The 30 Best Camping Tents of 2021
When you’re away from home, away from your bed, away from the comforts of civilization, a surprisingly thin piece of fabric separates you from misery. The right camping tent can mean the difference between coming home with a head full of stories, and coming home early. Since buying a new tent is kind of like buying a house you’ve never stepped foot inside, we thought you might appreciate a little insight. We’ve rounded up the 30 best camping tents for just about any camping situation you might get yourself into.
The lone adventurer and the guy who brings his whole family will both find a tent somewhere on this list. Invite the whole office and pick one of the higher-capacity camping tents we found. Just heading out with a couple buddies, maybe a girlfriend, wife, kid? Two and three person tents are well-represented here.
With thoughtful design, indispensable features, and durable construction, these camping tents are the absolute best. They will protect you, protect your gear. These tents will keep the rain out without suffocating you. They’ll keep you warm when it’s cold and keep you ventilated when it’s not. Some of our picks are what you want for mild summer car camping. Other tents on our list will stand up to gale force winds and snow dumps on top of a mountain.
Pick the adventure you want to have, then peruse our choices for the tent that’ll live up to the task of outdoor camping. When it’s just a piece of fabric separating you from the wild, make sure it’s a good one.
Black Diamond Fitzroy Tent
Occupancy: 2-3 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 6.25 lbs min, 7.1 lbs max • Peak Height: 45”
Part of Black Diamond’s Bibler series, the Fitzroy is a severe weather friend. Known to resist winds of 80 mph, this tent also shrugs off deep show fall, thanks to its steep sides (which provide a good amount of extra headroom, too). It’s a single wall tent made from ToddTex, a breathable, waterproof variant of Gore-Tex (named for Todd Bibler, original maker of Bibler Tents) that manages to keep you warm and dry. The footprint and vestibule are separate purchases on this one, but it does feature pole-supported door awnings for extra protection.
Sierra Designs Convert 3
Occupancy: 3 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 5.4 lbs min, 6.5 lbs max • Peak Height: 45”
A new offering from Sierra Designs — who design gear specifically for backpacking — the Convert 3 is all about convertibility. Don’t want a vestibule? No need to bring it. Heading to the desert? Leave the fly at home. The tent body is uncoated canopy fabric, which breathes but keeps out more dust than a mesh body. When you do want the extra space, the two-door Convert 3 offers two vestibules for gear storage and a place to change that’s safe from the elements. The storage system makes packing easier, with a cinch-corded side-entry bag.
Marmot Halo 6P
Occupancy: 6 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 18.9 lbs min, 19.4 lbs max • Peak Height: 81”
With 100 square feet of floor space, and enough head room for a 6’8” person to stand tall, this is the aircraft hanger of tents. Marmot’s “Halo” poles circle the upper ridge for wider headspace and when you don’t need the fly, the huge mesh ceiling makes for an impressive stargazing opportunity. There’s a double door in front and a D-door around back for easier in/out. The full coverage fly creates a substantial front vestibule and it’s seam-taped and coated to keep the weather out, while the fly vents keep air flowing.
Tentsile Stingray Tree Tent
Occupancy: 3 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 16 lbs min, 22 lbs max • Peak Height: 42”
Part hammock, part tent, the Stingray sleeps three on a floor that features a triple hammock configuration. The tent body is a micro-mesh to keep out the smallest of bugs (while offering a pretty nice view of the sky above) and entry is through a floor hatch or a large front door. Attach it four feet off the ground to trees, trucks, boulders or anything sturdy. The rainfly covers the tent and stakes to the ground which gives you a full 160 square foot covered area beneath your tent for your gear or a camp chair or two.
