The 6 Best Camping Tents for 2024 Reviews by Wirecutter

It has a partial rain fly, but only one door and no vestibule. They do not provide any info about its waterproof rating, but this is a tent with a minimal fly that covers the ceiling only. The windows and doors are with panels as mentioned above so you have all protection, but with so many zippers and windows, it is best to use it in areas without much rain. An avid hiker, camper, and long-haul road-tripper, Claire Wilcox has slept in (and occasionally improvised) tents in 11 states. She covers outdoor gear for Wirecutter and worked on the most recent update of this guide, testing couples’ tents and family tents.

The North Face offers a limited lifetime warranty on the tent, and will repair most flaws and damage at its discretion. Our Also great picks, the REI Co-op Base Camp 4 and Base Camp 6 tents, have been temporarily phased out for the season. This is a freestanding construction, self-supporting and stable as you can realize from the picture below which shows the tent without the fly. But you should certainly not miss staking it properly, the stakes and guylines are included in the package.

This no-nonsense tent is intuitive to set up, has mesh on the top halves of two walls, includes a partial rain fly that’s easy to put on and stake out, and feels cheery inside and out. (We don’t recommend the smaller version of this tent for couples who might actually take it on the road; it was just too flimsy in our tests.) Also note that this tent does not come with its own groundsheet. Coleman says that the tent doesn’t need one, probably because its floor is a crinkly (though tough) tarp-like polyethylene, not a taped-seam polyester as in our other picks. At $500, this modified dome-style tent isn’t cheap, but it represents substantial value. Many tents with similar profiles—such as the Big Agnes Dog House 6—either cost more or require you buy the tent body and attachable vestibule separately. The Wawona doesn’t come with a footprint—few tents this size do—but it’s otherwise all-inclusive, and it is compact considering how much livable space you get.

ozark trail instant cabin

The North Face Wawona 4, which we used to list in our Other Good Tents section, has been redesigned; it’s now made of polyester, not nylon. This is great for avoiding potential exposure to hazardous chemicals, but you should pitch the tent well away from any open flames. Weighing just 7 pounds, the tent is light enough to double for backpacking trips, especially if you divide the pieces among hikers.

Two large vestibules add nearly 40 square feet combined—that is, 18.75 square feet on either side. One night during testing, for example, clouds loomed in the distance with clear skies overhead. After we pitched the tent, the Mineral King 3’s adaptable fly let us leave half the mesh dome uncovered. At the first sign of rain, it took only a few seconds—and a quick hand stuck outside the tent—to unfurl the fly and secure it for a dry night’s sleep. When we awoke, we could roll back one part of the vestibule, make coffee, and watch the sky lighten even though it was still raining. To test the tents, we first opened them, splayed out their parts, and tried to put them together without consulting the instructions.

It’s also straightforward to set up, and it is made with sturdy, light materials. Note also that the packed size is not so impressive, but again, this is normal for instant camping tents that come with telescopic poles. All in all, you will need a car ozark trail shower tent for the transportation of this tent. So you simply spread the tent and extend its telescopic poles. You have to add the fly as well, so it is best to have somebody to help you. This is why I have added it to my list of best instant camping tents.

A tent that requires staking to stand up—especially a larger, six-person tent—is unwieldy, and it’ll be impossible to set up on a hard surface such as blacktop or on raised wooden tent decks. You have plenty of mesh around and if you have to keep all the windows and doors closed, you still have a large vent on its narrow side, see the picture below. This together with the mesh on the ceiling will create enough vertical air circulation. So you have this extra bonus here, the ambient LED-lighted poles which provide light throughout the tent.

Elevate your camping experience with the Ozark Trail 10-person Instant Cabin Tent. This spacious two-room cabin-style tent is designed to provide ultimate comfort and convenience for your outdoor adventures. If you can afford to spend more on a family tent, we recommend The North Face Wawona 6. Everyone who tested this tent loved it, and it’s not hard to understand why. With plenty of interior space, near-vertical walls, and a gigantic vestibule that could accommodate a golf cart, the Wawona feels more like a tiny home than a tent.

For this guide, we focused on tents that suit the most common terrains you’re likely to encounter when car-camping—grassy lawns or clearings, beaches, dirt campsites, and basic platforms—in spring, summer, and fall. We’re not looking at tents designed for such specialized activities as mountaineering, backpacking, or winter camping, though some of our recommendations have cross-over potential. But the area is 140 ft² (13 m²) so this is far too small for such a number ozark trail shower tent of users although indeed it should be possible to put 10 sleeping pads on the floor. Note again that the tent is fully floored, so this can work for a group of friends at a summer festival and for other similar activities. But for a family camping, it is best to downgrade this number by half. Rent the Ozark Trail 10-person Instant Cabin Tent for your next camping trip and immerse yourself in the perfect combination of spaciousness, comfort, and ambient lighting.