Human Waste & Trash

pit toilet

Human Waste

Please use the toilets located near most crags. If you can't, follow these guidelines:

  • Urinate on rocks, not plants, because animals will defoliate plants and dig up soil to get to the salt deposited with your urine.
  • Bury the brown stuff in a 4-6-inch hole dug in a sunny place at least 200 feet from water, washes, rock shelters, climbing routes, and bouldering problems. Wildlife will dig up soiled toilet tissue, so bring a bag and pack it out.

Trash: Pack it out, even if it isn't yours.

It's easy to carry an extra bag for trash. A quick visual sweep of an area is a good way to ensure that you are not forgetting anything.

It can take up to 18 years for a cigarette to decompose in the desert. Orange peels, apple cores, pistachio shells, tape, fruit stickers, and the sock you sacrificed are all trash.

Last updated: April 24, 2017

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

74485 National Park Drive
Twentynine Palms, CA 92277-3597

Phone:

760 367-5500

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