10 Best Camping Tents of 2024

The NEMO Aurora Highrise 4 continues to impress us because of its durable build, huge interior space, and versatile design. For couples or families looking for a camping shelter that’s both spacious and easy to set up, look no further than the Highrise 4.

We love the giant door on the front, and that it stuffs away into a small, non-intrusive pocket. While the rear door is quite a bit smaller, we’ve found it doubles as an extra-large vent to keep air moving. 

The sturdy white mesh of the Highrise also sets it apart. It allows you to see out of the windows on all four sides, even when it’s raining but still offers remarkable privacy.

The pole structure of the Highrise is unusual compared to other tents this size, so there’s a bit of a learning curve the first couple of times you set it up – but it’s a snap to pitch after that. The walls are steeply inclined, so you can stretch as wide and tall as you want in the morning and not touch the ceiling. And it’s plenty durable, so it’ll last for many years if you treat it with care.

Our main complaint about the Highrise is the carrying case – we like when a tent is easy to store once it’s rolled up, but the Highrise comes with a smaller stuff sack and takes some extra work to fit everything in. 

That said, the Highrise offers an outstanding value considering comfort, size, and durability. You can get the 6-Person Aurora Highrise for the same price as the smaller version of comparable tents, so we think it’s an excellent value. 

Full review: NEMO Aurora Highrise 4

We’re big fans of the REI Half Dome SL tents, and they’ve ranked at the top of the list for years. If you prefer the convenience of a low-profile and compact camping tent, but you still want the option to do some backpacking, the Half Dome series is a fantastic choice.

The Half Dome is not as spacious as most camping tents on this list. However, it’s much roomier than an average backpacking tent thanks to pre-bent poles that create vertical sidewalls. This translates to a ton of headroom, and lots of space to sit up and move around when sharing space with a furry friend or a hiking partner.

REI doesn’t cut corners on the essential features – the Half Dome offers a few well-placed pockets for stashing your phone or a headlamp, lots of floor space, and wide vestibules for any gear you want to keep close and out of the elements. It uses a time-tested design and familiar cross-X setup with a beefy brow pole, so it’s super fast to pitch and tear down.

Our favorite thing about the Half Dome is its versatility. It’s just light enough to take on short backpacking trips while being spacious enough for car camping. Even for the 3+, the split weight comes out to just under 3 pounds, which is reasonable for a backcountry weekend adventure.

This tent is more stable in high winds due to its lower profile and it’s very easy to pitch and take down. The Half Dome is a solid tent that feels comfortable, comes at a great price, and performs well in any weather. 

Full review: Half Dome SL

If you’re looking for a tent with the largest vestibule for your family outings, a summer trip with a group of friends, or adventures with lots of gear, The North Face Wawona 6 is your golden castle. Its vestibule, clever interior design, and outstanding ventilation make for a very comfortable place to sleep, hang out, and stage your next activity.

When it comes to vestibule size, The Wawona is in a class of its own: the front vestibule is a whopping 44 square feet at the front, creating an entire additional covered space big enough to sleep in, and a substantial rear vestibule offers an equally impressive 21 square feet. 

Not only are these spaces ideal for stashing the typical muddy shoes, wet gear, and bulky items like backpacks, but the spacious vestibules can accommodate multiple bicycles, bins of gear, or up to three camping chairs and a small table to relax during a rainy afternoon. Although neither vestibule has a screen to keep out bugs, we don’t mind too much.

We appreciate the plentiful pockets and different-size storage pouches throughout the tent for stuffing everything from light jackets and hats to lighters and charging wires. Extra features like a lantern loop in the center ceiling, color-coordinated poles for easy setup, plus an all-mesh door and vent kickstands keep air moving and prevent condensation from building up on humid nights.

Having said that, we found the Wawona a bit cumbersome and time-consuming to pitch, even after we’d mastered each step of setup, so we highly recommend finding an extra set of hands to help speed up the process. The tall height of the tent makes it vulnerable in high wind, so knowing how to secure it properly is essential for wind and storms.

The biggest con of the Wawona 6 is its price and weight. At $500, this is one of the priciest camping tents we tested – and one of the heaviest as well. That said, we don’t carry it too far from our vehicles, and it offers outstanding value. The excellent use of space and storage, durable build, and versatile, oversized vestibules make it an unmatched basecamp tent for two to five people and a dog.

The generous 76-inch ceiling height, burly aluminum poles, and enormous vestibule could make this your go-to tent for years to come. If you’re the type of camper who likes to set up for days at a time (or longer) and satellite from that location for your outdoor adventures, this option is worth every penny.

If you’re looking for a low-profile tent that’s easy to use, fast to set up, and offers plenty of room for three people (or two people and a dog) the Marmot Tungsten 4 hits the sweet spot. It’s durable, sharp-looking, and will last for years.

