Campers, Your Fees Won’t Go Down Toilet

At the snappy brick kiosk that some locals call Checkpoint Charlie, Rachel Pacini collects fees from people entering Farragut State Park to mountain bike, boat, camp and hike.

The kiosk is in the grassy median of four-laned state Highway 54.

Across the northbound lanes on the highway’s shoulder sits a brown wooden outhouse - Pacini’s future station.

“I don’t really mind it, but I get a lot of jokes,” said Pacini with a musical laugh. “The maintenance people drive by and throw toilet paper at me.”

The kiosk has to be moved due to traffic problems at the park entrance that started three weeks ago. That’s when the park quit its practice of stopping everyone at the entrance to collect fees.

As drivers to Bayview whiz by in the right two lanes, parkgoers pull off to the left at the kiosk to pay. Pacini cheerfully hands out maps and checks campsite reservations, as she sells permits.

Then, the park-bound drivers have to cross two lanes of traffic on their right to get to park headquarters and any other facilities on the east side of the park.

Pacini hasn’t seen any accidents yet, but she has seen some near-misses as confused drivers swerve to get to her booth.

Unable to move the brick structure to the right-hand side of the road, the park is fixing up the former outhouse to serve as a temporary toll booth.

Pacini has been assured that the outhouse doesn’t reek.

The privy was moved from a campsite last winter and has been airing out for some time, said Park Director Bryan Rowder.

“Of course, the hole didn’t go with it,” he added.

The new kiosk could be operational sometime this week, Rowder said, depending on whether the Idaho Department of Transportation can get a new lane paved and directional stripes painted in time.

“There’s not a whole lot of shade,” Pacini said, looking across the road through her sunglasses. “But it’s safer.”

, DataTimes