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Camping is intense!No, really. If you're going camping, you will probably be in a tent. While we love cowboy camping under the stars when weather permits, not everyone does, which means most of the time, you're going to want a comfy tent. To help you figure out the best car camping tent for your next outdoor adventure, we've pooled our favorites from years of testing.
These are the best car and family camping tents tents we've tested. If you're headed into the backcountry, backpacking or bikepacking, be sure to check outour guide to the best ultralight backpacking tentsyou can buy.
You might also likeour other outdoor guides, including theBest Day-Hiking Backpacks,Best Backpacking Water Filters, theBest Merino Wool Clothes, and theBest Rain Jackets.
Updated October 2025: We added the Tentsile Safari Stingray and the North Face Wawona, and we updated links and prices throughout.
REI’s Base Camp tent is thebest-designed, best-built six-person tentI've ever used. It also proved itself one of the most waterproof large tents in our testing. It's a traditional dome tent design, with two crossed poles and two side poles. The tent floor is high-quality 150-denier (150D) polyester, while the sides are a combination of mesh and 40D nylon. There's loads of storage pockets, double doors, great vents, and huge windows, making it comfortable even in summer heat. It's also one of the few family-size, three-season tents on the market with a nearly full-length rain fly (made of 75-denier polyester), which makes it suitable for those more weather-prone fall and spring trips (the fly sits about 3 inches off the ground, so not four-season level like the Marmot below, but close). It's also surprisingly stable in the wind considering how tall it is (74 inches for the six-person model).
The inside is roomy. My family of five (two adults, two teenagers, one 10-year-old) had no trouble fitting inside. There's plenty of room for five smaller sleeping pads, or you could double up onExped's Megamat Duo ($349)for an extra cushy car camping setup. The vestibules are nice and roomy too, offering storage for the rest of your camping gear. If you really want some extra, covered, outdoor space, you can grab theBase Camp Vehicle Connector for $170(untested, but it's on my list).
With two huge doors that have big, no-snag zippers, it's easy to get in and out of the Base Camp without stepping on anyone. There's also a wide variety of storage options, including six pockets (one for each person), and lots of hang loops stitched into the ceiling allowing you to hang lights or string a clothesline. There are also plenty of mesh vents, which make it possible to get a nice cross breeze through the tent on warm nights.
The Marmot Halo four-person tent features a a low-profile design, with steep sidewalls, and a solid, nearly full-length rain fly, which, combined make this a livable haven in a storm. I ended up spending two windier-than-expected nights in this tent, being very thankful that I guyed out the fly before bed. The name comes from the unusual pole design. There are two cross poles, like every square, domed tent, but the side poles connect halfway up the tent body instead of at the ground. This gives the Halo steeper sidewalls—and therefore more usable space—than any other tent I've tested. The rain fly is 68D polyester, not quite as heavy-duty as the REI Base Camp, but plenty robust in my testing. It's fully seam taped and coated to shed water. The rain fly also offers several vents that can be opened and closed to vent according to the temps outside. In addition to the rain fly vents, there are two vents on the sides of the tent body, low to the ground, which allow nice airflow right where you want it on warm nights.
The vestibules on the four-person model are adequate for stashing wet boots and other gear, and the full-length fly helps keep it dry (provided you've chosen your campsite wisely). The only thing I don't like about the Halo are the small doors, which I find a little cramped when you're getting in and out. The six-person model, which I have not tested, has an additional pole that makes one vestibule into a much larger, more livable space that can even become an awning with additional poles. It's taller and won't shed the wind as well, but if you need extra space, it's a nice alternative to the REI Base Camp 6.
This is my current favorite tent for family camping for a number of reasons. First, the vestibule is enormous—44.7 square feet, which is plenty of room for four peoples’ clothes bags and tall enough for both me and my husband to stand up straight (he is 5'11") to change. It’s also incredibly versatile. It’s surprisingly well-ventilated for a three-season tent, with two doors on opposite sides that allow for plenty of cross breezes. There’s plenty of floor space for two double air mattresses (the REI queen air mattresses, sadly out of stock now) and four people, with lots of interior storage (though I find it weird that three pockets are mounted on the interior of a door flap instead of the corners).
