With camping season here, it’s time to start thinking about family camping tents that are perfect for you and your little ones! After hours of research, we have finally come up with our list of the best family camping tents of 2022! We know there are a lot of choices out there, but we have narrowed it down to these 10 tents that we believe offer the best combination of comfort, durability, and value in their category. If you are ready to find your favorite tent, check out our list below!
If you don’t have time, use the Amazon links below to quickly navigate to the tents we have chosen as our top 10 .
- The North Face Wawona Six-Person Tent
- Coleman Skydome Six-Person Tent
- Nemo Aurora Highrise Six-Person Tent
- Big Agnes Big House Six-Person Tent
- Nemo Wagontop Four-Person Tent
- Coleman Elite WeatherMaster Six-Person Screened Tent
- Coleman Sundome Six-Person Tent
- Kelty Tallboy Six-Person Tent
- Core Ten-Person Instant Cabin Tent
- Core Nine-Person Extended Dome Tent
Table of Contents
Why a Family Tent is Different than a Regular Tent
There are a few different kinds of tents you can choose from, but when it comes to tents for families there are some important considerations. To start, a family tent will typically be larger and have more room than your average tent. This makes sense—you wouldn’t want four grown adults to be crammed into a two-person tent! It also means that weight is likely to be an issue; if you’re going camping as a couple, then one of those lightweight single- or double-person models might be best.
A six-person model can weigh up to 100 pounds! As always, though, your budget should help dictate what sort of tent you get—maybe don’t expect to go bargain hunting if you need something that big.
What Size is Right for My Family?
If you’re looking to purchase a family tent, it’s important to ensure that you get a tent big enough to fit everyone. Remember that it’s not just about sleeping space; while tents are generally advertised based on how many people they can fit, it’s also worth considering how much extra room there is. Is there enough room to store your luggage? Will you be able to walk around comfortably? Do the tents have an air circulation system or mesh windows? What type of tent will suit your needs best?
Features to consider when shopping for a family tent
Waterproofing
A good tent needs to be waterproof. Tents made of cotton canvas may appear to be perfectly functional at first, but they get wet when exposed to humidity and rain. The last thing you want during a camping trip is a soggy tent that leaks and doesn’t provide adequate living space. If you know your vacation will involve inclement weather, look for a high-quality tent with waterproof material.
Ventilation
A good tent should allow plenty of air to flow through it. The last thing you want is dressing yourself and your children in damp clothes due to condensation. This occurs when a bit of moisture accumulates on your body while you sleep, then is released into your tent in vapor form as you breathe out all night long, also caused due to the warmer temperature inside compared to outside of your tent. Condensation is not something you want to be dealing with in the backcountry or at camp.
Weather resistance
Camping is an outdoor activity and like any outdoor activity, bad weather can happen—rainstorms, high winds, snowstorms and so on. A tent needs to be able to stand up against these elements or else you may have some serious problems. If a tent doesn’t hold up under duress, then you need to keep looking until you find one that does.
Tent Weight
Consider weight as a top priority when shopping for a tent. This is especially true if you plan to backpack or hike into your campsite, as every pound matters in that case. The lightest models can weigh in at less than 3 pounds; don’t be afraid to sacrifice some comfort if it means shaving off extra ounces. If you’re packing your vehicle, however, look more closely at how each model’s weight compares to its packed size and number of people it can hold.
Setup/ pitch time/speed
Depending on your tent size, setup time will vary. Some of these larger models can be quick to set up and take down, but some smaller tents may take a little longer (though it’s nothing you can’t handle). Make sure to consider all factors when choosing a tent.
Easy setup is always important, especially if you’re in a hurry. You don’t want to spend 20 minutes struggling with a tent that should be up in 5. Easy setup also means easy takedown—in other words, not having to fight with it to get it back into its bag or take down stakes you forgot about.
