where to dump the litter box

a few weeks ago it went down to 8 degrees and I felt sorry for my rat catchers, ive only got two cats left, momma cat and boots, her son who turned out to be a big tom cat. so I started letting them com inside. I had old dish pan and got a bag of litter.
I started dumping the litter box in some bushes where I dump the ash from fire place some times. but then I started thinking is there a better place to dump it.
any thoughts on this.

If it has to be close to the house, I would dig a hole.
If you have more space, I'd just dump it somewhere farther out where smells are no issue.
My kid has rats and they use a clay-based litter. I tried putting it in my compost barrel (didn't want to just throw it on the ground, since there are local rats) and.... the final compost result is strange. It didn't break down, it's like sprinkles dispersed through the compost. I don't think I'll do that again.

My cats use woodstove pellets as their litter material. I dump it in the woods behind our barn. I chose that place because it's far from where I grow food, and far from streams/wells. And, it's also far enough from the house that I don't smell it. It's also a place no one goes--so I don't have to worry about visitors or my kids running across that cat poop.

I wouldn't put the kitty litter anywhere near anything you want to eat, since cat poop is more toxic than herbivore poop (I think it's supposed to be treated more like humanure?)

I posted this before: When I had puddy tats, I used large layers of sawdust from the local truss factory and thin layers of dried garden soil in a deep litter box. This acted as a mini-composter and was quite effective in controlling odours etc. I had a small mat in front to capture any stray sawdust.

The cats loved it too. When I had the sawdust/soil box and a commercial kitty box side by side, the cats always went for the sawdust until it was full.

I dumped the full box in a lump out amongst my shelterbelt trees, far from growing areas and far from my dogs.

I'm hoping to move my daughter's cats to pellets, she was going to move them outside, but she's not good at keeping to it. I agree with Nicole that keeping it away from edibles is good. It increasing the risk of toxoplasmosis, a parasite. One of my kids has it. I urge people to be careful, it can cause retinal scarring.

I have created a special composting bin for the cat pans. I use wood pellets from the feed store, so they break down ok. My plan is to use the compost ornamental  plants, bushes,etc.

I'd be inclined to add it to the next batch of charcoal being made. That would kill off any nasty surprises lurking inside.