Coleman tents · Vs review

Coleman Montana Tent V.S. Red Canyon Tent (I Bought BOTH!)

Both 8-person, both about $150, run through 12 side-by-side tests.

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Front porch, hinged door, e-port
The author's Coleman Montana 8 Tent

Coleman Montana 8Porch and a hinged door

6.8/ 10
  • Set up22 min
  • Peak74 in
  • Base area103.5 sq ft
  • Weight23.4 lbs
AmazonDick’sColeman
My overall pick
The author's Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent

Coleman Red Canyon 837 sq ft more floor

7.2/ 10
  • Set up20.5 min
  • Peak73 in
  • Base area140.6 sq ft
  • Weight20.2 lbs
Amazon

The short answer

Red Canyon for space. Montana for the porch and the hinged door.

The Red Canyon has 37 more square feet of floor (140.6 against 103.5), half as much ventilation again, 2 room dividers, a gear loft and a clothesline — and it's lighter and packs smaller. The Montana answers with a front porch, a proper hinged door and an e-port, none of which the Red Canyon has. I prefer the Red Canyon, mostly for that base area — but its rainfly poles are narrow, and one snapped on me.

Side by side

Where they actually differ

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
My score6.8 / 107.2 / 10
Set up (1 person)22 minutes2 door poles + a rainfly pole20.5 minutes
Take down14.5 minutes14 minutes
Expandable carry bagYesRip out the bottom stripNoBut the bag is thicker and better made
Peak height74 inches73 inches
Length x width15 ft 4 in x 6 ft 9 in16 ft 4 in x 9 ft 7 in
Base area103.5 square feet8 pads, nothing spare140.6 square feet8 pads plus gear — or 10 pads
Queen beds33
Front porchYes103 x 32 inchesNo
Hinged doorYesHandles inside and outNoZips and 2 latches
Room dividers02No zip through — you climb over
Pockets / lantern loops2 / 12 / 1
Gear lofts01
E-port10
Clothesline01My only Coleman tent with one
Hot day ventilation~2,200 square inches3 smallish windows~3,300 square inchesCeiling mesh + 4 windows
Vents03All pretty tiny
Rain testAbout 15 minutesAbout 15 minutes
Weight23.4 pounds20.2 pounds
Packed size26 x 15 x 12 inchesAbout 30% bigger26 x 13 x 10 inches
What I paidAbout $150About $150

✓ = the better result, from my own testing of both tents. Both leak at about 15 minutes because Coleman inverts its seams instead of taping them; seal them and either should manage a couple of hours of heavy rain.

Which applies to you?

Get this one if…

Get the Red Canyon if…

  • You want the space — 140.6 square feet, 37 more than the Montana.
  • You want ventilation: ~3,300 square inches against ~2,200.
  • You want the gear loft, the clothesline and the 2 dividers.
  • You'll pack a couple of pole splints — its fly poles are narrow.

Get the Montana if…

  • You want the front porch — 103 by 32 inches of shade.
  • You want the hinged door, with handles inside and out.
  • You need an e-port; the Red Canyon has none.
  • You want a carry bag you can expand when repacking.
The author in her Coleman Montana 8 Tent and her Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent.
My Montana 8 and my Red Canyon 8.
Video: Coleman Montana vs Red Canyon

If you prefer watching to reading, check out my video here instead.

See the 12 tests
  1. Set Up & Take Down
  2. Carry Bag
  3. Spaciousness
  4. Front Porch
  5. Door
  6. Room Dividers
  7. Storage
  8. Hot Day Ventilation
  9. Rainy Day Ventilation
  10. Rain Test
  11. Weight & Packed Size
  12. Price

Set Up & Take Down

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Set up (1 person)22 minutes20.5 minutes
Take down14.5 minutes14 minutes
Extra poles32 for the hinged door, 1 for the rainfly0

Within a couple of minutes of each other. The Montana's extra time is all poles: two fiberglass poles for the hinged D-door (one for the straight side, one for the curved), plus a rainfly pole that goes into a sleeve, gets four Velcro attachments, then has to be bent, secured at both ends, s-hooked and staked out.

The author guying out her Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent.
Guying out the Red Canyon.
One of the two fiberglass door poles of the author's Coleman Montana 8 Tent.
The Montana's hinged door needs two poles.

Carry Bag

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
ExpandableYesRip out the bottom stripNo
Bag qualityStandardThicker, better made

A genuine trade. The Montana's bag expands if you rip the strip out of the bottom, which makes repacking easy. The Red Canyon's doesn't — odd — so fold it neatly. But its bag is the better-made one.

The author ripping out the strip at the bottom of the carry bag of her Coleman Montana 8 Tent to expand it.
Rip the strip and the Montana's bag grows.
The author unboxing her Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent.
The Red Canyon's bag is thicker, but fixed.

Spaciousness

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Peak height74 inches73 inches
ShapeExtended domePeak at the centre onlyExtended domePeak at the centre only
Length x width15 ft 4 in x 6 ft 9 in16 ft 4 in x 9 ft 7 in
Base area103.5 square feet140.6 square feet37 sq ft more
Sleeping pads8No room spare8 plus gearOr about 10 pads

An inch apart at the peak, and both are extended domes, so the height is only at the centre — three small steps in either and my head is in the ceiling mesh.

The floors are nothing alike. The Montana takes eight pads side by side with nothing left over; the Red Canyon takes the same eight with room at the sides for gear, or roughly two more pads.

