certain amount of time with it. Also, we have had them where you pay to go in, but it is not timed too. Pay showers we've run across have been at campgrounds or in the camp store run by concessionaires instead of the National Park Service. We've only camped in one Army COE campground, but it did have showers.

On our two long trips out West, it was more of an issue where needed to have a strategy of when we would be around a shower facility. Yellowstone was where we had the longest trip to get to one. We camped at Tower Falls, but it was probably around 30-45 minutes away to the shower. When making time across the country from SC to the parks we visited is the main time we have used commercial campgrounds just for the convenience to the highway. Camped in Greenwood, NE at a place once that they must have been built for the Munchkins or Oompa Lumpas judging from the height of the showerhead. I'm 6 ft and had to bend over at the waist to get my head under the stream of water.

 

We normally camp in a state park and live in Texas. Quality of the facilities are hit and miss. even within the park there are some nicer shower facilities than others. We have 3 small kids and we just always bring water shoes to stay off the floor. If we're far from the bathroom, it's been great to have one of those poop tents wit a portable toilet...Kitty litter helps keep the smell down.

 

“Most” state parks have a shower building. It might be in a different loop than the one you are in, so perhaps a drive to get to it. If there really isn’t one, or you take one look and realize you don’t want to share the facilities with some bugs or something which invaded ( it can happen), then there are some other options.... not as convenient, but options.

One is a quick soap and washcloth wipe down, in a shelter you have with walls or the side tent, if you have that.. Not a full shower, and maybe you wash hair if needed in a basin at the picnic table.

Another, which I personally haven’t done yet, but I know many who have, many / most truck stop locations have shower facilities. There’s a fee, I think you pay and sign up for a time slot? I’ve heard they are usually quite nice.

Bathroom... if no pit toilet, there’s always the luggable loo bucket and something like a doodie bag, or similar. Even just kitty litter double bagged works. Replace bags as necessary, toss used ones in dumpster. A quick pop up shelter, or keep in side tent if you have one.

 

Ditto on all of the above for 'real' campground shower availability.

For those times when you just can't seem to locate one, are boondocking, or are holed up in a 'Basic' campground for several days, we have a Zodi, as described in these two posts...
Boondocking Shower
and
Water Heater / Shower

A 6' 3-section tarp pole works well for the raising the shower-head high enough as there are a couple small metal loops installed on the side of the tank for such a purpose. I am still in the process of constructing a portable tripod shower stall that can accomodate my height. Those cheap pop-up change shelters are neither tall enough or wide enough for showering and can really only accommodate a portable toilet.

Which brings me to this... GO anywhere portable toilet®/the PETT® | Cleanwaste Products which collapses to 4" thick and stores nicely under the mattress in any of the wells.

The CI side entrance tent Camp-Inn Side Tent also works well as a privacy shelter for a full-body non-shower hot-water wipe-down area, though you could never really use it for the Zodi.

In the back-country I have used these... Adventure Bath Wipes - Travel Size, Pkg./8 as a sort of full-body baby-wipe on steroids, for adults on the trail. Just one does a very good job, top to bottom (which is the recommended sequence of use), and are nice to have on hand, in a pinch, and for when it's too cold to realistically use the Zodi.

 

Ny state camp grounds has showers, a lot of truck stops have showers, some folks joined gymjust to go there and take showers.

 

We are just returning from a 5,000 mile road trip, all of our camping was at state or national parks. Many had showers available. Most were pay showers so we bring rolls of quarters with us for this as well as laundromats. We prefer these parks to private campgrounds for several reasons. We love being outdoors and state campgrounds are usually in beautiful locations. We enjoy a little space between campsites, which these have, much more so than say KOA’s. We love the idea of supporting the park systems. The nights we stayed at campgrounds without showers, we did sponge baths. I hope you take the “plunge” and begin camping at these, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

 

ShowerPouch

 

A solar shower is an option if you have some sun: https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Ele...ocphy=9019503&hvtargid=pla-317871887907&psc=1
Similar to the GO Anywhere portable toilet, at about half the price: https://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Pro...ocphy=9019503&hvtargid=pla-275741088121&psc=1
Fits well into either the side tent or stand alone shower/potty tent : https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Tr...lkGOG-fA4CF0Z3EJC7480sLjlcW_1m2saAjUKEALw_wcB

 

I'll ask Cathy about this as she has a clearer memory about such things. Some private campgrounds will allow you to pay a day use fee, and you can do laundry, shower, charge iphones/laptops, etc. We've done this many times. (But some have membership fees and allow no non-member use.)

