Camping Toilet Options: Portable Toilets, Bags and Bush Toilets
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Nobody loves talking about it, but sorting your toilet plan is one of the biggest upgrades you can make to a camping trip, especially at free camps and remote sites with no facilities. Here are your options, from simple to luxurious.
Rules on toilets and waste vary by park and land manager. Some areas require you to carry a portable toilet or carry out all waste. Always check before you go.
Option 1: Portable flushing toilet
A cassette-style portable toilet has a fresh-water flush tank on top and a sealed waste tank underneath. You add a toilet chemical to the waste tank, then empty it at a dump point.
- Pros: most like a home toilet, sealed and low odour when used properly.
- Cons: bulkier, needs toilet chemical, and you need to find a dump point to empty it.
- Good for: families, longer trips, caravans and anyone camping at sites with no toilets.
- Emptying: only at a designated dump point, never in a drain, waterway or bush.
Option 2: Bucket or folding toilet with bags
A folding frame or bucket with a seat, used with a disposable bag and absorbent gel or powder.
- Pros: cheap, light and packs small.
- Cons: you carry the used bags out, so seal them well and dispose of them as directed.
- Good for: occasional use, weekenders and emergencies.
(Thetford Aqua Kem Blue sachets on Amazon, a toilet chemical for portable flushing toilets. Bag toilets need purpose-made bags with absorbent gel instead.)
Option 3: A bush toilet, where allowed
Where there are no toilets and the rules allow it, you can dig a “cat hole”. Done properly:
- Go well away from water, tracks and campsites. Leave No Trace guidance commonly suggests at least 100 metres from water.
- Dig a hole roughly 15 to 20 cm deep with a trowel. (camping trowels on Amazon)
- Fill it back in and disguise it afterwards.
- Carry out toilet paper and hygiene products where you can, as animals dig them up.
- Some places, including some sensitive or heavily used areas, don’t allow this at all. Follow local rules.
Read more in our Leave No Trace guide.
Add a toilet tent for privacy
A pop-up or frame ensuite tent gives privacy at open campsites and doubles as a shower tent. Peg and guy it down well, as they catch the wind.
(ensuite toilet and shower tents on Amazon)
Hygiene tips
- Keep hand sanitiser and a small water container with a tap next to the toilet.
- Store toilet paper in a zip-lock bag so it stays dry.
- Use a separate bag or bin for hygiene products, and carry them out.
- Empty and rinse portable toilets as the manufacturer recommends.
Which option suits you?
- Weekend at a campground with toilets: you may not need anything.
- Free camps and remote sites: a portable toilet or bag toilet, plus a toilet tent.
- Families with young kids: a portable flushing toilet is easiest. See our camping with kids checklist.
- Hiking or travelling light: bag toilet or a trowel where cat holes are allowed.
Top of the line vs best value
Well-known options sold in Australia, if you want a starting point. We haven’t independently tested every one, prices change often, and the right choice depends on your trip, so check current prices, specs and warranty before buying. Not ready to buy? Pop it in your Amazon cart so it’s there when you are.
Portable toilet
- Top of the line: Thetford Porta Potti 345 on Amazon · Add to Amazon cart: premium cassette-style portable toilet with a piston flush.
- Best value: folding portable camping toilet on Amazon · Add to Amazon cart: budget-friendly, packs flat, used with toilet bags.
Further reading
The bottom line
Pick a toilet setup that suits where you camp. Use a portable toilet or bags at free and remote sites, add a toilet tent for privacy, and only dig a bush toilet where it’s allowed. Empty waste at dump points and leave no trace.
