Do Campsites Have Showers: A Guide on How to Find Them

You might be hesitant for a camping trip due to the unknown restroom situation.  Are there toilets?  Is there running water?  What do I need to prepare for? Does the campground have showers? I had the same questions when I began camping, as has every friend that I’ve taken with me.  Luckily, now I can only book sites with full running hot water, hot showers, flush toilets, etc. whenever I’m camping with some who hasn’t been before.  The worst they’ll have to deal with in terms of restrooms is a granddaddy long leg in the corner of the ceiling… and sometimes a lizard. 

Do Campsites Have Showers:

Yes, many campgrounds now have full showers with hot running water.  Not every campground will have these luxuries, sometimes it is only one campground in a Park that will have showers, but knowing how to research before you book will allow you to know what bathing needs to pack ahead of time.

I remember camping as a kid and the restroom situation was horrendous. It seemed like you’d be lucky to find one in a State Park where it was safe to even breathe the air.  It was a gamble at every campground. 

You’ll roll the dice each night, times have changed.

One way to make sure your campground has showers is to book through a site like www.Recreation.gov

Recreation.gov is a U.S. reservation and travel planning website, it’s a great place to find out the amenities of a campground, like to tell if a campsite has showers, toilets, etc. and to book the sites as well.  It started as a public information sharing program in the mid 1990s, but is now the booking and reservation system for 14 Federal Agencies supporting land management.  You would use Recreation.gov to book a campsite at a U.S. National Park, a National Forest, land run by the  U.S. Forest Service, and The Army Corps of Engineers, among others.  

How to Navigate Recreation.gov to Find Campsites With Showers

1. If you navigate to recreation.gov, you can type in your destination (city, state, park, etc.), how you’d like to camp, and the dates you’re looking for, and then hit search.
2. Next go to the “Filters” at the top, click it, and scroll down to “Electrical Hookup.”
3. Check mark “30 amp,” “50 amp,” and “100 amp.” 
   • DO NOT check the box by “Flush Toilet” or “Showers,” they are both incorrect on recreation.gov.
4. Once you filter your results by “Electrical Hookup,” you’ll see a list a campsites to choose from. 
5. You can shop around with the results.
6. Choose a campground, and click on “Facility Information” at the top of the campground page.
7. Scroll to “Amenities,” and you’ll see all the amenities the campground has, including if they have showers, flush toilets, etc. 
   • Even Wi-Fi will be listed sometimes! 

This is a great way to make sure your campground has showers, it’s a method I use regularly.

The reason why we choose “30 amp” and above, is because 30 amp hookups are what small campers will use. 50 amps are very large Class A and Class C campers. 

In my experience, any campsite that has 30 & 50 amp hookups, has full shower & restrooms because no one who owns a $30,000 – $200,000 + camper wants to camp in a campground without showers and restrooms!

Navigate State Park Websites to Find Campgrounds With Showers

Recreation.gov is great for Federally managed and protected lands, but it’s not all the campgrounds in the U.S. 

Your state manages their own State Park system, independently from Federal park systems, but finding which State Park campgrounds have showers and restrooms will be a similar process, just on different sites.

Campground Shower Related FAQs

How long does a camp shower last?

In most State Parks, National Parks, National Forests, etc., there are no specified time limits on the length of showers you can take.  Common camping etiquette is typically a 5-10 minute hot shower when it may be peak bathing time, morning/evenings.

How do campground showers work?

The shower setup is typically a wooden shower stall, sometimes with a curtain instead of a door, similar to a shower stall in a Gym or Fitness Center. 

At some campgrounds, mostly private campgrounds, there can be token-operated shower stalls where one 25 cent token gives you 5-10 min of hot water.  You typically buy the tokens from a machine outside the shower house.  The only public campgrounds I’ve seen “pay for shower” showers has been high traffic National Parks like Yosemite National Park, or parks where water is scare like deserted parks.

What do you wear to a campground shower?

Like a shower in a fitness center, most people wear their sandals and dirty clothes to the shower, and bring their clean clothes to change into while in the shower stall.

What if my campground doesn’t have a shower?

There may still be public showers somewhere in the park, if not, it doesn’t matter to go a day or two without one while camping, some go many more days.  You can also check out my post here,  https://campfirecompass.com/2024/02/17/the-only-4-camp-shower-ideas-you-need/ about showering without running water which will help give you guidance on your options!

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But Are the Showers and Toilets… Clean?

Great question!

You might think there’s no way to know if the shower will be clean, they’re probably not going to be pictures on recreation.gov or the state park’s website, right? 

Well, I’ve found a highly effective way of telling that after camping all across the country so far, has never let me down.

First, pull up the campground on Google Reviews.  Make sure it’s the Google Review Page for the campground itself, not the state park.

Now what we’re going to do is look at the pictures submitted by the reviewers.  We’re probably not going to see a picture of the restrooms, sometimes you will though, but we’ll see a lot of pictures of the campgrounds itself.  These are just as important.

What we’re going to look for in the pictures is general cleanliness and tidiness of the campground.  Things like:

• Condition of the Road
  • Are portions of the road crumbling?
  • Are their potholes?
  • Are street signs rusted, faded, or graffitied?
  • Is there debris on the roads?

• Grass
  • Is it mowed?
  • Is it neat?

• Sidewalks or Walking Paths
  • Are they crumbling?
  • Are they free of debris, litter or fallen limbs?

• Other Visitors’ Vehicles
  • Are they dirty, dented, or broken?
  • Is the paint fading?

• Building Structures & Signage (Playgrounds/Firewood Stations/Visitor Centers, etc.)
  • Are any structures leaning?
  • Does the building look clean or rundown?
  • Are any signs in the campground chipped, rusted, or faded?

• Other Campers
  • Do the campers in the pictures have a “clean camp”?
    • Is there litter thrown around their sites?
    • Does their equipment look damaged and run down, or well taken care of?

Conclusion

All these, and more, are ways to tell if a campground is given regular attention from staff and Park Rangers who care about the site. Well taken care of roads, signs, buildings, etc. are signs of regular Ranger visits, attentive Camp Hosts, and/or proper funding.  When you see these, you often see campers who are willing to pay a little more for their site (look for nicer cars & clean camping gear in the pictures), and these campers expect a clean shower and restroom! 

These are great ways to tell if a campsite has showers, toilets, and clean facilities in general.  I hope they make picking your campsite a little bit easier, and help make your time in the great outdoors more relaxing and enjoyable for you as well.  If you have any questions, I’d love to answer them at info@campfirecompass.com.

In the meantime,

Happy camping!