REI Co-op Base Camp 6
Occupancy: 6 • Seasons: 3+ • Weight: 17.9 lbs min, 20.8 lbs max • Peak Height: 74”
A dome shaped shelter for the whole gang, this one from REI packs into an included backpack-style bag that holds the tent, fly, stakes and poles. There are two vestibules, one large, pole-supported in front and a smaller staked vestibule in back. Both doors are huge, almost the whole side of the tent, making it much easier to get six people in (and out) of the tent. All the mesh is at the roof and the tops of the doors for privacy and ventilation, and the fly has adjustable vents which you can access from the inside.
The North Face Wawona 6
Occupancy: 6 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 19.3 lbs min, 20.9 lbs max • Peak Height: 80”
If you want your tent to come with a veranda, pick this one. The massive front vestibule has two doors and is tall enough to stand in. In the tent itself, the front and back door and two huge windows allow for air flow and views, while multiple mesh pockets, a dry line and hang loops keep everyone organized. The single wall construction is waterproof and, along with the color coded design, makes for easy pitching. The whole thing packs down into a duffel stuff sack making it easy to haul into camp and subsequently pack away.
Hilleberg Stalon XL
Occupancy: 14 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 45.6 lbs • Peak Height: 92”
With room for 14 people, vestibules that are more like garages, and the ability to connect multiple Stalons together, this is more basecamp hotel than tent. Hilleberg Tentmakers, out of Sweden and more recently Washington state, intend this for use as a mobile medical station, a command center for search and rescue ops, or an expedition classroom. Capable of withstanding all seasons, you can also add an optional inner tent to the main section for added comfort. Despite its mammoth size, the whole thing packs into an included carrier backpack.
MSR Hubba Tour 2
Occupancy: 2 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 4.4 lbs min, 5.3 lbs max • Peak Height: 38”
Two-wheeled adventurers, you’ve found your tent. MSR’s Hubba Tour tents were designed with an eye for cross-country bikepackers who need a lightweight option that’ll hold up night after night (which means it’ll most definitely work for weekend warriors too). The vestibule is better described as a gear shed, complete with hooks for hanging helmets and a protected floor. The fly boasts a waterproof coating that lasts three times longer than standard. The unified tent body and fly plus the exoskeleton design keep the inside of the tent dry even when setting up in a storm.
HeimPlanet Cave Tent
Occupancy: 2-3 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 10.6 lbs min (plus pump) • Peak Height: 40”
Your tent will not be like anyone else’s (unless they have one of these too). Looking more like a Mars habitat than camp shelter, this dome-shaped tent features inflatable poles, or “air beams.” On your initial set up, secure the tent to the poles, leaving everything attached when you deflate. The second set up takes under a minute, as all you need to do is inflate. The door and five vents keep the air moving inside the tent, while a double wall on the air beams keep the air where it belongs.
Big Agnes Battle Mountain 3
Occupancy: 3 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 7.4 lbs min, 8.4 lbs max • Peak Height: 44”
When you reach the summit of that snow-covered mountain, this is the tent you want to unfurl. Big Agnes designed their Battle Mountain series to meet the demands of the harshest alpine weather, adding things like a double door/vestibule, oversized stake out loops that you can anchor with your ice axe or ski poles, and storm flaps on the vestibule zippers. With a roomy hexagonal design, and overhead gear storage, three people can get a good night’s sleep without elbows to the face — or excess cold creeping in.
Tentsile Connect Tree Tent
Occupancy: 2 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 12 lbs min, 18 lbs max • Peak Height: 36”
If you’ve ever slept (or not slept) in a tent with a fist sized boulder just beneath your shoulder blade, you’ll appreciate the concept of a tree tent. Like their Stingray model, the Connect from Tentsile is part tent, part hammock that hooks up to any three anchor points — usually trees, but trucks and boulders will work too. The Connect sleeps two with four entry doors, two side pockets and a removable fly. On the ground beneath your set up, you get a 120 square foot covered area for gear, for lounging, or slinging another hammock.
