Best 4-Person Tents: Trialed & Tested [2024 Update]

Top Picks by Category:

Budget: Coleman Sundome 4 and Kelty Wireless 4
Backpacking: Coleman Sundome 4 and REI Co-Op Trail Hut 4
Features: REI Wonderland 4
Space: REI Wonderland 4, NEMO Wagontop 4 and Eureka Copper Canyon LX 4

Which are the best 4-person tents?

From four-person camping tents to backpacking tents and beyond, we’ve trialed and tested dozens and narrowed down our favorite 7 tents in the list below.

• REI Co-op Wonderland 4
• Coleman Sundome 4
• Thule Tepui Explorer Autana 4
• REI Trail Hut 4
• Nemo Wagontop 4P
• Kelty Wireless 4
• Eureka Copper Canyon LX 4

How to Choose the right 4-person camping tent?

Deciding which is the best 4-person tent for your needs will be based on your preferences around the criteria listed below.

• Comfort: Floor Space & Peak Height
• Weather Protection
• Warm Weather Ventilation
• Quality and Durability
• Setting Up & Taking Down
• Weight and Packed Size
• Storage Space: Pockets, Vestibules, and Gear Loft

Comfort: Floor Space & Peak Height

The livable space of a tent is an important consideration and is influenced by the floor area, expected number of occupants, peak height, and shape of the pole structure. Backpacking tents tend to compromise on livability to minimize weight and packed size. Conversely, car camping tents offer more floor space, a taller peak height, and vertical walls.

While all tents give a capacity (i.e. the number of intended occupants), the marketing departments of these companies tend to be overly optimistic as to how many folks they can cram inside one of their products. 

Instead of relying on this, take a look at the given floor space, and divide it by the number of occupants to work out how much sleeping space each camper would have.

At an absolute minimum, you’ll need around 13 square feet of floor space per sleeper. This assumes you’re happy being tightly packed in and there’ll be minimal gear with you inside. Car campers who plan to use air mattresses, cots or just want a more spacious, comfortable camping trip should look for something around 15-16 square feet (or higher) per person.

The REI Wonderland 4 and the NEMO Wagontop are the roomiest 4-person tents on our list. Both offer 69.4 sq. ft. of living space, which is big enough to fit in two double air mattresses with a few square feet left over. 

The Thule Tepui Explorer Autana is the smallest at 48 square feet (12 sq. ft./person), although it does get some leeway – because it’s a rooftop model, you can store most of your gear in your SUV or truck.

For taller campers, peak height is one specification you’ll want to pay attention to. The peak height is the distance between the floor and the highest point of the tent. This will affect your ability to sit up straight in dome tents such as the Coleman Sundome (4’ 11”) and your ability to stand up inside in tunnel or cabin-style tents such as the Eureka Copper Canyon (7’).

Peak height doesn’t tell the full story though, as the overall shape will also affect the liveability. The structure of cabin tents is designed to create vertical or near-vertical walls which give more head and shoulder space. Dome style tents will arch towards the floor, meaning a rapid reduction in the height away from the apex.

The number of doors also impacts livability — if there is only a single door, then this could mean you need to clamber over your sleeping mates to exit for the bathroom. Multiple doors will allow you to get in and out of the shelter with greater ease.

Weather Protection

How well a tent holds up in adverse weather is another important consideration. The required waterproofing level of your tent depends on the anticipated locations and seasons of your camping trips. Always ensure your safety by choosing a tent designed for the expected weather conditions; for instance, avoid using a two-season tent like the Coleman Sundome in cold weather.

Weather protection is determined by the tent’s shape, the strength of the poles, and its waterproofing. More expensive tents have better weather resistance because they are made of more advanced materials, have a full-coverage rainfly, and stronger poles. Be extremely wary of the weather protection offered by cheap tents unless you plan on fair-weather camping.

To determine how waterproof a tent is, take a look at the hydrostatic head (HH) of the rain fly and on the floor. Hydrostatic head is recorded in millimeters and is a measurement of the amount of water pressure a fabric can hold before it begins to seep through. 

We’d recommend a rainfly with a HH value of 1000mm or above if you plan on camping in inclement weather during shoulder seasons, but many car-camping tents with a lower HH rating like the Coleman Sundome (600mm) or CORE Instant Dome (600mm) will be fine in short summer showers. 

The shape of the shelter, the number of guy out points, and the strength of the poles will all determine how wind resistant it is. Cabin tents with straight vertical walls are the most vulnerable to the wind and their roofs can also gather water in heavy rain. The lower profile and rounded tent walls of dome tents make them more aerodynamic and better performers in high winds.

Ventilation

Ventilation is crucial for comfort during hot summer nights in your tent. A tent’s breathability is influenced by its design—single-wall or double-wall—, the materials used, and the quantity and location of vents in the rain fly. Be aware that waterproof coatings on a rainfly can substantially reduce fabric breathability, trapping warm and humid air inside.