Tent room layout
Picking a tent can be daunting. How many rooms do you need? Which is your best option? First, think about how much space you really need to keep everyone comfortable—two-room tents are best suited for small families of three or four, while three- and four-room versions are roomier and better suited to larger groups.
Setup time varies greatly between two-, three-, and four-room models: Two-room setups typically take the least amount of time, whereas the bigger models require more work. Pack size is also an important consideration: Larger tents come with lots of features but will weigh you down when it’s time to go home.
What living space should I consider when choosing a family tent
As you search for a tent to accommodate your family, you’ll need to determine how much living space you’ll need. Two-person, three-person and four-person tents are typically small enough to fit in your car but big enough to stand up in and spread out.
What sort of activities will you be doing while at camp? If everyone is awake and moving around from dawn until dusk, a three- or four-person tent might work best. But if half of your group is taking turns sleeping while others fish or canoe, smaller two-person tents are probably better. How old are your children? Some parents may feel comfortable with their kids aged eight and older sharing a tent designed for four people.
Pole Tent or Inflatable Tent?
When it comes to planning a vacation that includes a tent, families are faced with a few options. They can opt for an inflatable tent that requires no poles, or they can buy a traditional pole tent and assemble it when they arrive at their destination. Which is best? The answer depends on your needs and wants. Inflatable tents are light and easy to transport, so they’re great if you plan on hiking in your campground.
Tent pack size Transportability and storage to consider when choosing a tent
The transportability of a tent has everything to do with its packed size. Even if you aren’t planning on carrying your tent long distances (or having it delivered), some tents are better suited to storage than others. The best-case scenario is that your tent packs down small enough that you can roll it or stuff it in a corner of your car and still find room for other things. Keep an eye out for storage bags, compression straps, and special designs that promise easy transportability.
Groundsheet / Footprint / Carpet
A goundsheet or footprint refers to a sheet of ground cloth used underneath a tent. Tent carpets are often fitted in the tents to provide a comfortable area against the bumps of the uneven ground and offer a softer area for children to play, and as an optional accessory to extend your tent floor’s lifespan, but they are also commonly used in their own right if you want to protect your tent from sharp objects or rocks that might poke holes in it. Most tents have an option for either a carpet or footprint, and many modern ones will have an option for both.
Flysheet / Rainfly
A Flysheet is an extra layer of covers which is pitched over a tent to give extra protection against weather, the fabric depends on your intended use. The flysheet is obviously waterproof but it’s also a potential source of condensation.
Think carefully about where you intend to pitch your tent before deciding which fabric is best – lighter weight fabrics are more suitable for high-altitude mountaineering than heavier fabrics, but they may be punctured more easily in that case. Pay attention to how easy it is to repair the tent: does one person need an entire morning or afternoon to fix a broken guyline? (Guylines attach to the loops of the rainfly which are then staked into the ground to keep the rainfly secured away from the body of the tents).
Extra features:
Features – awnings, storage pockets, hanging points, vents or porches, the smallest details can make the most significant difference to your holiday
Pick a tent that suits your needs. However, in order to keep size and weight down, it’s unlikely that you’ll find lots of storage pockets or hanging points on a tent pitched specifically at families. If you have specific requirements for more storage (one smaller tent to put side by side, might be worth looking at. All these factors are important to consider when buying a new tent. If you want something easy to erect with lots of room inside then look no further than our selection of best family camping tents for 2022. We take into account all of these considerations when reviewing each product and hopefully our reviews will help you decide on what tent and features you will need.
Our Top 10 Family Camping Tents
Everyone knows that North Face makes excellent, high-quality camping gear, and their Wawona six-person tent is a perfect example of that. If you’re camping with your family or you simply enjoy taking a lot of your belongings with you when you camp, this is a great tent to own.
It sells for around $450 and is therefore affordable, and when it’s all set up, it stands at a very impressive 6’ 6” high. It is definitely a tent to be considered when you’re shopping for a large but affordable tent.