We had to use a climbing gym in Vegas, but that was a waste of time, though very inexpensive. Should have found something better.

In our experience (camping in West, mostly Cali, Arizona, Washington, Oregon), state and county park campgrounds usually have showers; most national park campgrounds do not (or they are at a different campground than the one we've chosen). I am fairly comfortable with my "most" and "usually" assessments, but I defer to Cathy on the accuracy of this

Some park campgrounds will NOT allow a day user to use the shower facilities. (ie, ran into this in Washington state, but found something else nearby)

There should be an app for "nearby showers"



-Al

 

All Stays Pro has showers as a filter. Not sure if that's in the app (returned my spiffy new iPad because it couldn't do off-line location) or just the browser.

 

We like our Zodi shower. Fits just right on the stove. Heats to 100 degrees in a few minutes. If not in a private site we’ll shower in our Eurmax shelter with the walls up.

 

I guess my question is more: if you are staying in organized SP, NFS, or NP campgrounds, where you can't use a shower tent, what do you do?

 

I'm more interested in how to find nearby showers (thanks for the tip re AllStays Pro) than suggestions for solar showers, sponge baths, etc., but:
DUDE Shower - 10pk Singles

Disposable (in trash, not toilet) and not biodegradeable, plus might be irritating to sensitive skin, but it's an approach some might prefer.

I am guessing the sponge bath suggestions are meant to be used AT your campsite (not in the bathroom). Don't be the guy doing a sponge bath at the sink at my campground. (I'm not joking.) Washing your face is ALL you get to wash at the sink.

-Al

 

We use our Zodi. We have a free standing shelter we use over the galley, for rain or sun. We put the walls up for privacy. We shower over a collapsible water basin, catching most of the water in it. We use the shower for washing hair, then mostly sponge bath.

 

After spending nine years and lots of $$, I've finally come up with a shower setup that works for me. The Joolca Hot Tap. I bought the Outing Kit. A little history- I started out with the Coleman Instant Hot Water Heater in 2011 when I first got my teardrop. That didn't work. Then I bought a Zodi instant hot water system. That didn't work well either. I did buy their ZODI shelter which works well. I then moved to a bucket bath system. That worked well for quite a while. The set up involved a large cooking pot, Home Depot bucket and an Igloo 5 gallon round water cooler. I would boil the water on my TD stove and dump it in the Igloo. I'd then fill the Igloo with tap water. That would give me five gallons of water that was too hot to handle. I would then take a bucket bath (sponge, wash cloth, etc). This worked perfectly well. Most of the time I would use the campground shower. In addition, I could almost always find a shower on the road. Private campgrounds, motels, etc usually will sell showers for $5. Any place with a pool has as shower too.
During a recent remodel of our house, I bought an Eccotemp L5 portable instant hot water heater. It runs on a garden house (water pressure) and a propane tank. After using it for 9 months to shower outside, I decided it would make a great camp shower, if I could rig it up right. So I purchased a propane hose with a quick connect (for the TD gas outlet). I connected it to the water outlet on the TD, using the onboard water pump to supply the heater. It worked great. I used it a few times. Then FB served me up an add with the Joolca. The benefit of the Joolca is it comes with a pump (so you can run it off any water source) and a screened intake hose. So you have throw it in the river or lake if you like. I now use two five gallon Home Depot buckets as a water source. The Joolca ships with a propane hose that connects to a propane tank. I was able to source a hose with a disconnect and a low pressure regulator (necessary if you are using the LP gas QD on the TD). I recently returned from a two week trip where I took two showers a day with the Joolca. Success! I highly recommend! A bit spendy at $349, but well worth it.

 

Generally in the nude...

 

This is from my hiking adventures.

Nothing beats a good shower and feeling clean after a long day with tired muscles, being hot, sweaty, dirty, smokey from the fire, etc.

When a shower wasn't an option, I took a ziplock bag with a few wash rags in it. It will never replace a hot shower (or bath), but in a pinch, cleaning up as much as possible with a wash rag, water, maybe some soap or cleanser.

Anything I could do at the end of the day to be as clean as possible before bed made me feel better and made for better sleep. 2 or 3 wash rags in a ziplock bag are small, light and does not take up much storage room.

 

So the Joolca propane hose does not have a quick disconnect or low pressure regulator? Can you show me what you ended up with re the hose? This set up looks pretty close to what we want/need.