Dig a cathole roughly six to eight inches deep, well away from water, trail and camp, use it, then fill it in and disguise the spot. Knowing how to poop in the woods properly comes down to depth, distance and what you do with the paper, and the paper is the part most people get wrong.
Some places have moved past catholes entirely and require everything to be carried out. Our roundup of camping shovels and trowels covers the tool this depends on.
Quick Answer
Walk about seventy paces from any water source, trail or campsite. Dig down through the dark organic soil, six to eight inches if the ground allows. Go, fill the hole, and scatter natural material over it. Pack the toilet paper out in a sealed bag rather than burying it.
Key Takeaways
- Distance from water matters more than anything else you do.
- Depth reaches the biologically active soil where decomposition happens.
- Dark organic topsoil breaks waste down faster than pale mineral soil.
- Spread catholes out rather than clustering them near a good spot.
- Toilet paper gets packed out, not buried and not burned.
- Alpine, desert, river corridors and high-use areas often require packing everything out.
- Hand hygiene afterward is a group health matter rather than a nicety.
| Situation | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary forest or established backcountry | Cathole, paper packed out | Soil biology handles the rest |
| Above treeline or on alpine ground | Pack everything out | Little soil, very slow decomposition |
| Desert | Pack everything out where required | Dry soil barely breaks anything down |
| River corridor or canyon | Pack everything out | Concentrated use, water close by |
| Snow | Pack it out | Snow melts and deposits it on the surface |
| Rocky ground with no diggable soil | Pack it out | A cathole you cannot dig is not a cathole |
| Popular site with obvious prior use | Move well away, or pack out | Clustering is what ruins a place |
| Menstrual products, wipes, anything synthetic | Always pack out | None of it breaks down |
The Cathole Method
- Go before you are desperate. Site selection gets worse the longer you leave it.
- Walk about seventy paces from water. The same distance applies to the trail and to camp.
- Look for dark soil and some sun. Both speed up what happens next.
- Dig six to eight inches down. Through the leaf litter and into the soil beneath it.
- Keep the removed soil beside the hole. You will want it in a moment.
- Fill it in and tamp it down. Then scatter leaves, needles or gravel over the top.
- Take the paper with you. In a sealed bag, in your pack.
A trowel makes this a thirty second job and a stick makes it a struggle, which is the entire argument for carrying one. Our guide to what to pack in a daypack covers where it fits alongside everything else.
Choosing the Spot
Distance from water is the rule that matters most, because contamination of a water source is the consequence that affects other people directly.
That includes water you cannot see. Stay out of gullies, drainages and any low channel that will carry water during rain, even if it is bone dry when you are standing in it.
Our roundup of water filters for hiking covers the other end of this problem, which is what you do about water somebody else got wrong.
Soil type decides how fast the site resolves itself. Dark organic topsoil is full of the microbial activity that breaks waste down, while pale mineral soil and sand are comparatively inert.
Dispersal matters too. A pleasant screened spot near a good campsite attracts everybody, and a dozen catholes in one small area is worse than a dozen spread widely.
Our guide to choosing a campsite covers thinking about a site as a whole, including where this activity will happen before you pitch.
Toilet Paper Is the Part People Get Wrong
Buried toilet paper does not behave the way people assume. It persists far longer than the waste it was used for, and animals dig it up and scatter it.
So the standard advice is to pack it out. A sealed bag inside an opaque one, in an outside pocket, and it is genuinely less unpleasant than it sounds.
Burning it is worse than burying it. Toilet paper fires have started wildfires, and in dry conditions it is an unreasonable risk for a trivial convenience.
Natural alternatives work if you know what you are handling. Smooth stones, snow and certain leaves are all used, and the requirement is being confident about plant identification before you commit.
Wipes are a separate category and a worse one. They do not break down at all, whatever the packaging says, and they always come out with you.
When You Have to Pack It Out
The cathole is a technique for places with soil and biological activity, and a great deal of interesting country has neither.
Alpine ground above treeline has thin soil and a short season, so decomposition is very slow. Desert soil is dry enough that waste essentially preserves rather than breaks down.
River corridors and canyons concentrate every visitor into a narrow strip beside water, which is the worst possible arrangement for catholes. Glaciers and permanent snowfields have no soil at all.
High-use areas get the same treatment for volume reasons rather than soil reasons. Enough people in one place overwhelms any amount of soil biology.
Portable systems exist for exactly this and they work better than people expect. Our roundup of portable camping toilets covers the options, from sealed bag systems for backpacking to full setups for basecamps and rafts.
Check the regulations before the trip rather than at the trailhead, since the requirement is often specific to the permit or the drainage rather than the whole area.
Hygiene and the Rest of It
Hand hygiene after this is a group health issue rather than a preference, and it is the most common way an illness travels through a hiking party.
Sanitizer is the practical answer, carried somewhere you will actually reach for it. Our roundup of hiking first aid kits covers the kit it normally lives in.
Urine is a much smaller impact and still worth thinking about. Away from the trail and away from camp, and on rock or gravel rather than vegetation where you have the choice, since the salts attract animals that then damage the plants.
Menstrual products always come out with you, in a sealed bag, in every setting. Nothing about them breaks down.
Planning helps more than technique does. Knowing where the facilities are on a route, and going before you leave a trailhead, removes most of the difficult decisions. Our guide to planning a hiking route covers building that in.
Related Reading
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you poop in the woods?
Walk about seventy paces from water, trail and camp, dig a cathole six to eight inches deep through the organic topsoil, use it, then fill it in and scatter natural material over the spot. Pack the toilet paper out in a sealed bag rather than burying it.
How deep should a cathole be?
Six to eight inches where the ground allows, which reaches the biologically active soil where decomposition actually happens. Shallower than that and animals dig it up. Where you cannot get that deep because of rock or roots, the honest answer is that the site is wrong.
How far from water do I need to be?
Roughly seventy paces, and the same distance from the trail and from any campsite. Include water you cannot currently see, which means staying out of gullies and dry drainages that will carry water when it rains.
Can I bury the toilet paper?
It is better not to. Paper persists longer than the waste does, and animals dig it up and scatter it. Packing it out in a sealed bag is the standard advice and is far less unpleasant in practice than it sounds. Burning it has started wildfires and is worse again.
When do I have to pack everything out?
Above treeline, in desert, in river corridors and canyons, on snow and glaciers, on rocky ground you cannot dig, and in high-use areas where volume overwhelms the soil. Many of these are explicit permit requirements, so check before the trip rather than at the trailhead.
What about wipes?
They always come out with you. Wipes do not break down in soil regardless of what the packaging claims, so burying them leaves them there. Treat them as litter you happen to have used rather than as a paper substitute.
Does urine need the same care?
Less, though it is worth some thought. Move away from the trail and camp, and favor rock or gravel over vegetation where you have the choice, since the salts left behind attract animals that then damage the plants getting at them.
Do I really need a trowel?
It turns a struggle into a thirty second job, which is the difference between doing this properly and doing it badly. A dedicated trowel weighs very little, and digging a proper cathole with a stick or a boot heel in root-filled ground rarely produces the depth you need.
