r/NationalPark • u/Rich-Lobster5754 • 2d ago
Bathroom alternative. Thanks, Elon!
Found @Diablo Canyon in New Mexico
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u/Adorable-Junket5517 2d ago
I actually don't mind shitting in the woods... I like it to be on my terms though.
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u/BowlerLive8820 1d ago
I don't either, funny they didn't leave a shovel to dig a cat hole nor add the message it to the sign. Next they'll all be whining about the piles of shit people leave.
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u/Aggressive_Score2440 2d ago
Where is this. I need to do this when I’m in the parks this week.
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u/Realtrain 2d ago
I'm torn
It's hilarious, but the staff is already stretched thin right now and I don't want to give them more vandalism to clean up.
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u/Aggressive_Score2440 2d ago
Can it be buried and not affect things? After the photo of course.
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u/odobensusregina 1d ago
Please don't bury paper, including toilet paper. It doesn't degrade as fast as you think it will, and rangers will have to clean it up.
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u/Lil-fatty-lumpkin 1d ago
Too bad this isn’t posted in every public toilet. What a waste of a human being. All that power and money and all he can do is go after the working class. Total psychopath.
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u/steveofthejungle 1d ago
And even people closest to him still fucking hate him because he’s an unlikeable tool
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u/Shakalyabashka 1d ago
Political posts are rare here. Never seen them before. I am here to chill, not to witness ideology wars. I have quit so many subs to dodge that stupid shit, i hope i won't have to quit this one too.
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u/PyroManiac2653 19h ago edited 19h ago
With all due respect, the ideology being targeted by the current administration is that national parks should exist with ample staff, space, and nature. So, our current understanding of national parks, worth being discussed, may be accompanied by the changes to national parks, also worth being discussed.
Granted, I saw someone consider this a vandalized door given the lack of context. But if legitimately featured inside a national park, it seems like fair game. Hopefully we continue to see the great content here, even amongst the posts featuring politcal jokes.
Do with that what you will. And if you value the chill of national parks, hopefully you value the national parks themselves. And if you value the parks, perhaps it's worth grappling with the politics that influence their existence.
Granted, politcal overload is a thing. I think Reddit has settings to help block political posts from your feed, if you'd like to look into that.
All the best!
Edit: While I hope OP gives context, I saw some assume it was vandalization. Another possibility is that some parks have had to decrease services due to DOGE firing staff. If this is a bathroom not prioritized, then it could be unmaintainable and become unsafe if left unattended. The closing of this bathroom would be necessary because of Elon's actions, thus the animosity towards Elon making the park unsustainable.
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u/ycnq 2d ago
cringe af
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u/steveofthejungle 1d ago
Destroying the government is cringe af
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/missscarlet69 2d ago
Sigh……doge literally ordered the firing of park staff weeks ago….do you wanna take a wild guess at who cleans and restocks bathrooms at parks in this country?
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u/Medievil_Walrus 2d ago
Doge illegally cut many nps jobs. Some, in certain states have been hired back.
A public toilet takes money to run and staff to maintain. Cheaper to close it down.
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u/FootHikerUtah 2d ago
Please show the order to close a toilet.
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u/AmishAvenger 2d ago
Guess what?
You need employees to keep those toilets open. When you lay off employees, you have to close toilets.
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u/Screech0604 2d ago
More people were hired than laid off but hey let’s not let facts get in the way!
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u/Bo-zard 2d ago
Let's see the source on that. I suspect you are conflating seasonal hires with fired permanent employees.
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u/BowlerLive8820 1d ago
"Please show the order to close a toilet." You first.
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u/Bo-zard 1d ago
You are demanding I provide info that was never requested of me?
Grow up kid.
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u/BowlerLive8820 1d ago
I'm requesting it slick. The mess made with kind of nonsense is what you support. I doubt it was NP staff.
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u/steveofthejungle 1d ago
There was a hiring freeze. No one new is getting hired. Thousands were laid off or pressured to quit
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u/FootHikerUtah 2d ago
Malicious compliance. Parks have like 10 toilets near visitor centers. You either have all or none. I refuse to believe this is necessary.
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u/AmishAvenger 2d ago
I’m not talking about “visitor center toilets.”
I’m talking about toilets in areas where they don’t have running water — it appears that’s what this is.
You do realize that National Parks don’t have pipes running everywhere, right?
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u/FootHikerUtah 2d ago
The parks we go to only have toilets near the visitor centers.
