The Best Tents for Campers, Backpackers, and Families

Scott Gilbertson Gear Team

Camping is intense! No, really. If you're going camping, you probably need a tent. Hammock lovers might disagree--and we love sleeping under the stars when weather permits--but most of the time, finding and preparing adequate shelter for yourself, your family, or your pets is a nonnegotiable step toward being comfy in the great outdoors. There are as many kinds of tents as there are ways to go camping, and they range widely in price and features. To help you figure out the best tent for your next adventure, we've pooled our favorites from years of testing--whether you're getting away for the weekend with the family or soloing Mount Whitney.

Be sure to check out our other buying guides, including the Best Rain Jackets, Best Hiking Gear, Best Camping Gear, and Best Barefoot Shoes.

Updated August 2023: We've added the Snow Peak Land Nest Medium Tent Tarp Set, Mountain Hardware's massive Bridger 6, and Big Agnes' new bikepacking option, and we've updated prices throughout.

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Stroll through any campground in America and you'll see plenty of these no-frills Coleman tents for good reason. They're reasonably cheap, available just about anywhere, and get the job done. They're all you need, especially if you're only camping for a week or two a year.

This is our top pick for newcomers and the experienced alike. It's easy to set up, provides good rain protection and three-season comfort, and the price doesn't break the bank--although it has jumped nearly $50 in the past year. If you forgo the extra vestibule with the bug screen, the Coleman Sundome Tent is even cheaper. But living in the southern United States, I really appreciate the bug barrier (and the extra room to stash stuff).

REI's Half Dome tent series has been a popular choice with backpackers for many years. It's rugged, easy to set up, and offers generous living space for two with gear. The mesh design, when coupled with the rainfly and good staking, will stand up to storms and not roast you when camping in the midsummer heat. The dual doors with dual vestibules ensure you aren't climbing over your partner in the middle of the night. That said, the vestibules are on the small side--big enough for boots and an empty pack, but not much else.

The Half Dome isn't the lightest tent on this list (see the Copper Spur below), but at just under 4 pounds, it's not too heavy when split between two people. I also like that the rainfly is symmetrical--there's no "front" and "back," and the vestibules are identical--which makes setup easier.

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, the Land Nest Dome Medium ($540) 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 in at 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 sized Tarp ($390) sits neatly over the porch of the tent to extend the living space, though 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 wind. 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. I highly recommend it. --Chris Haslam

When weight matters but you still want a freestanding tent, the Big Agnes Copper Spur series is tough to beat. I've used both the two-person and four-person models over the years, and Big Agnes has continually refined the design to the point that I have nothing left to complain about. We recently tried the updated one-person Copper Spur (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and loved it. If you can afford it, this is one of the best tents on the market. It's lightweight, easy to set up, and stable even in strong winds. The Copper Spur is also very livable, with interior mesh pockets and an ingenious "awning" design that makes getting in and out a snap.

My only criticism is that it can be a tight squeeze. For a long trip where your partner isn't your significant other, you might want to go with the next size up. The three-person could be a spacious, comfortable living space for two people with all their gear, and will still be lighter than most two-person tents. WIRED reviewer Matt Jancer owns this tent and has broken a pole section twice now. Make sure you bring a repair kit (after the fact, Big Agnes will replace your pole section for $5).

Adrienne So

Julian Chokkattu

Julian Chokkattu

Jaina Grey

Bikepacking (that's backpacking on a bike, for the uninitiated) means adventurous types can explore further without having to carry mountains of gear on their back, and brands like Big Agnes are now designing tents that have shorter pole lengths, enabling them to fit between drop handlebars, or in panniers.

My pick of the bunch is the superlight, super premium Copper Spur HV UL3. It weights just 3 lb, 11 oz ( 1.6 kilos), and it has a generous amount of sleeping space for two (a squeeze for three). It's also available in lighter, smaller, one- and two-person options, all with twin vestibules and doors, hidden helmet storage, and external webbing for hanging out wet clothes. The superb DAC Featherlite NSL poles fold short and fit between drop handlebars, secured in place with heavy-duty clips, while the eco-sensitive process dyed ripstop nylon is strong and exceptionally light. Oddly for a bike-specific tent, you'll need to carry hiking poles if you want to create two awnings, but in truth, this tent is equally good if you are adventuring on foot.