The real reason I like this tent is that the floor fabric (150-denier polyester with 1,500 mm PU coating) is absolutely bomber. We accidentally pitched this tent in a depression during an early fall thunderstorm, and at 1 am I awoke to find my daughter and I … well, floating. Our tent was pitched in an ankle-deep puddle that made our air mattresses rise above the ground, but nothing inside the tent got wet. (My poor shoes in the vestibule were a different story.) It’s not sealed enough to be a good three-season-plus tent, as we went camping in it 35-degree Fahrenheit weather, and it was freezing, and the U-shaped door zips seem doomed to get stuck eventually. But other than that, I very much like this tent. —Adrienne So
Snow Peak makes achingly stylish outdoor gear. It’s an exclusive club with a hefty buy-in, but there’s no denying the quality. The tent-tarp set consists of two pieces, theLand Nest Dome Medium ($400)and a matching tarp. The tent is a compact, self-supporting dome, with light but strong steel poles that took minutes to pitch, with barely a glance at the instructions. It weighs 19 pounds (9 kilograms), and it has two entrances, a removable bedroom pod (ideal for two adults and two small kids), and impressive ventilation for warmer months. There’s no communal area ground sheet, but Snow Peak sells a footprint if needed.
The generously sizedTarp ($250)sits neatly over the porch of the tent to extend the living space. It puts other vestibules to shame with a massive amount of extra living space, but it does add 16 pounds (7 kilograms) to the total. In fair weather, the tarp setup is open, comfortable, and envy-inducing. First time pitching it, however, we experienced seven hours of torrential rain and 47-mph gusts. Thanks to the heavy-duty pegs, the tarp performed admirably in the high winds. We did take it down at night, but only to avoid noise from flapping, rather than out of concern for structural integrity. Despite the howling gale, the tent itself was utterly dependable and durable. I highly recommend it. —Chris Haslam
Stroll through any campground in America and you'll see plenty of these no-frills Coleman tents. For good reason—they're some of the best budget car camping tents around. They're reasonably cheap, available just about anywhere, and get the job done, provided the weather cooperates.
This is the ideal tent for summer trips where rain is unlikely. Thanks to a huge amount of mesh and windows, the ventilation is excellent. One really nice feature is that even with the rain fly on, you can still unzip the side windows to increase ventilation. This is nice because it means you can leave the fly on when you're gone and get some protection from that afternoon shower, but the tent doesn't heat up like an oven thanks to the airflow.
Where the Coleman fails is the setup, which is annoying thanks to the fiberglass poles with metal connectors that continuously snag as you attempt to pass them through the sleeves. The other downside is weather resistance. The rain fly isn't going to keep you dry for very long. Whether it completely wets out (which took less than an hour in my testing with a hose) or just splashes in because the fly doesn't cover the sides, if there's anything beyond a mild rain, you're going to get wet.
Do you go all-out when you go out? No one at our group campsite could believe the size of our Bridger 6. The assembly is pretty simple and fast, I am just a little too short at 5'2" to be able to manage it alone and needed to rope in my 5'11" husband. If you set up the multiple vestibules, the footprint also becomes a bafflingly big 18 feet deep. We did fit it on a backcountry site between some trees, but it took some trial and error.
Once it’s set up, though, it’s worth it. The tent floor area is a whopping 90 square feet, big enough to fit two air mattresses if Dad is tired of always being forced to sleep on the floor. The enormous vestibule is another 90 square feet, which is big enough to fit multiple mountain bikes. There’s all the interior storage you could possibly want, including guy lines to hang your wet clothes for when you’re swimming in the lake and forgot to bring your clothesline. The full-coverage fly kept us pretty warm while camping with 40-degree nights, but there are also two saloon doors. On lazy days, there’s plenty of room to roll up the doors, admire the lake in front of you, and take a nap. It would also make a good base camp center if you have a bunch of kids that want to hang out in the heat of the day. —Adrienne So
We have an entireguide to backpacking tents, but most of those are two-person since that's the usual way to do it with large groups—split into pairs for shelters. If you have kids who don't like the idea of sleeping without parents though, you might need a four-person tent. Of all the lightweight four-person tents I've tested, the MSR Elixir 4 is my favorite. I’ve used this with my three kids on several backpacking trips when they were younger, and there was plenty of interior space for all of us. That said, three adults will be more comfortable than four and you probably won't fit four of today'sultra-plush sleeping padsin the Elixir 4.