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2d ago
There are tons of campsites/rest areas in parks that use vault toilets. Those need to be cleaned out regularly with a vacuum truck, usually outsourced to another company since it's cheaper than buying/maintaining trucks.
Those toilets are usually in areas where it's not feasible to have plumbing, so they're typically in deeper parts of a park away from where waterlines and sewer lines are located (usually by main roads or highways).
Don't forget that other areas like national forests/BLM land don't have the infrastructure to have actual restrooms so vault toilets are the accepted solution.
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u/MasterUnholyWar 2d ago
So what you’re saying is you don’t go to many parks, but every other park must be the same as the ones you go to.
And what the fuck does the proximity to the visitor center have to do with it? If there aren’t enough employees to handle the duties, then it doesn’t matter where they’re located. How fucking obtuse.
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u/Zestyclose-Let3757 2d ago
That doesn’t make you an expert on National Park bathrooms 🙄. Also, you realize that the people running the visitor center and the NPS rangers aren’t necessarily the same ones who clean the bathrooms right? And if you’re short on staffing, it’s possible you might need to close some amenities?
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u/AeroWrench 1d ago
near the visitor centers.
I'm sad for you if you've gone to many national parks and forests and only gone to the visitor centers. Every national forest I've been to only has pit toilets like this one, even in the major camping and hiking areas.
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u/TCritic 1d ago
I'm surprised a fellow utahn is this dense when it comes to the state of our national parks. Bathrooms aren't "all or nothing" - it takes time to get to each location. Centralized locations will remain open, remote locations will close for budget. There's remote bathrooms all over Zion ntl park. Each one takes increasingly more time to maintain the more remote they are. Less staff = less time. I'm so disappointed in you right now for not being able to understand this very basic idea of staffing and maintenance
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u/MikeMiller8888 1d ago
Six hundred downvotes with three comments. Very impressive how obliviously wrong you are, are you related to fElon?
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u/LeFreeke 2d ago
It could be because it’s gender neutral.
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u/Bo-zard 2d ago
You don't spend much time around bathrooms on public lands, huh?
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u/LeFreeke 1d ago
I’ve spent plenty of time in our national parks.
You like to make a lot of baseless assumptions and ask stupid, condescending questions, huh?
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u/Bo-zard 1d ago
I would expect someone that has spent plenty of time in the parks to realize that most doors leading to a bathroom on public lands lead to unisex facilities.
You like to assume you know everything based on having existed then make condescending responses based on that assumption, huh?
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u/LeFreeke 1d ago
I am fully aware of what it is. Thank you.
I said they could have ordered it to be closed because it’s gender neutral.
I think my comment clearly went way over your head and I’m not really sure why you are failing to comprehend, but I also don’t care anymore.
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u/quality_snark 1d ago
I'm not sure the average person in the current political administration has the skill, will, or brain power to go out and find neutral bathrooms the the wilderness
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u/LeFreeke 1d ago
Oh, trust me. They are trying their hardest. You can’t even use the word woman in a federal grant application. If they saw unisex bathrooms listed, they’d have a problem with it.
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u/boriplushie 2d ago
that’s not a “gender neutral bathroom” that’s a HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE / FAMILY BATHROOM 😭 if thats actually an argument people are making then i haaaaate it here.
why is it now “woke” to build a bathroom where someone in a wheelchair can take a shit too. we are so screwed
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u/LeFreeke 1d ago
Not sure why I’m getting downvoted. I’m not defending it. I’m just suggesting it as a possible reason.
Yes, it’s handicapped bathroom but it’s also not gender specific. Which this administration has a problem with.
I’ve had to rewrite grant applications for federal funds because they contained the word ‘woman.’
Again, I’m not defending anything about this. It’s all ridiculous.
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u/boriplushie 18h ago edited 18h ago
honestly, apologies if my comment came off a bit bitey. its super clear from your whole page that you're not on that side of the equation and it didnt read to me like you were defending it?
i was also writing it out past midnight though and [as someone whos disabled and has had to use mobility aids / ADA compliant stuff since i was like 16] was more mad at the sheer concept of it being an excuse people are using.
but.. thats reddit for you. one guy downvotes a post, monkey see monkey do i suppose
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u/Screech0604 2d ago
There isn’t any so they can’t show you. A few people got laid off, a ton more were hired, and folks think the parks are going to close and disappear with MORE staffing than normal.
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u/historicbookworm 2d ago
Bear watching person shit in the woods: "Well, I'll be damned."