Unless you are a seasoned traveller, the mention of an outhouse can be enough to turn your stomach. However, in many places in Canada, the outhouse is still the only sanitary pit in the woods. You better get used to it.
I have been an outhouse owner for a long time and I do know what I’m talking about. The first one I owned was built from scratch, digging the hole with a shovel and building the structure. It was fancy and looked good as part of a tipi camp. Somehow it was never used much at the time and I wonder what happened to it. I have no clue why I didn’t take a picture.
The outhouse I own now is old. My house was built in 1930 as a one-story cabin. I don’t think that there was a septic system here at that time. The outhouse is located next to the old trapper cabin, a bit of a distance from my house. When I renovated the cabin and had a water supply and shower added, I decided not to install a flush toilet and keep the outhouse in operation.
The renovated rustic trapper cabin was rented out to holiday guests for the last few summers and the privy came with the rental deal. I’m pretty sure that people from all over the world remember the Silver Spur Trail outhouse experience.
In the pristine Canadian wilderness, you will come across outhouses. As soon as you get off the beaten track and venture into the backcountry you will stumble upon them.
If you get the opportunity to use a privy in Canada, try to enjoy the experience. Think about the pioneers, our land, and the environment.
I never used to think much about it when I looked at the cut-out moon and stars at my outhouse. Moon and stars are commonly found on outhouse doors. It kind of gives it a romantic feel, sitting on the privy at night with a dim flashlight, getting a glimpse of the starry night while doing your business.
Doing some research, I learned that the cutout shapes date back to colonial times and serve two purposes. One is just like I guessed, to get in some light. The other one is to differentiate between male and female. The moon symbolizes the female and the star the male. Outhouses like mine with a moon and stars cut-out must have been built for both genders.
If you come across traditional outhouses with two seats you probably wonder what the heck this is all about. Two-seaters used to be very common and are made for two different-sized behinds. The bigger one is for adults, and the smaller one is for kids.
I had a different theory about this. Living in bear country and most outhouses being without power it seems a good idea to take somebody along at night when you have to head out into the dark. It will be less scary and you can share the experience.
I’m lucky to own a two-seater. After a new coat of paint, a new cedar shingles roof and two fancy toilet lids the privy was back in operation. A couple of buckets of cedar shavings down the hole and the last stink was gone.
You might be puzzled when you see a pile of old newspapers or an old Sears catalogue in one of the smelly outhouses you come across. Reading material?
I don’t think so. It’s more like a tribute to the toilet paper of the past. Although the first toilet paper was already available in 1857, toilet paper was a luxury in the early days. Newspaper and old Sears catalogues were used in the outhouses to wipe with. I guess it was a way of recycling!
Lucky me I never had to dig out the outhouse pit in the eight years I lived on the ranch.
My privy is cleverly built on a slope with boards in the back which could be opened up to dig out the dirt. We had kids camps here every spring and the outdoor toilet was used by large numbers. Despite that, there is lots of space left and I don’t have to worry about having to dig anytime soon.
A bucket of cedar shavings with a scoop is part of the sanitary system in my outhouse. I’m ever thankful to an old logger from town who told me about the secret of cedar shavings.
Having a cedar sawmill in town helps keep up with the needed supply. Additionally, I hang a bunch of fresh mint on a hook during summer. Cedar and mint keep the stink away.
The human waste is turning into fertilizer and is ready if ever somebody decides to get it out of there.
In some situations, it may be better to move the privy to a new location instead of cleaning out the dirt. If you have enough land, relocating could be the way to go. It will depend on whether the privy was constructed in a way to make the move possible. If not, it could easily turn into a much more involved project.
If the outhouse has been there since the Pioneer’s time, you may be better off leaving it as an outdoor museum piece and build a new one, that can be moved easily if needed.
You can’t expect to find luxury outhouses like mine at wilderness campgrounds. Whatever conditions they are in, to find a privy at trailheads and campsites out in the wilderness always amazes me. Toilet paper might be missing, no lid for the hole, and maybe the lock is not working, but who would complain about that? Flies might attack your behind when you sit down, so maybe just keep some bug spray handy.