More Than Just Spacious
Naturally, you want a tent that is spacious, but the Wawona six-person tent is so much more than that. It is made out of sturdy, high-quality material that is built to last. The main tent area boasts a size of 85 square feet, which is much bigger than a lot of other six-person tents. This is also a weather-resistant tent that is very family-friendly. And to make you feel even better about purchasing it, the tent has received exceptionally high praise in every review it’s ever been in.
This is a massive and impressive-looking tent, but it is also a user-friendly tent that can protect you from the elements and help you sleep comfortably all night long. It outperforms much of its competition and consistently gets lots of stars from real-life customers, making it a great go-to tent for everyone. It is a great tent that you won’t regret purchasing.
What We Like About It
The North Face Wawona six-person tent is very spacious, family-friendly, affordable, long-lasting, and built to last. It makes the perfect tent for anyone who has a lot of gear with them, including families, and it is built out of high-quality materials to help it last for many years to come.
What We Don’t Like About It
The North Face Wawona six-person tent does have a few drawbacks, and one of them is the fact that it can be a challenge to get set up properly. In addition, some of the features associated with the updated fly system are not intuitive, even being a little tough on your fingers as it’s being put together.
The walls are almost vertical, providing you with about 20% more headroom than many other six-person tents, and the welded corners and inverted seams help keep all of your gear dry regardless of the weather. Even better, the frame is so sturdy that it can withstand winds of up to 35 miles per hour, all while keeping you perfectly comfortable inside.
The Name Coleman Means Something
One of the other features that campers love is the extra-wide door, which makes getting sleeping bags and other items in and out of the tent a whole lot easier. You get a gear loft and a nice-sized mesh pocket for storing smaller belongings, and it’s so large on the inside that you can easily put two queen-sized air beds in there without it being too crowded. This 10-foot by 8-foot 6-inch tent is super-lightweight and comes with its own storage bag that is also easy to carry with you wherever you go.
When you’re looking for a large tent made by a company with an excellent reputation, the Coleman Skydome six-person tent should definitely be considered. It is both spacious and does a great job of protecting you from the elements. At around $220, you won’t have to spend a lot of money just to get a high-quality, functional tent.
What We Like About It
There are a lot of things to like about the Coleman Skydome six-person tent. It is extremely spacious and feels roomier than a lot of other tents because of its overall shape. It is lightweight and comes with its own carrying bag, and it’s a tent you can purchase without breaking the bank.
What We Don’t Like About It
The only thing we didn’t like about this tent is the fact that it could use a few more fabric strips on the inside to hold things such as daisy lights and others. Since most people bring a lot of belongings with them when they camp, this would’ve been a much-appreciated perk.
It is lightweight at roughly 18 pounds and even comes with two doors, which is very convenient when the tent has six people in it. The door clips help keep the door closed properly for protection from the elements, and its intuitive design makes setup and dismantling of the tent super-easy and fast.
A Very Versatile and Functional Tent
The Aurora Highrise has a ton of features the avid campers out there will love. For one thing, the side windows are large and offer both ventilation and a great way to keep the rain out, and because the side walls are rather steep, you get a lot more interior space than you likely thought you would. The 150-D polyester floor can take a lot of abuse and keep on going, and it is even protected by Nemo’s lifetime warranty. This means you can purchase the tent with the confidence of knowing it will be around a while!
Even more important, this tent meets or exceeds all safety standards, including the fact that it’s made out of very durable fabrics that make it flame-retardant without the use of FR chemicals. And this three-season tent has an inside capacity of a full 83 square feet, which means all six individuals inside will remain comfortable the entire time you’re camping.
Things We Like About It
The main features we love include its enormous size, the high-quality and flame-retardant materials it’s made of, and features such as two separate doors and the fact that it’s so lightweight. There is also the lifetime warranty, which is extraordinary.