The Elixir is a solidly built tent, made of quality materials—the 70D taffeta nylon floor has proved durable in my testing. There are three color-coded aluminum poles with corresponding color-coded clips, making it easy to set up. The side walls are steep thanks to the crossover pole, making the interior roomy, though the storage pockets up top are on the small side. The mesh at the top provides great ventilation on warm summer nights (and leaving off the rain fly gave my kids and me a great view of the stars at night). There’s double vestibules with enough room to keep boots and other gear out of the weather, though cooking under the vestibule is cramped and tricky.
We're not saying Decathlon is lying, but if you can get this tent up in two seconds, you're doing better than we are. That said, this two person tent sets up plenty fast, far faster than anything else in this guide. It's freestanding, although for maximum ventilation you'll want to use the side guy ropes, which help open up some space for air to flow.
Aside from the quick and easy setup, what makes the Quechua special is the black fabric, which gets you pretty close to darkness even in broad daylight. That makes it a good choice for festivals or a day at the beach, or anywhere you want to take a nap or just get out of the sun for a while. —Adrienne So
Think of the Safari Stingray as a portable tree fort. The British brand's giant hammocks are popular with festies, but this enclosed version is meant to use for camping trips. I took it to a weeklong campout in Maine, lending it to my friend and his daughter to sleep in while my daughter and I stayed in a traditional tent on a wooden platform. Both parties were happier, with the obvious advantages of sleeping suspended in a tree with nothing but nylon and air beneath you, balanced out by the hassles of descending four feet for midnight trips to the latrine and the tighter quarters that come from its aerodynamic design.
The Stingray is suspended from three trees, and finding three appropriate trees in a semi-triangular shape within the confines of our site took some time. Once we had them picked, we ratcheted the tent into place using the provided straps, which look like something off a tractor-trailer. It took about an hour, and even with practice, I can't see it going up in less than 30 minutes, so this is a tent you'll want to leave in place for a few days at minimum. It otherwise performed like another tent, with no leaks or other issues. For people who love sleeping in a hammock but find it a little too constrictive, the Stingray could be just the ticket. It would also do well installed in a wooded area in your backyard for the summer. —Martin Cizmar
How to Pick the Perfect Tent for You
There are hundreds of tents out there. If none of our top picks quite works for you, here are a few things to consider while doing your own research.
Know how you plan to use your tent.Are you a car camper? Backpacker? Bike packer? All of the above? If you're primarily headed to established campgrounds, there's no need for an expensive ultralight tent. By the same token, if you're not happy until the trail head is 20 miles behind you, it might be worth sacrificing living space to save weight; seeour guide to the best backpacking tents. The unfortunate truth is that there are very few tents that work well in the backcountryandthe campground. It's often worth buying a good backcountry tentandsomething cheap for campgrounds to spare your expensive tent the added wear and tear.
Keep the weather in mind.“three-season” or “four-season” usually refers to how much ventilation (that is, mesh) the tent has along with how close to the ground the rain fly comes. For most people, a three-season tent is fine. But if you're planning to do some winter camping, or you want some protection against the occasional early or late winter squall, then a four-season tent might be appropriate.
It was intense! Sorry. That joke never gets old. And sometimes it really was. We test tents individually in most cases, taking them on real trips. We try to use them the way you do, in the real world. It really doesn't matter much how a tent performs in a lab, what matters is how it does after a long day hiking as a storm is moving in or when you get to the campsite late and you're trying to set it up by headlights. That's when a tent's performance, easy of setup, and durability really matter. We try to test each tent for several weeks at time to get a feel for what it's like to live in it day in and day out. We also set them up in our backyards during more extreme weather to see how they perform, this is usually the best, most entertaining part of the testing process.
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