Trailhead Restroom Buildings

Description, Clivus Trailhead Restroom Buildings

Composting Toilets for Remote Locations
The Clivus M54 Trailhead is a complete composter with an integrated building structure intended primarily for remote locations in parks, golf courses, and natural areas.
The ADA-compliant Trailhead ships complete with all the components needed to quickly and easily erect a restroom structure with a built-in composting toilet system. The structure is offered in a variety of styles and can be delivered as either a kit or a pre-fabricated unit. Single and double-stall configurations are available, and no concrete foundation is needed.
All Trailhead systems employ a waterless fixture, as well as an electric ventilation system to keep the bathroom area odorless. The vent fan can run on AC or solar power. Trailhead units are supplied with a waterless hand-washing product for cleanliness in areas beyond water supply.
Liquid fertilizer (composted urine) is stored as it is generated in the 300-gallon liquid storage base of the unit (under the composting pile), and is recycled once per year to the landscape near the restroom.

When solar powered, the Trailhead provides an excellent remote restroom without any utility hook-up (no water, septic, or electric).

Installations, Clivus Trailhead Restrooms

Installations in the Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware area include both the wood model (T-111 siding and shingle roof) and the metal model (white foam core aluminum siding and a poly green roof), and both the single (1 stall) and double (2 stall) models.

Hard Bargain Farm, Accokeek, Maryland, has 3 wood model Trailhead restrooms 1 serving the barnyard area (shown), and 2 serving the amphitheater area. Hard Bargain plans to practice nutrient recycling in their new classroom buildings also.
Pinecrest Golf Course, Alexandria, Virginia, avoided expensive water, sewer, and electric lines by installing this wood Trailhead.
Burke Lake Golf Course, Fairfax Station, Virginia (Fairfax County Park Authority). Even with partial shading, this Trailhead is still solar powered due to a remote pole-mounted solar panel that receives full sun.
Wahrani Nature Trail, West Point, Virginia (New Kent County Parks Department). The one-piece poly roof (no shingles), allowed this metal Trailhead to be installed in just 1 day.
White Clay Creek State Park, Possum Hill Area, Newark, Delaware. Installed in 1995, this Trailhead is holding up well.
Twin Lakes Golf Course, Centreville, Virginia, has 3 Trailhead restrooms 2 metal and 1 wood. In this photo, the maintenance hatch is open and the liquid fertilizer is being sprayed on the lawn (nutrient recycling).
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens (Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority), Vienna, Virginia, installed this Trailhead Double to serve both the public strolling in the gardens, and participants in weddings held in an adjacent pagoda.

Maintenance, Trailhead Restroom Buildings

Maintenance assures proper composting that generates odor-free and safe-to-handle end products that are used in the landscape and agriculture (nutrient recycling). Lack of maintenance can lead to odors, unsafe end products, or other aesthetic problems, all of which are reversed with proper maintenance.

Maintenance Service is provided by NutriCycle Systems. Many of the Clivus owners in the Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware area currently take advantage of this service. Contact us for more information. (Photo: John Hanson on the left, Bob Hanson on the right)
Maintenance Frequency is dependent on usage, and is typically twice a year. Access to the composting pile is from the “maintenance well” under the maintenance hatch (the front section of the Trailhead floor). Pine shavings are added for the correct carbon/nitrogen ratio, and, with the aid of a special rake, the pile is mixed and checked for correct moisture content.
Compost is removed from under the front hatch and transported by wheelbarrow for use in the landscape. The compost has value as a soil conditioner and a weak fertilizer.
Liquid Fertilizer (composted urine) is stored as it is generated in the 300-gallon liquid storage area built into each Trailhead base. The liquid typically needs to be emptied once or twice per year. Typical application is by impulse sprinkler.

Nutrient Recycling occurs mainly when the liquid fertilizer is spread over a root zone. Most of the nitrogen from domestic activity is in the liquid fertilizer (composted urine) and plant roots readily absorb that nitrogen.

Installing a Trailhead

These photos are from the installation of a Clivus Trailhead Double (two stall) at the Bar-T Mountainside Camp in Urbana, Maryland.The restroom was under roof in one day, and ready for use after a second day. The camp located this Trailhead near their high ropes course. All buildings at the camp are nutrient recycling. The camp serves 350 kids per day.

Excavation
The bottom of the excavation for the composter base must be level and well drained. Since this excavation is for a Trailhead Double, it is twice as wide as it would be for a Trailhead Single.
Set Base
Two identical composter base units are set side by side, and backfilled.
Prep Base
The base is prepped to receive the floor, and prepped for composting with the addition of the pine shavings starter bed.
Floor and Walls
The floor panels and wall panels are installed.
Roof
The roof panels and shingles are installed.
Amenities
Final details including solar panels, interior fixtures and grab bars, and a mulched access path are installed.
Finished!

Contact us for:

  • Clivus Trailhead installations list with contact information.
  • Clivus Trailhead Planning Manual
  • A Description/Estimate for your project
  • Quotations