Things We Don’t Like About It
Despite its near-perfect reputation, the Nemo Aurora Highrise six-person tent does have a few flaws. First of all, it does cost $500, which can affect some people’s ability to purchase it. This isn’t a super-high price, but some people will consider it more than they can afford. Second, reviews have shown that some users have experienced poles that have broken during inclement weather, which is a concern.
The interior provides a full 83 square feet worth of room. It is super-easy to set up because all of the buckles and webbing are color-coded. It is lightweight at about 16 pounds and when it’s set up, it reaches an impressive height of nearly 7 feet, making it very comfortable for all those inside of the tent.
Made Out of High-Quality Materials
One of the things so many campers like about the Big House tent is all of the storage space found inside, which includes four interior mesh pockets, two media pockets, and two removable corner bin pockets. It comes with 14 aluminum hook stakes to help set it up, and it even comes with multiple interior loops to store things such as accessories, lights, and more. If you’re one of those campers that loves to bring a lot of belongings with you when you camp, you’re in luck because this tent is perfect for you.
The fly and floor are made of polyester that has a waterproof polyurethane coating, and every seam is sewn with waterproof polyurethane tape to keep you safe and dry even in bad weather. Finally, the backpack-style carrying bag makes it simple to carry the tent with you everywhere you go.
Things We Like About It
The overall size and top-notch materials of the tent are what make it so right for so many people. It also has a ton of storage opportunities for flashlights, accessories, and anything else you’d like to bring with you on your camping trip. And while some people are unfamiliar with this particular brand, it has proven to be a good company that makes high-quality tents.
Things We Don’t Like About It
Only a few things in this category, such as some users finding that the weather flaps sometimes get caught in the zippers, and some people claim the tent isn’t as breathable when it’s hot outside as other tents they’ve tried. Still, these concerns seem minor when compared to the tent’s many perks.
While it costs more than some six-person tents at around $550, it is chock full of great features that you’ll soon learn you can’t live without. This includes a floor that is 100” x 100” in size (a little more than 8 feet each way), a self-contained pole that makes setup easy and creates a sleek look, and tons of internal loops and pockets to store things
When You Want the Very Best
The vestibule itself is roughly 27 square feet in size, which means you can easily protect all of your gear and belongings from the elements, and the windows are not only massive but offer great ventilation and some exceptional views of the outdoors. When the tent is set up properly, it gives you more than 6.5 feet of standing room, and the floor is made from very durable 300-D polyester fabric. It is also lightweight at around 20 pounds and has custom hubs and hardware that are super-easy to use.
In other words, this tent is easy to set up and to use, and because it is covered by a lifetime warranty, you can use it with confidence from the moment you start using it. This is a high-quality, very sturdy tent that you can use safely for many years to come.
Things We Like About It
The fact that this is a high-end tent makes it unique enough, but when you also consider its roominess, safety components, and its excellent warranty, it’s even easier to understand why this is such a well-received tent. If you don’t mind spending a little more to get the quality you deserve, this is the tent for you.
Things We Don’t Like About It
Those things being said, we did find some complaints from some of the users. For one thing, some complained that the tent did not stand up well in windy and rainy weather, while others said it had poor ventilation and was simply too hot on many days. Finally, the price of the tent makes it unappealing to many potential customers.
In fact, if roominess is what you want the next time you go camping, this is the tent for you. The ventilation also allows for extra comfort, which makes those warm muggy nights a lot easier to deal with.
A Step Above the Others
With the WeatherMaster Elite, you get a few features you don’t get with the standard WeatherMaster tent, such as a tent light and rollup windows. When you look at the Elite tent, you’ll immediately notice its size and the fact that it looks similar to a small house because of the different sections. Still, while this tent is made for six persons, it only has enough room for six if most of them are using sleeping pads and not mattresses, which is one of its few drawbacks.
Setting up the tent is much easier with two people, and it should take you 20-30 minutes total. It is not difficult to set up and even comes with color-coded poles and sleeves to make the task easier. The Elite WeatherMaster sells for around $270, which is very affordable for most people.
