If you’re looking to go on a proper camping trip…while there are definitely loads of very satisfied customers, I’d suggest you might be taking a risk. If you like to keep things organized, the Dome tents each feature a number of ways to keep your essentials off the floor. The tents include organizer pockets, storage lockers, and some even feature a footlocker. If you’re camping in an area where sundown is past your bedtime, the Dark Rest Technology can help you sleep. The Ozark Trail Dark Rest Tent line is all about comfortable sleep. This series is focused on catering to those campers who prefer to sleep in a fully dark space.
Because it’s a family cabin the walls are nearly vertical – providing additional interior space. This tent was actually better for preserving heat inside the space than many other summer camping tents. Unlike most tents with this much space, the floor features a catenary cut instead of a bathtub design. Because it doesn’t have a full coverage rain fly, you’ll also want to make sure the forecast is relatively dry before planning a trip.
Though it’s heavy—a whopping 60 pounds—the tent comes in a wheeled carry bag that makes it a cinch to transport to and from your car. It’s a truly durable tent, too, made from 68D coated polyester fabric and features a rainfly to maximize waterproofing. Plus, the 6” tub floor protects against water seeping in from beneath you, and the factory-sealed seams stop leaks and drips. If you’re bringing a large group, you’ll want to pack this tent.
Now you can velcro the tent’s walls to each of the poles and move outside to stake out the guy lines. Once you have all six of the lines out and the stakes secure, you’ll want to move back inside the tent and then extend the poles’ bottom portion to their full length. At this point, you can circle back around and tighten all of your stakes and lines and enjoy. Finally, there’s a protected power port that you can run an extension cord through.
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. Easy to set up and pack away, the Mineral King 3 is a lightweight, two-door tent with a generous footprint and a sturdy dome shape. It’s the perfect choice for three-season multipurpose camping.
She points out that, when shopping for tents, you will absolutely get what you pay for. Higher-quality tents will have seams already sealed to protect from rain. They will also have a rainfly, which helps when you experience unexpected bouts of rain.
When the rain finally arrived, we had only to reach out of the tent for a few moments to unfurl the waterproof material and secure it for a dry night’s sleep. In the morning, we opened the doors and unzipped the fly, rolling back one of two vestibule panels. The Ozark Trail 10 person family cabin tent features steel poles that are definitely more durable than fiberglass, even if they add extra weight to the design. It only features two entrances at either end of the tent, so it’s not the easiest to enter/exit in the middle of the night. However, the 80-inch center height offers plenty of headroom even for the tallest campers, and the sewn-in divider allows you to divide the tent into two private spaces. Thanks to the multi-positional rainfly, you can decide between maximum coverage against the rain, full ventilation/view of the night sky, or something in between.
Are you the sort of camper who hates being awoken early by the sun shining through your tent wall? If so, you’re going to love the “Dark Rest” line of Ozark Trail tents. These utilize a special extra-thick fabric with a coating that blocks out sunlight, so it’s near-dark inside the tent ozark tent even during the brightest hours of the day. Users love how solid and reliable this tent is, and it’s one of the best-priced options in the Ozark Trail line. It’s also surprisingly lightweight despite its large size and offers plenty of storage room for all your gear and gadgets.