The Tungsten is user-friendly and simple to pitch. We found two people can set up this tent in just a few minutes, but one person can also knock out these steps with ease. The hubbed pole structure is color-coordinated and is pre-bent to tension the tent perfectly.

The Tungsten is more spacious inside than it looks. With a ceiling height of almost 59 inches, it’s not quite tall enough to stand up in for most people, but this lower profile performs better in howling winds and rain. The Tungsten’s ceiling is about 10 inches taller than the REI Half Dome, which means more room to stretch your arms when you’re waking up in the morning. Plus, this tent features two brow poles to maximize headroom when you’re sitting up and moving around.

We like the L-shape doors of the rainfly since they can be completely rolled to one side and out of the way for easy in and out. The downside of this design? You sacrifice a bit of storage space in the vestibules. There’s still enough room for shoes and a backpack, but it’s less roomy than comparable tents.

The Tungsten is lower on our list because it only has a few small internal pockets, so we quickly ran out of space to stash extra clothes and small items. And, Marmot doesn’t include any guylines with this tent. If you’re planning on camping on a windy butte in Utah or a fall storm in the high Rockies, be sure to pick up your own guylines and a few extra stakes to keep your tent securely attached to the ground. 

When it comes to car camping, we love a hassle-free, reliable, and well-built tent that packs up small, and the Marmot Tungsten is a good choice. For those who don’t mind spending a bit more for a high-quality tent that feels big but packs small, this is the tent for you. And if you’re looking for a smaller size, it also comes in ultralight (for backpacking) as well as 1-, 2-, and 3-person versions.

The MSR Habitude 6 is the king of stormproof, premium tents. For families and groups who want the best of the best when it comes to 3-season weather protection and organization, the Habitude is an outstanding basecamp.

This model is impressively spacious, but the simple square design of its floor lets it fit easily into tighter campsites. We fit three wide sleeping pads with no issue, but the Habitude is more than big enough for four or five people (with regular-size pads) without feeling cramped. Plus, the peak height is well over six feet – plenty of room to stand up to change clothes.

Our favorite comfort feature of the Habitude – besides the many well-placed pockets – is the built-in “porch light”, a push-button light embedded in the aluminum poles of the awning, positioned above the single entryway. This is a welcome touch during moonless evenings, midnight bathroom breaks, and rainy early mornings when you make it back to your tent.

We think the Habitude 6 is the most weather-resistant, lightweight (for its size) 3-season tent on the market. Tents of this height – over 6 feet – can feel like a sail flapping in the wind when weather turns, but the Habitude’s flexible pole structure and strong materials make it a reliable shelter in driving rain, intense winds, and summer storms.

The main bummer is the price tag. At $700, this is one of the most expensive camping tents we’ve ever tested. But, you truly get what you pay for with this tent – one of the most weather-resistant, high-quality, durable, and well-organized shelters out there. For a less weather-worthy but more feature-forward version, check out the Habiscape 6.

The Coleman Sundome 4 is the most affordable tent on this list. It’s popular because it’s so inexpensive (and almost always on sale somewhere) but is still relatively light and compact for its size. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly shelter for occasional camping on bluebird days and calm nights in the front country, the Sundome may be all you need.

Coleman keeps the weight of the Sundome down with lightweight fiberglass poles that create a simple and familiar structure. It’s straightforward to set up, and one person can pitch the tent in less than eight minutes, but an extra set of hands is helpful. An extended brow pole keeps the partial rainfly away from the windows, and a separate door mat is a welcome place to sit or stand while pulling on shoes or a jacket.

We appreciate the Sundome for its spacious interior. We easily fit three regular camping pads and a dog bed in the tent and had plenty of room to spread out. The peak height is just shy of five feet, so we couldn’t stand fully upright, but the lofty headspace is helpful for moving around.

For such a low price, though, you’ll sacrifice reliability and longevity. The poles and fabric of the tent are not durable compared to others on this list. We learned this when a pole broke and ripped through the fabric after a handful of uses in fair weather.

The budget-friendly price also means that most of the seams are not sealed, so this is not the tent to choose if there is moisture in the forecast – although it will dry fast after a passing rain cloud. The zippers on both windows and doors are clunky and tended to catch on the overlapping fabric. The partial rainfly attaches loosely to the frame with plastic hooks, and a single brow bar keeps the thin fabric balanced on top of the tent. A sustained moderate wind will unhook the rainfly from its position, so camping in anything but bluebird conditions may yield some interior moisture.

However, if you need a simple and inexpensive tent for a few nights of fair-weather camping here or there, the Sundome will do a fine job. For those who want an economical tent for an overnight in the backyard with the kids, a couple of mild weekends of front-country camping over a holiday weekend, or events like a multi-day festival, the Sundome is a decent option.