Eight sleeping pads side by side inside the author's Coleman Montana 8 Tent.
Eight pads fill the Montana exactly.
Sleeping pads inside the author's Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent with room left at the sides.
The Red Canyon still has edges free.

Front Porch

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Front porchYes103 inches long, 32 inches wideNo

Montana only, and I like it more than I expected. It shades a decent area, so gear can live out there — it kept my flip flops cool instead of superheating them.

The front porch of the author's Coleman Montana 8 Tent.
103 by 32 inches of shade.

Door

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Doors11
HingedYesHandles inside and outNo
Holding it openPush it behind the fiberglass pole2 door latches

The Montana's hinged D-door is the best door on either tent — handles on both sides, no zips to fumble with, and it stays open if you push it behind the black fiberglass pole. The Red Canyon is zips and two latches.

The hinged door of the author's Coleman Montana 8 Tent.
A door that behaves like a door.
The author holding open the door of her Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent with its two latches.
Zips and latches on the Red Canyon.

Room Dividers

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Room dividers02One at each side
Middle section fits—4 pads or 2 doubles
Behind each divider—1 double or 2 padsNo queen — minimal space
Zip through the divider—NoUnlatch and climb over

The Red Canyon has them and the Montana doesn't, so the point goes to the Red Canyon — but I'm not a huge fan of how they work. The space behind each divider is minimal, and there's no zip down the middle, so getting from one room to the next means taking a latch down and climbing over. Not user-friendly.

The room divider inside the author's Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent, with no zip through the middle.
No zip through — you climb over this.

Storage

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Pockets22
Lantern loops11
Gear lofts01
Clothesline01Pre-attached
E-port1Zippered closure0

Same pockets and loops. The Red Canyon adds a gear loft and a pre-attached clothesline — the only Coleman tent I own that has one. The Montana takes back the e-port, which the Red Canyon lacks entirely.

The pre-attached clothesline inside the author's Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent.
The only clothesline in my Coleman collection.
The e-port at the bottom of the author's Coleman Montana 8 Tent.
The Montana's e-port, zippered.

Hot Day Ventilation

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Window ventilation~2,200 square inchesTwo-thirds of the Red Canyon~3,300 square inches
Windows3Not very big4Plus ceiling mesh
Ceiling meshYesYes

I take the rainfly off and measure the mesh. The Red Canyon comes out at about 3,300 square inches against the Montana's 2,200 — two-thirds as much. The Montana would be much better with one more window on its blank wall.

The windows of the author's Coleman Montana 8 Tent.
Three smallish windows on the Montana.
The ceiling mesh and windows of the author's Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent with the rainfly off.
Ceiling mesh plus four on the Red Canyon.

Rainy Day Ventilation

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Vents03All pretty tiny
Windows openable in rain00

Neither does well here. The Red Canyon has three vents, but they're small enough that it hardly matters. The Montana has none at all — no window opens in rain and there is no vent to fall back on — so the point still goes to the Red Canyon.

A damp window of the author's Coleman Montana 8 Tent in the rain.
Everything shut on the Montana.
One of the three small vents inside the author's Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent.
One of the Red Canyon's three, and it's tiny.

Rain Test

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Time to first leakAbout 15 minutesAbout 15 minutes
Where it leakedThe widths — no rainfly over themThe front — very short rainfly
WhyInverted seams, not tapedInverted seams, not taped

A dead heat, and the same root cause. The Montana's rainfly looks long but doesn't cover the tent's widths at all, and that's where it went first. The Red Canyon's fly extends at the sides but is very short at the front, and that's where it went first.

Both leak because Coleman inverts its seams rather than taping them. Seal them and either tent should last a couple of hours in heavy rain.

The author's Coleman Montana 8 Tent under heavy rain, with the widths uncovered by the rainfly.
The Montana's widths, uncovered.
The author's Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent under heavy rain, with a short rainfly at the front.
The Red Canyon's short front.

Weight & Packed Size

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
Weight23.4 pounds20.2 pounds
Packed size26 x 15 x 12 inchesAbout 30% bigger26 x 13 x 10 inches

The bigger tent is the lighter, smaller one — three pounds down and about 30% less packed bulk.

The packed Coleman Montana 8 Tent beside the packed Coleman Red Canyon 8 Tent.
Packed, side by side.

Price

Measured (8-person)MontanaRed Canyon
What I paidAbout $150About $150

The same, near enough — and genuinely affordable for an 8-person family tent.

My recommendation

Both are great value family tents at around $150. But if I had to pick one, I prefer the Red Canyon, and the biggest reason is that base area: 37 square feet more than the Montana, and almost as big as my WeatherMaster 10 (143.6 sq ft) or my Instant Cabin 10 (135.7 sq ft). It also ventilates better on hot days and rainy ones, and it brings 2 dividers, a gear loft and a clothesline.

The Montana keeps the things I genuinely miss on the Red Canyon: the front porch, the e-port, and that hinged D-door, which I like a lot.

One warning on the Red Canyon — its rainfly fiberglass poles are narrow, and one of mine snapped on first use. Bring a couple of tent repair pole splints; they cost a few dollars, so it's not a dealbreaker, but don't find out the hard way.

In short: more space, go Red Canyon. Less space but a porch, a hinged door and an e-port, go Montana. Full reviews: the Montana 8 and the Red Canyon 8.

Bonus: To see how the Montana and Red Canyon compare against my 12 other Coleman tents, read the post where I bought and tested the 14 best Coleman tents.

See all 14 Coleman tents

Every figure on this page comes from my own measurements of the tents I bought and tested.

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