What We Like About It
The main advantage of the Coleman Elite WeatherMaster six-person tent is the roominess and the fact that it has two separate rooms, which makes the tent feel more homey in design. The color-coded materials make it easy to set up, and the screened-in section allows for the perfect amount of ventilation. It is also a very reasonably priced six-person tent.
What We Don’t Like About It
The main disadvantage of this tent is that you cannot actually fit six camping mattresses inside of it. You can possibly keep one to two full-sized mattresses in the tent, but the rest of them will have to sleep on sleeping bags or pads and not actual mattresses. And while this is less important, it might also be time-consuming when putting the tent together by yourself.
There are different models of Sundome tents, but the six-person tent has a floor space of 10’ x 10’ and a height of 6 feet, which means most people will be comfortable inside of it. The tent is capable of accommodating six people with little to no gear, or four people that have a lot of gear with them.
Things to Keep in Mind About the Sundome
The Coleman Sundown is a spacious tent that is reasonably priced, easy to set up, very durable, and super-comfortable. It comes with an e-port to recharge all of your electronics, and it gives you lots of ventilation to make those warm, muggy nights a little more comfortable. This is also a well-made tent that is built to last for many years to come, and its price of around $150 makes it affordable for nearly everyone.
With this tent, you get three poles to put it together, two pockets to keep your smaller belongings in, and a total of one door and four windows. The floor is made out of sturdy 1000-D polyethene, and it weighs a mere 16 pounds, which means you can easily carry it with you from the car to your campsite without worry.
Things We Like About It
We mostly like the roominess of the tent and the fact that it’s made by Coleman. It is also a very affordable tent that is easy to set up, and the comfort is truly second to none. It is a weatherproof tent that will not leak in most situations, and even better, you can recharge your electronics thanks to the e-port that is included inside of the tent.
Things We Don’t Like About It
Only two things stand out as potential disadvantages. The first is that when you have a lot of gear, you can only fit around four people inside of the tent and not six. Second, there have been some concerns about the fiberglass poles being less durable than other types, as well as some complaints about the tent leaking during extreme weather conditions.
The tent sells for around $250 and is therefore very affordable, and it is also a very lightweight tent at 14 pounds, which means it’s super-easy to carry with you from one location to another.
What You Get When You Choose the Tallboy
This tent comes with three poles to put it together and is made mostly out of 68-D polyester fabric, which is tough and sturdy. Most parts of the tent are waterproof and therefore able to keep you safe from the elements, and in most cases the tent doesn’t have to be staked down thanks to the way it’s designed. The mesh fabric on the inside of the tent provides you with great airflow and comfort, and you even get storage spaces on the inside of the tent to hold numerous belongings.
That being said, you’ll want to find a way to tie the tent down if you’re experiencing rough or very windy weather. Perfect for car camping, the Kelty Tallboy six-person tent is built very well so you should be able to enjoy it for many years to come, and it has a large door to make coming in and out of the tent very easy on you.
Things We Like About It
The Kelty Tallboy tent comes in various sizes, and the six-person version only costs around $230, making it very affordable for most people. It is spacious and able to accommodate most people, and it is super-easy and fast to get set up because you can do it in minutes.
Things We Don’t Like About It
The few complaints received by users of this tent include that it can only accommodate six people when those people do not have a lot of gear and supplies. It’s best if you stick with a maximum of six people and preferably less, unless you want the tent to be too crowded.
This is indeed a sturdy well-built tent that has tons of satisfied customers and has a floor space of 14’ x 10’, which is big enough for two queen-sized mattresses with room left over. If roominess is what you need, this is the tent for you.
Made for Large Groups of People
In addition to a lot of floor space, the Core ten-person tent has a height of 7 feet, which means even someone who is over 6 feet tall will be comfortable. The materials are water-resistant and the seams are thermal-sealed, which means the inside of the tent will be dry regardless of how bad the weather is. Surprisingly, the tent is also reasonably priced at around $250, which means it costs less than some tents that accommodate fewer people.