The North Face Bastion 4
Occupancy: 4 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 12.3 lbs min, 15 lbs max • Peak Height: 54.5”
If you and three friends are heading where the weather promises to be mean, unforgiving, and harsh, this might be the tent you want to bring. Built to withstand the worst moods of Mother Nature, the Bastion features a poled, dual entry front vestibule with nearly fifteen square feet of space and a clear window to let you check on storm status, without having to go out into it. Sixty-two square feet inside, ten interior pockets, lots of hanger loops and multiple venting options will keep you comfortable in your mini bomb shelter while the storm rages around you.
CORE Equipment 12-Person Instant Cabin Tent
Occupancy: 12 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 52.5 lbs • Peak Height: 80”
The “instant” in the name of this tent refers to a two minute set up. Impressive for a shelter that can sleep twelve. The poles are pre-attached to the tent body so after you take it out of the bag, you just need to unfold it and extend the poles. Inside, two included room dividers let you section off the tent into a three room cabin. The rainfly is removable in good weather to reveal mesh ceilings and large windows and you’d be hard pressed to beat the price for such a large tent.
Occupancy: 2 • Seasons: 2 • Weight: 2.8 lbs • Peak Height: 40”
Mombasa Bug Top Pro 2 Tent
Summer camping with no chance of rain might be the ideal time to camp for some. If it weren’t for the bugs, you could roll out your sleeping pad and close your eyes. But, for all but the driest, most barren places, summer camping means bugs. Here’s a very light, quite affordable option for those who want to get as close to camping out in the open as possible. With an easy pitch, two pole design and fine mesh screen, this tent makes sure the bugs stay out but 100% of the view gets in.
Eureka Space Camp 6-Person Tent
Occupancy: 6 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 16 lbs 1 oz • Peak Height: 76”
Eureka takes camping in comfort to the next level with the Space Camp 6-Person Tent. With its ample space and excellent tent height, you can move around easily inside even if you’re an extra-tall camper (six feet or taller). The Air Exchange System allows for adjustable venting to keep you cool in summer and warm in the chillier autumn or spring months. Worried about a summer storm damaging your tent? Not with the 7000-series aluminum frame supporting the tent—it’ll take a hurricane to bend or break this tent. And, for the final bit of awesome, the interior comes with ten integrated pockets that make it easy for you to stay organized while camping.
Mountain Hardwear Aspect 3 Person Tent
Occupancy: 3 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 4.11 lbs min, 5.6 lbs max • Peak Height: 43”
Take the Mountain Hardwear Aspect 3-Person Tent with you wherever you go—it’s one of the lightest, most portable tents you’ll ever have the luxury of packing. You’ll love the full-mesh canopy, perfect for warmer climates where you want a cool breeze to keep you from getting too hot when you sleep. Plus, it’s great for stargazing on those balmy summer nights. The G-shaped clips secured to the poles and tent loops make assembly an absolute delight, and you’ll get set up and camping in style in a matter of minutes.
NEMO Chogori 3P Tent
Occupancy: 3 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 7 lbs, 13 oz • Peak Height: 46”
If you need a tent designed for quick setup in extreme situations, the Nemo Chogori 3P Tent is just what you’re looking for. The external DAC pole structure makes it a breeze to set up the tent quickly, and the silicone-treated fabrics are highly durable and capable of withstanding even harsh winds and heavy snowfall without tearing or wearing out. Despite its lightweight and compact size, you’ll find it’s surprisingly roomy on the inside, with a vestibule that provides additional storage space. With its four-season construction, it’ll be the tent of choice for camping all year around.
Big Agnes Bunk House 4-Person Tent
Occupancy: 4 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 14.4 lbs • Peak Height: 70”
Looking for a roomy summer tent that’ll be super comfortable on both sunny and rainy days? Give the Big Agnes Bunk House 4-Person Tent a try. This tent has so much space inside—fifty-eight square feet in all—with a spacious vestibule that’s perfect for sitting, relaxing, and reading on the days when it’s too rainy to be outside. But for the hot days, the breathable polyester tent body will keep out the worst of the heat—or you can simply set it up in “Shelter Mode,” a large open shelter to provide you shade from the bright summer sun. With four interior mesh pockets, two media pockets, and two removable corner bin pockets, it’s a family tent through and through.