There's a whole range of Big Agnes bike-specific tents, but I want to give a special mention to the hammock-style Gear Lofts ($20), which create a huge stash space without cluttering up the tent floor. (Ed. note: For more tips, check out our full guide to the best bikepacking gear.) --Chris Haslam

If you're camping with a family, let me make an argument for backcountry camping. Paddling out to a distant shore might be preferable to figuring out how to keep a rambunctious dog or toddler from annoying everyone around them in a campground. If you're headed away from the car, you want a sturdy, more reliable tent like this MSR.

The Habitude is strong and light. It fits easily on a canoe or paddleboard and is easy to set up--the design is simple and the poles are color-coded. There's plenty of floor space for two adults, two toddlers, and a large-ish dog. It also has storage pockets, places to hang lights, and a vestibule. The only major downside is that it doesn't get quite as much airflow as our other picks. But otherwise, this is a good option if your family is ready to move past car camping but not quite prepared to snap the handles off everyone's toothbrushes and go full-on ultralight.--Adrienne So

Nemo's new Osmo fabric is the star of the show in the Dagger Osmo 3P (8/10, WIRED Recommends). The new fabric resists sagging in wet weather, which means even when the rain is coming down, the fly is not. It's also nice that the Osmo nylon-polyester blend is made with 100 percent recycled nylon and polyester yarns, with no flame-retardant chemicals or fluorinated water repellents (PFC and PFAS). Nemo is using this new fabric on all its backpacking tents.

While the new fabric does a great job, what I really love is how low to the ground and sturdy it is--it holds up really well in even strong (45 mph when I was testing) wind. Pair the sturdiness with large, spacious vestibules and a roomy interior with excellent stargazing potential thanks to the mesh roof, and you have a great backcountry tent. The only real downside is the weight. I find 4 pounds fine when split between two people, but the ultralight-obsessed will likely prefer Nemo's Hornet or Dragonfly tents.

Adrienne So

Julian Chokkattu

Julian Chokkattu

Jaina Grey

Do you go all-out when you go out? No one at our group campsite could believe the size of our Bridger 6, especially since it packs down to around the same size as our 4-person MSR Habitude. Even though 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 5'10" 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, as I always do. 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

The MSR Elixir 4 tent isn't quite as pricey as the Big Agnes Copper Spur, but it's not much heavier. I used this with my three kids, and there was plenty of interior space. That said, three adults will be more comfortable than four. The mesh at the top provides great ventilation on warm summer nights (and leaving off the rainfly gave my kids and me a great view of the stars at night). It has double vestibules with enough room to keep boots and other gear out of the weather, and the crossover pole really helps keep the walls steep but strong in the wind.

Sea to Summit's ultralight Alto (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is designed to keep weight down on your solo adventures. WIRED reviewer Matt Jancer recently took one to Hawaii, where he notes that despite the mere 33-ounce weight, it held up on the abrasive volcanic rock and heavy north shore winds on the Big Island and Kauai. The top's zippered vent should probably have mesh to keep the bugs from flying in between the tent's inner and outer walls, but let's be honest--bugs will probably get in there anyway. You can use a tiny zipper to open and close the vent without leaving the tent. This tent and the Telos ($599) are Sea to Summit's first tents, but the company nailed it. There's also a two-person TR2 model ($549) if you like the design but need more room.

Adrienne So

Julian Chokkattu

Julian Chokkattu

Jaina Grey

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, it 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.

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.

Keep the weather in mind. "Three-season" or "four-season" usually refers to how much ventilation (that is, mesh) the tent has. A three-season tent will offer better ventilation but will have a harder time retaining heat. For most people, a three-season tent is fine. But if you're planning to snowshoe into the backcountry, or if you live in northern climes and want some protection against the occasional early or late winter squall, then a four-season tent might be appropriate.

What specs are important?

Less weight means more money. This isn't always true, but unfortunately, it usually is. If you want to go ultralight, you're going to have to spend more. But before you fork over the big bucks, ask yourself: Do I really care about saving 6 ounces? Are you going to notice those 6 ounces at the end of a 20-mile day? If the answer is yes, then rejoice. There is an internet subculture of people who obsess over saving ounces. The r/ultralight Reddit is a good place to start your research.

Julian Chokkattu

Louryn Strampe

Simon Hill

Jaina Grey

Louryn Strampe

Medea Giordano

Louryn Strampe

Medea Giordano

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