The stakes used to keep down the tent are made out of 7-inch steel, so as long as the winds don’t get past around 30 miles per hour, it will have no problem remaining in place during bad weather. The vents at the bottom provide great ventilation, and the rain fly is weatherproof to protect you from the elements at all times.
What We Like About It
If you want a huge camping tent but you’re on a budget, this is the tent for you. We also love that it’s made out of high-quality sturdy materials that allow the tent to last for many years. It seems to be able to handle the elements very well, and its height and floor space can accommodate up to ten people comfortably.
What We Don’t Like About It
There aren’t a lot of disadvantages to this tent. The rainfly could be a little bigger, and there seems to be more light coming through the top of the tent than some people are comfortable with. Plus, some users claim the tent did leak just a little bit when the rain got extra strong.
The D-shaped door is roomy and easy to use, and the price of around $160 means you can get a super-large and comfortable tent without breaking the bank.
Extra Perks Without the Extra Price
Core tents are well-built but still good for people on a budget. The nine-person extended dome tent is lightweight at around 20 pounds and is therefore easy to carry from one location to another. One of the things the company is known for is making tents that are fast and simple to set up, which means you won’t have to wait long to use yours. It has a great-looking design, huge walls, and two windows inside of the tent.
The windows are double-layered and have zippered panels, which keeps bugs and creepy crawly things out of the tent. They can also be opened in order to enjoy more ventilation, and there is even an air intake vent close to the ground that is adjustable depending on how comfortable you wish to be. Both the tent and the rainfly are made out of 68-D polyester material, which makes for a high-quality tent.
What We Like About It
We particularly like the value you get for your money with this tent, as well as the overall size and comfort level. The ventilation seems to keep the tent comfortable, and it’s also an attractive orange-tinted tent that looks great on the horizon. It is also lightweight and has sealed seams to make it last much longer.
What We Don’t Like About It
The Core nine-person dome tent comes with poles made out of fiberglass, which aren’t as strong as the ones made out of other materials. In addition, the tent only has one door, which some people don’t like because many campers prefer two separate doors, especially if they’re camping with a large group of people.
Comparison Table
| |   |   | | | | | | | |
Sleeping Capacity | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 9 |
Pack Weight | 20lbs. 15oz. (9.5kg) | 18 lbs. (8.16kg) | 19 lbs. 14 oz.(8.56kg) | 16.45 lbs.(7.46kg) | 20 lbs. 1 oz.(9.16kg) | 31.9 lbs (18.87kg) | 17lbs. 59 oz.(7.98) | 14 lbs 1 oz. (6.38kg) | 46lbs (20.87kg) | 18 lbs 21 oz. (8.25) |
Material | Polyester | Polyester | Polyester | Polyester | Polyester | Polyester | Polyester | Blend | Polyester | Polyester |
Seasons | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Rooms | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Floor area | 86.11Ft (8sq m) | 85 sq ft (7.89sq m) | 83.3 sq ft (7.7sq m) | 83 sq ft (7,71sq m) | 69.4 sq ft (6.45sq m)) | 99 sq ft (9.2sq m) | 100 sq ft (9.29 sq m) | 86 sq ft (7.99sq m) | 140 sq ft (13.01sq m) | 144 sq ft (13.37sq m) |
Height | 76" (193.cm) | 72" (182.cm) | 77" (196cm) | 81" (203cm) | 80" (220cm) | 80" (220cm) | 72" (182cm) | 72" (182cm) | 84" (213cm) | 72" (182cm) |
Doors | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Conclusion
Bigger tents are generally more expensive, but they also provide a higher level of protection and comfort—important when you’re sleeping out in nature. In choosing your tent, think about whether or not you have any special needs (allergies, young children) that might require extra space to accommodate. Also take note of how many people your tent can accommodate so everyone has room to move around and still feel comfortable.
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