Mission 2P Tent
Occupancy: 2 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 8 lbs 12 oz • Peak Height: 56”
Take the Mission 2P Tent on any rock climbing, mountaineering, cliff-scaling, trekking adventure, and you’ll always sleep in comfort. The fast-pitching tent makes prepping for camp a breeze, and it’s an incredibly tough tent that will stay strong in even the harshest winds or roughest conditions. The unique design combines a tunnel and dome that makes it not only able to withstand weather extremes, but also gives you more space to stretch out at night. Thanks to the high-tenacity polyester fabric, you’ll never worry about the tent sagging in wet conditions.
MSR Habitude 6 Family & Group Camping Tent
Occupancy: 6 • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 13 lbs 6 oz • Peak Height: 77”
Need a tent for a bigger group? Taking your buddies hiking, or finally getting your whole family out of the house for a summer camping trip? The MSR Habitude 6 Family & Group Camping Tent will be the perfect option to take with you anywhere you go—it’s got space enough for everyone, is insanely easy to set up, and can handle a bit of the usual roughhousing that happens when traveling with kids or friends. The vertical sidewalls and high ceilings make it super roomy, even for taller and bigger campers, and the easy-pitch frame makes setting up camp a whole lot faster and easier. It’s the perfect tent to teach your young children or city-slicker friends the joys of camping.
REI Co-op Passage 1 Tent
Occupancy: 1 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 3 lbs 11 oz min, 4 lbs 10 oz max • Peak Height: 40”
For that solo camping, hiking, rafting, boating, or kayaking trip, the REI Co-Op Passage 1 Tent With Footprint is an absolute dream. It’s durable as all heck, the X-pole configuration makes solo setup a breeze, and you’ll find the interior is surprisingly roomy, with a stake-out vestibule that gives you even more storage space for your backpack and camping gear. The tent is light, solidly built, and easy to pack, designed to secure atop a hiking pack for maximum portability. For those warm summer nights that you want to stargaze, the fly door is designed to roll up over the roof to give you a clear view of the sky.
NEMO Wagontop 4 Tent
Occupancy: 4 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 20.1 lbs • Peak Height: 80”
The Nemo Wagontop 4 Tent is every tall man and woman’s dream. With a peak height of eighty inches and nearly seventy square feet of room, it’s spacious enough to stretch out fully for the best night of sleep you’ll get in a tent. The design accommodates taller campers and allows you to stand up nearly anywhere in the tent, making getting in and out throughout the day beautifully easy.
SlingFin LFD
Occupancy: 12+ • Seasons: 4 • Weight: 40 lbs 2 oz • Peak Height: 89”
You won’t find a bigger and better than the SlingFin LFD. This dome tent is the ultimate big-crowd camper, sized to fit AT LEAST twelve people plus all the accompanying gear. It’s tall, heavy, and roomy, so it’ll take a few hands to set up camp, but once the tent’s up, you’ll find it makes for an amazing place to hang out, relax, and share some good times with a big group. The tent fabric, acetyl plastic Custom Cobra clips, internal tie-downs, and polymer window films are designed to handle even weather extremes (as low as forty below zero) and is UV-resistant to reduce wear and glare.
Marmot Space Wing 2-Person Tent
Occupancy: 2 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 4.2 lbs min, 4.6 lbs max • Peak Height: 56”
The Marmot Space Wing 2-Person Tent is the lightweight option that makes a perfect companion for a music festival weekend or an overnight cycling or backpacking trip into the great outdoors. It’s versatile—transitioning easily from tent to sun shelter and back again—with a removable floor and easy-setup rain fly that is as ideal for the beach as it is for the lakeshore or forest. With its easy-pitch clips, you’ll have the tent ready for use in minutes flat.
