This article aims to provide RVers and tent campers with camping tips concerning using public shower houses during busy timeframes such as peak-season weekends or holiday camping.
The fourth of July, 2022, fell on Monday, making the weekend a huge camping event for many RVers and tent campers. Campgrounds were completely booked well before the 4th holiday. Being RV Full Timers, or as we call ourselves “Most Timers,” as we still own a home, we reserved our 4th of July campsite well in advance at Maumee State Park in Oregon, Ohio. This campground only has a few full hookup sites, and the rest are electric only. We decided to go ahead and spend seven days with the goal of not having to manually refill our water tank or use our poop tote. This meant we needed to conserve water and, to accomplish that feat, use the public shower house. Many other holiday campers would compete for the few shower stalls available in any campground loop. For example, at Maumee, two loops of approximately 25 campsites each shared a restroom/shower house with two shower stalls each in the men’s and women’s bathrooms. So with all the competition, when is the best time to ensure you don’t wait in line to shower?
Through some experience and observing the campground’s true experts, the camp hosts, we’ve observed the best time to shower is between 1:30 and 3:00 PM. We tested this theory out this last 4th of July weekend, and it worked like a charm. We noticed campers during this time were out at the beach, boating, playing corn hole at their site, or even napping. Through experience, we also found that if you are an early riser, say 5:00 AMish, the shower house is often empty, but as soon as the campground wakes up, there’s a mad rush for facilities. Late afternoon and evening are not a good time because people want to shower after a day’s activities. So, I’m heading to the shower house for the first time; what should I take?
We’ve tried different totes and bags to find that a good-old goody bag like you get at RV shows works great to place your change of clothes and toiletries in. You really don’t want to stand in a public shower with your bare feet, so a cheap pair of flip-flops works best, and you can wear them from your site to the shower house. I try not to take a lot of items; for example, I use shampoo also as my body wash. But Karla takes everything she would use if she were showering in the trailer; she just takes smaller bottles. Of course, don’t forget a towel. Deodorant etc., can be applied back at the site or taken in the goody bag to the shower. Most shower houses have hooks inside the shower or right outside to set your clothes. But if not, we also found that since the goody bags are made of plastic materials and if there’s no bench, you can place the bag directly on the floor away from the shower spray. You wouldn’t be able to do that with other types of bags that could get wet.
So the next time you shower in the public shower house, hopefully, our suggestions will pay off. Please feel free to provide your experience on this subject below. Our goal was to give you a few tips on how to make your campground experience even better on a busy weekend.