Family tents · How-to guide
How to Choose a Family Tent (REAL Pictures & 8 Questions)
Eight questions that narrow a wall of family tents down to the one you should actually buy, answered with my own test figures, not spec sheets.
- 30 tents tested
- 8 questions
- $0 sponsored
- ~7 min read
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Which camper are you?
Zero seam leaks after 3 days of heavy rain. One corner sat in 2 inches of standing water.
See the rain tests ↓5.0 minutes, on my own. Every pole is pre-attached, so you pop the hubs and add the fly.
See my setup times ↓$130 MSRP, and good for about 30 minutes of heavy rain. Past that, no.
See the price tiers ↓Part 1 of 8
1. Budget: How Much Should You Spend?
Three price tiers, and you really do get what you pay for. Every figure below is full MSRP, no discounts (for a 6-person tent).
| Tent | Tier | 6-person MSRP |
|---|---|---|
| Big Agnes Bunk House 6 | High quality | $700 |
| REI Wonderland 6 | High quality | $599 |
| The North Face Wawona 6 ★ | High quality | $550 |
| REI Base Camp 6 | High quality | $549 |
| Nemo Aurora Highrise 6 | High quality | $500 |
| Gazelle T4 ★ | Mid-range | $350 |
| Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 | Mid-range | $330 |
| Kelty Wireless 6 | Mid-range | $300 |
| Caddis Rapid 6 | Mid-range | $300 |
| Core Equipment Cabin 6 | Budget-friendly | $170 |
| Ozark Trail Instant Cabin 6 | Budget-friendly | $168 |
| Coleman Sundome 6 ★ | Budget-friendly | $130 |
My adviceIf you’re not in a rush to buy your tent, wait for a sale. I find REI’s sales fantastic in this respect, and I’m usually able to snag 20-30% off my family tents.
Part 2 of 8
2. Capacity: How Big Is Your Family?
The number on the box is how many people fit side by side like sardines, on single pads. Six genuinely do fit in my Wawona 6. It’s just claustrophobic. For most folks, and for me.
Capacity − 2my rule of thumb for the number you can actually live with. Go −3 or −4 if you like room to spare.
A family of 4 needs at least a 6-person tent. Want real floor space? Size up to an 8-person, or go into large family tent territory: 10 to 14-person.
Part 3 of 8
3. Season Rating: Summer or Off-Season?
Three season ratings, and the label is a poor guide to what the tent actually does.
3-season
Summer only
Partial rainfly, lots of mesh. Mine: the Wawona 6. Mesh ceiling, a front wall that’s almost all mesh, and a fly that comes off on dry days.
3+ season
Spring & fall
Full-length fly, less mesh, far more fabric. Mine: the Base Camp 6, my only family tent whose fly reaches the ground. I’ve seen folks use it in light snow.
4-season
Winter expedition
Barely exists in family sizes, and most families never need it. The North Face’s 2-Meter Dome is the example: extra poles crisscrossing into a geodesic shape, built for snow and hard wind.
Yes, reallyA “3-season” tent is a summer tent. Don’t ask me why; I have no idea either. If you camp cold, start with my 4-season picks.
Part 4 of 8
4. Weather Protection: Rain or Shine?
How much rain and wind do you expect? This is where the price tiers stop being abstract.
| Tent | What it survived in my testing |
|---|---|
| The North Face Wawona 6 | 3 days of heavy rain (damp on the last day). One corner sat in 2 inches of standing water with zero leaks through any seam. 1,200mm coating on fly and body, and DAC MX poles that came through 50mph winds with only minor bending. |
| REI Base Camp 6 | A full-length rainfly to the ground carried it through my heavy-rain test. |
| Coleman Sundome 6 | About 30 minutes of heavy rain. Nothing more than that. |
| Ozark Trail (2 tents) | Seams felt damp after 15 minutes of very light rain. |
My adviceUnless there’s no chance of rain at all, I wouldn’t recommend Ozark Trail for your family tent.
- Seam sealantGear Aid Seam Grip, for the seams your budget tent never taped.
- Waterproofing sprayScotchgard, re-coats a tired fly.
- Overhead tarpKelty Noah’s Tarp, the cheapest way to stay dry.
Part 5 of 8
5. Spaciousness: How Much Room Do You Need?
Three things decide how big a tent feels: dome or cabin, peak height, and vestibule.
Dome tents
- + Two poles crossing in an X (the shape sheds wind well)
- − Peak height sits at the centre only, and tapers away fast
- − Usually one door
Cabin tents
- + Near-vertical walls on all four sides
- + Peak height holds across most of the floor
- − Those walls catch wind badly, so stake it down
| Tent | Style | Peak height | At the corner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coleman Sundome 6 | Dome | 74.5 in | My head touches the roof 2 steps from the centre |
| Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 | Cabin | 84 in (a full 7 ft) | 66 in, still taller than my 5’3 |
My adviceIf a spacious tent is your main priority, get a cabin. Then stake it, every time.