REI Co-op Groundbreaker 2 Tent
Occupancy: 2 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 4 lbs 13 oz • Peak Height: 40”
REI brings durability, versatility, and ease of use with the Co-Op Groundbreaker 2 Tent. Designed to be hardy in even the harshest weather, it’s a no-frills, easy-to-pitch tent that is perfect to take with you everywhere you go. Its fiberglass poles and waterproof polyester body make it both lightweight and able to keep up in any environment—the perfect tent for experienced and beginner campers alike.
The 5 Best Budget Camping Tents
For those looking for a good back-up tent; for the camping-curious who aren’t quite ready to invest the big bucks; or for those who have better things to spend their dollars on (such as food and rent), this section is for you. We’ve found a selection of solid, dependable tents that do the job but still leave you with enough green to stock up on beef jerky and cans of beans before you head out to the wild.
Kelty Salida 2
Occupancy: 2 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 3.9 lbs min, 4.6 lbs max • Peak Height: 43”
Light enough and with a just small enough pack size, this could be considered for inclusion in a backpacker’s pack. The Salida offers a full coverage fly with one door and one vestibule providing ten square feet for gear. Internal storage pockets and gearloft loops help you keep it all organized during your time in camp, while the two pole, color coded clip and fly attachment keep you organized during set up and take down. It’s a low-cost entry for those thinking about backpacking, but aren’t ready to shell out a full bucket of money.
Coleman Skydome Tent
Occupancy: 8 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 20 lbs • Peak Height: 76”
If you’re bringing the whole family camping, you’re going to want the Coleman Skydome Tent for sure. The eight-person tent offers an insane amount of floor space—over a hundred square feet—and though it’s a bit heavier than you might expect, you’ll love how sturdy it is, able to withstand the worst summer squalls. The tub-style floor and polyurethane-coated walls will keep even the heaviest rains out, and you’ll love how roomy it feels inside thanks to the vertical wall design. Definitely a great place to hang out on the rainy camping days, when your entire family wants to stay inside but needs plenty of space to feel comfortable.
Kelty Discovery 4 Tent
Occupancy: 4 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 9.1 lbs min, 10.7 lbs max • Peak Height: 56”
Travel light and travel right with the Kelty Discovery 4 Tent. This lightweight, hyper-portable, ultra-convenient tent makes the perfect companion for any car camping trip, or those quick weekend visits to your local mountains, forests, or national parks. The one-door design is perfect for a close-knit group of friends or a couple who wants a bit more space to camp and store essentials in comfort, and it’s one of the easiest tents to pack once you’re heading home. With its Quick Corner technology, set-up is an absolute breeze.
Stoic Driftwood 3 Tent
Occupancy: 3 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 5 lbs 11 oz min, 6 lb 5.4 oz max • Peak Height: 42.5”
Take the Stoic Driftwood 3 Tent for any backcountry or forest camping trip, and you’ll travel in luxury every time. The tent is built for both wet and hot weather, with a breathable mesh ceiling for ventilation and a polyurethane-coated floor and rain fly to keep out the rain. Keep this tent in your car and take it with you everywhere you go—you’ll always be ready to pitch camp anywhere.
ALPS Mountaineering Greycliff 2 Tent
Occupancy: 2 • Seasons: 3 • Weight: 5 lbs 3 oz min, 5 lbs 15 oz max • Peak Height: 42”
Enjoy the scenery atop your favorite mountain or beside your hidden lake with the Alps Mountaineering Greycliff 2 Tent. With the mesh integrated into the walls and roof and the double-door design, it’ll be easy to open up the tent to let in the cool air and give you all the best views of your camping spot. Lightweight, built for three-season use, and incredibly durable (complete with factory-sealed floor seams, hyper-tough aluminum tent plots, durable polyester fabric, and integrated UV protection), it’s a tent you’ll use again and again and again.
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