If the situation is really bad, leave the door open, take a deep breath and do it fast. Don’t play with the idea of going behind a tree instead. It’s better for the environment to use the wilderness toilet.
People actually steal outhouses and it happens periodically. The small town of Lumby was in the News a couple of years ago, when an outhouse was stolen from a local sawmill, valued at $1,900. It was later located on private property, with some other stolen items. A guy was arrested and it led to a jail sentence.
A race with decorated outhouses on wheels definitely sounds absurd if you’re not from North America. It has become a popular sport in small towns around the country.
One of the bigger races is the yearly event at Dawson City in the Yukon. It’s a team event and apparently involves physical challenges. The Klondike race has been a Dawson tradition since the 1970s and is happening in August. Going up to the Yukon this summer it would be nice to see it in real-time, but I won’t schedule my travelling around this event.
A toilet museum? It is about times past when most folks did their business out back. The tiny Museum of the Outhouse is located inside Nov Scotia’s Cultural Centre in Liverpool. It is only one room filled with collectables, photos and artifacts and an actual outhouse.
You can get yourself a privy keychain or a poster for a great souvenir. Don’t miss it when you travel out East.
The Humanure Handbook: Guide to composting human manure by Joseph C. Jenkins
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Do you have any outhouse stories to tell? What do you think about using outhouses in Canada? Leave a comment below!
Yrene lives in the Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada, and is the founder of BackcountryCanadaTravel.com. She was born in Switzerland, lived and worked on different continents and has travelled the world. Yes, that's me, an Entrepreneur, wilderness nut and animal lover who prefers off-the-beaten-track places. I write about things I love. Mostely.
7 Comments
Bernard Miron
I will build one this summer given the time. Thanks for sharing.
Yrene Dee
You are very welcome. I hope that you will share a picture once it’s built!
Nobody
When I was a child, my family stayed at a campsite in Montana that had a two-seater. My sister and I found this very amusing – who would want to do their business so close to somebody else? Well, the campsite also had a crabapple tree, and my sister and I both ate too many and got simultaneous bellyaches. The two seats no longer seemed funny – we were very thankful for them!
Yrene Dee
Thanks for your story! Two-seaters and crabapple trees, some of us know all about that!
Teresa Bryant
Loved this. We moved from the UK to rural Bulgaria a couple of years ago. We only have an outhouse! UK family members are horrified by the idea. Looking forward to visiting rural Canada, definitely not outhouse shy.
Yrene Dee
Hello Teresa, thanks for your comment. I just can imagine it. The same reaction I had with my European guests. For us here in Canada outhouses are pretty normal. You would perfectly fit into rural Canada. Let me know if you ever come here. Would love to meet you.
Sarah
I grew up on a farm where the only facility was an outhouse. It wasn’t fun.
Picture this:
You’re me, sometime in my late teens. You wake up on a cold and snowy Boxing Day, and immediately feel the pressing call of nature.You really don’t want to get fully dressed just to march out through the snow to the outhouse. If it were just “number one” you could use the chamber pot, but this is a more serious situation, brought on by second and third helpings at Christmas dinner.
The rule is that the first person to walk to the outhouse has to shovel snow from the path on the way there. You really aren’t feeling up to that on this particular morning. You decide to wait a bit in the hope that your brother will wake up and need the facilities even more than you do, forcing him to take care of this chore. You wait until you feel ready to burst, but he shows no signs of stirring from his Christmas food coma.
You get dressed and start shoveling your way to the outhouse, shoveling faster and faster as you approach your goal. Finally you can wait no longer, and leave the path half shoveled as you charge to the outhouse. You run inside, slam the door, pull down your pants and… the back flap of your long johns won’t come undone.
You fully undress and sit there shivering on the cold seat in the dark outhouse. The relief is more than worth it. At least the cold of winter means there are no bugs or bad smells like in the summer. You fumble around in the darkness for toilet paper, and realize that no one has remembered to restock it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You open the door a crack, reach outside, grab a handful of snow, and make use of it. You are now fully awake. You put your clothes back on and step outside to finish shoveling the walkway.