3 of 30family tents I’ve tested that come with a vestibule. It is not a common feature.
| Tent | Vestibule | What actually fits |
|---|---|---|
| The North Face Wawona 6 | 51.0 sq ft | 2 big camping chairs plus a huge table, and I can stand everywhere in it (65-74 in) |
| REI Base Camp 6 | 52.4 sq ft | 2 chairs in front and nothing else; the back one won’t take a single chair, and it tapers too much to stand throughout |
| REI Skyward 4 | 23.6 sq ft | — |
Two warnings: the 4-person Wawona doesn’t include a vestibule (you buy it separately, so don’t get that one), and no budget-friendly tent I’ve tested has one.
Part 6 of 8
6. Features: What Do You Actually Need?
Higher-quality tents come with more of everything. Storage is the clearest example (counts from my own tents):
| Tent | Pockets | Lantern loops |
|---|---|---|
| REI Base Camp 6 (6-person) | 14 | 20 |
| Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 (6-person) | 6 (4 pockets + 2 gear lofts) | 5 |
| Coleman Dark Room Instant Cabin 10 (10-person) | 2 | 1 |
- Room dividersUsually only 8 to 10-person tents. The one exception among my 6-person tents is the REI Wonderland 6; never seen one in a 4-person.
- DoorsThe Wonderland’s are the best I’ve tested: 2 huge doors, 72.5 in tall, snag-free one-handed zips. Mid-range and budget tents give you one smaller, snaggier door.
- Blackout fabricOnly Coleman, Decathlon and Ozark Trail sell it, and Coleman does it best. The Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6 is the budget one I’d buy.
- Power portsNo logic to it. Most of my higher-end tents don’t have them; several of my cheap ones do.
Part 7 of 8
7. Ease of Setup: Regular or Instant?
Every timing below is me, setting the tent up on my own.
| Tent | Type | My solo setup time |
|---|---|---|
| Gazelle T4 Hub Tent | Instant cabin | 5.0 min |
| Gazelle T8 Hub Tent | Instant cabin | ~10 min (my estimate) |
| Caddis Rapid 6 | Instant cabin | 9.5 min |
| Coleman Sundome 6 | Dome | 11.5 min |
| Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 | Cabin | 14.0 min |
| REI Wonderland 6 | Cabin | 19.5 min |
| The North Face Wawona 6 | Dome + big vestibule | 20.0 min |
My adviceAn instant tent cuts your setup time by 50% to 100%. Whether that’s worth it is your call. And read question 8 before you decide.
Part 8 of 8
8. Portability: Car Camping or Backpacking?
Everything above is a car camping tent, because that’s what most families need. Weight barely matters when you drive to the site. Packed size in the trunk does.
| Tent | Packed weight | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Coleman Sundome 6 | 16.0 lbs | No-frills dome |
| Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 | 22.4 lbs | Standard cabin |
| Gazelle T4 Hub Tent | 34.0 lbs | 68 in packed length (taller than I am) |
Backpacking with kids?A backpacking “family” tent tops out at 4-person, so it isn’t really one. Look at the MSR Elixir 4 or the Marmot Tungsten 4, and expect to pay more than for car camping.
The short version
The Best Family Tent for You
| If you want… | Get | Because |
|---|---|---|
| The best all-rounder | The North Face Wawona 6 | Best weather protection and best vestibule of the 30 family tents I’ve tested |
| A summer tent | The North Face Wawona 6 | Mesh ceiling, near-mesh front wall, removable partial fly |
| Spring and fall camping | REI Base Camp 6 | The only fly I own that reaches the ground |
| A vestibule | The North Face Wawona 6 | 51.0 sq ft you can stand up in, front to back |
| Standing room inside | Core Equipment Straight Wall Cabin 10 | 90 in peak height and 65 in even at the corners. I can stand upright anywhere in it |
| The fastest pitch | Gazelle T4 Hub Tent | 5.0 minutes, on my own |
| A big instant cabin | Core Equipment Instant Cabin 9 | The instant cabin I recommend once you outgrow 6-person |
| To spend the least | Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6, or the plain Sundome 6 | $130, and about 30 minutes of heavy rain |
The bottom line
Set your tier, subtract 2 from the capacity on the box, then match the rainfly to your season. That’s 90% of the decision. If you’d rather skip the framework and see the shortlist, I bought and tested the best family tents separately.
What size family tent do I need for a family of 4?
At least a 6-person. The box number assumes single pads jammed side by side, so subtract 2 from the marketed capacity (that’s what you can live with).
Are expensive family tents actually worth it?
For weather, yes. My $550 Wawona 6 took 3 days of heavy rain and 50mph winds; my $130 Sundome 6 manages about 30 minutes. Camp only in fair weather and the cheap tent is fine.
Dome tent or cabin tent?
Cabin for space: 84 in of peak height versus 74.5 in, held across the floor instead of only at the centre. Dome for wind, because vertical cabin walls catch it all.
Going cheaper
The budget end done properly: what survives rain and what doesn’t.
Every figure here (peak heights, setup times, pocket counts, rain tests) comes from a tent I bought and tested myself. Nothing on this page is sponsored.
