Day trips and open bathrooms

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We enjoyed Sky Meadows State Park and they have open bathrooms.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the panic here. You go in, you do your thing, you wash your hands, you wear a mask. NBD.

No one is in a panic. The question was about available bathrooms.

[Anonymous]

Hi there, we went to the Widewater State Park in VA yesterday and they had public bathrooms open. The GW Forest day use sites did not have bathrooms open 1 week ago, but check--they might be opening. If Widewater had them open, Mason Neck and Leesylvania might also, but they were at capacity yesterday and we did not get a chance to visit them.
The idea behind keeping public bathrooms closed is to discourage travel, but if they are being opened at reduced capacity, I think the toilets will have to be reopened soon. As with all things, check before you leave the house and then 10 minutes out as parks are filling up quickly with this nice weather. Weekdays much better than weekends it seems.

[Anonymous]

I got a portable training potty for the car.

[Anonymous]

We just put a travel potty in the trunk for DD (3 years old). We’re not paranoid about public bathrooms; it’s more that most of them are closed.

[Anonymous]

My kids (3 and 5) have been peeing in woods and parking lots for past 3 months. I've had to go in the woods twice, not exactly my favorite but better than losing my mind at home! We hike most mornings and I haven't seen any open bathrooms at places we visit.

[Anonymous]

Everyone who is peeing outside -- you're all white, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the panic here. You go in, you do your thing, you wash your hands, you wear a mask. NBD.

The problem is some parks don't have their restrooms open. I checked the Md parks page and there is no list of which parks have open restrooms. I assume the state parks do, though, but who knows?

Thank you, I was hoping for some feedback from people who have been out to parks. It's impossible to find out from these website whether facilities are open. I'm the OP. I'm not in a panic about using a public restroom. In fact, I prefer it for my boys because they will otherwise piss on every tree if given the choice.

I emailed the state park I was going to to ask if the bathrooms were open, and someone actually responded with helpful information about where the open bathrooms were, which was really helpful in planning our hike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone who is peeing outside -- you're all white, right?

Obviously.

[Anonymous]

Lake fairfax park brs were open sunday

[Anonymous]

In many cultures it's OK to let kids pee in the woods or even in the parks, when they are little of course. It is in part because kids get potty trained much earlier everywhere else and can't really hold it at that age, so it's typical to see a parent taking 18 month old near a tree in China. Asian people do it as well as people from European countries. I find it that Americans actually are more opposed to it than people from other cultures. My argument is the same as PP, why it's OK to let huge dogs pee on the trees and not OK for the little kids. I'd say, until about age 4, 5 would be OK in emergency, but with 10 yr old you better have that portable potty.

[Anonymous]

I've had this same question, and am not willing to take the risk until we know that facilities are open. It's actually a very useful way to keep people home, or make sure that those visiting are only quickly passing through.

I've only done one day hike/trip in the past 3 months and we peed in the woods. I purposely went on a weekday when traffic was very low so that this wouldn't pose a big problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone who is peeing outside -- you're all white, right?

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone who is peeing outside -- you're all white, right?

Yes

Why ask? I’m assuming whoever is peeing outside is doing it discreetly enough in a remote area and goes unseen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone who is peeing outside -- you're all white, right?

I'm white and think that only dogs should pee outside. However, if my only choices were port o pot or in the woods, I'd pee outside. I'm of a certain age where you have to have a bathroom available, hence I'm not going anywhere until things are open.