Single-wall tents, such as the NEMO Wagontop, have a single layer of fabric that separates the interior from the outer environment. If there is a significant temperature difference between the two, and a lack of ventilation, a build-up of condensation can occur inside. The Wagontop gets around this by having large screened windows, although this reduces its weather resistance.

Many 4-person tents are built with a double-wall body consisting of the inner tent and the rain fly. This design helps to prevent a humid interior and condensation build-up by improving the airflow throughout.

The inner part is partially made of mesh, which allows humid air to escape and fresh air to enter. – the more mesh there is, the better the structure will breathe. In some models, added air vents in the rain fly allow warm and moist air to escape more quickly.

Some tents, like the REI Wonderland 4, have rainfly designs that can be easily rolled back in better weather conditions allowing for even better airflow.

Quality and Durability

When searching for an excellent tent, assess its quality and durability, focusing on the resilience of the tent fabric and its poles.

The thickness of a tent’s fabric is measured in denier (D), which is proportional to durability. The denier rating of the fabric is a measurement of yarn weight and is often given by the manufacturer. The denier information of the tent floor, rainfly, and canopy is often listed as 10-300 denier (sometimes referred to as 10D-300D) and is typical for car camping tents. 

Tent floors are most susceptible to punctures and tears, especially without a footprint, and are normally made with thicker materials than the rainfly.

In addition to the fabrics, take a look at the tent poles. A budget tent will use fiberglass poles, which are more prone to breaking than the lighter and more expensive aluminum poles used for manufacturing more premium tents.

The level of durability you require comes down to how often you’ll use it, and in what conditions. However, if you have kids, then your family tent will likely need a little extra toughness. For this, we recommend the NEMO Wagontop and the REI Wonderland, which are the most rip-resistant 4-person tents we tested.

Setting Up & Taking Down

Consider the ease of setting up and dismantling your tent in your decision-making process. Although 4-person tents can be challenging to handle due to their size, many feature user-friendly design elements such as color-coded or pre-bent poles and clip-on mesh roofs, facilitating quick assembly.

Instant tents such as the Coleman Cabin Tent are designed so that they can be set up by one person with relative ease in just a minute or two. They’re the easiest to pitch because they have pre-attached poles connected directly to the fabric. These tents, however, can be heavier and are harder to repair should a component break.

We haven’t included any instant tents on our list, but the closest thing is the Eureka Copper Canyon, which goes from packed to pitched in 2/3 minutes thanks to color-coded poles and corner pole hubs.

At the other end of the spectrum, the NEMO Wagontop is the largest, and most difficult, to assemble in our test but, with a few practice attempts, it could be assembled by our reviewer on their own in around 8-10 minutes.

Weight and Packed Size

Whether you plan on backpacking or camping, how much a tent weighs will be of greater or lesser importance. Weight considerations are more important when hiking since backpackers have to carry the tent in their pack. Therefore the best tents for backpackers will be the ones with lower weight and packed size. 

Weight can be affected by factors such as the size and capacity, materials used, and the type and shape of the shelter (freestanding vs non-freestanding, A-frame vs Dome).

If you’re planning on backpacking then a lightweight option such as the REI Trail Hut (8 lbs. 1.6 oz.) is a good option. If you can split the components amongst the occupants, then the Kelty Wireless (11 lbs. 14 oz.) is also a solid pick.

Car campers usually use larger, more durable, and therefore heavier 4-person tents. However, this extra weight is not much of an issue since you are unlikely to be carrying your gear far from your car to the pitch. 

Most of the more comfortable tents such as the REI Wonderland 4 or the NEMO Wagontop are closer to 20 lbs. and have a packed size similar to a day hiking rucksack.

Storage Space: Pockets, Vestibules, And Gear Loft

An important consideration is how you intend to store gear when your camping. Many tents offer external storage in vestibules—extensions of the rainfly—for items like shoes, bags, and cooking equipment. Depending on their size, vestibules can also provide sheltered space for activities like sitting or cooking during rain.

If you need more space, then 4-person tents like the REI Wonderland have separate aftermarket add-on vestibules to extend the amount of storage and living space.

Interior storage options such as a gear loft and mesh pockets are useful for storing items such as headlamps, phones, maps, or spare clothing so they’re handy when we need them.

If you’re the type of camper who brings along a lot of gear then, the NEMO Wagontop is a great choice. This cabin tent has plenty of vestibule space and multiple interior pockets. At the other end of the scale is the Coleman Sundome, which only has a couple of pockets and no vestibules.

Best 4-Person Camping Tent: The Verdict

After much testing and deliberation, our standout favorite four-person camping tent is the wonderful REI Wonderland 4. The Wonderland is the new, updated, and improved version of the hugely popular REI Kingdom 4 and does everything its predecessor did – and a little bit more. It’s extra-roomy, waterproof, sturdy, easy to pitch, and as well-ventilated as tents come.

If the Wonderland’s a little too pricey for you, we recommend the Coleman Sundome or the Kelty Wireless 4. Both of these tents can’t match the overall quality of the Wonderland but have all the essentials at a lower price.

So, how did you like our article? If we missed anything or you have any questions, let us know! And if you’d like to share this post with your friends, please do!