The North Face - Wawona 4

The 4 and 6 are both sweet tent for sure.

The 4 is actually 68” at the peak.

No experience with the BA one, but I own the Wawona 4, got a great deal at it at the outlet and have spent a lot of time camping in it. It’s a great tent. It feels like a palace. I love the huge open screen on the front and the fact that it angles forward. It meant that even if I was in the tent in the rain, I could usually have the fly in front rolled up and still “feel” outside, without any rain getting in. I will say it’s heavy, and I hate the bag it comes in. The ventilation was so great. Never got too warm, never had an issue with condensation. No issues in heavy rain. Did get caught in a bad windstorm on one trip. Tent was very stable but it was pretty cold inside the tent because the rain fly doesn’t go all the way to the ground on three sides. Editing to add: if you’re interested in this tent and have a North Face outlet near you, it’s worth checking out. I got this tent for $70 at one of their locations last year because it was the previous years model

DAC poles, lifetime warranty and full coverage rainfly. Marmot Halo 6p Marmot Limestone 6p MSR Habbiscape 6p Eureka Spacecamp 6p Big Agnes Bunk House 6p Sierra Designs Nomad 6p The North Face Wawona and Nemo Highrise are also good but they don't have full coverage rain flies. Buy additional guyline and upgrade your tent stakes. The stakes that come with lost tents are not good.

If you want a bargain the Eureka Spacecamp 6p is a great buy at $259. Very storm worthy and has a full coverage fly unlike the Wawona. The Wawona is a good tent if you want the porch vestibule area. The Limestone Ilis Marmot's classic done tent. I used to own this and iw rock the Halo 6p. REI Basecamp is a great tent with a terrible 1 year warranty and no after sales support from REI. Aurora Highrise doesn't have a full coverage rainfly; I would skip this one. Between the MSR tents the Habiscape is newer and a better design with larger vestibules. The Big Agnes Bunk House 6p is fantastic with it's awesome stuff sack, nice vestibules and tall peak height. The Marmot Halo 6p is a killer storm worthy tent and the one I went with.

Marmot Limestone 4p Eureka Space Camp 4p Both of these are unDer $300 If you have room a 6p is a nice upgrade because these are usually standing height. The Marmot Midpines (sold exclusively at Amazon) and the Marmot Pacifica (sold exclusively at Dick's Sporting Goods and Public Lands) are under $250 right now and are excellent shelters. You won't get a rear door or vestibule for that price but otherwise it's excellent. A 6p family camping tent is going to be standing height where most 4p tents are not. The exception to this is the Big Agnes Bunk House 4p and the North Face Wawona 4p are exceptions to this and are standing height. When you step up to a Marmot (which is Coleman's higher end brand), Eureka, Big Agnes, Nemo, MSR etc you are going to DAC aluminum poles(instead of heavy steel or fragile fiberglass), much lower weight and significantly smaller pack sizes vs the huge heavy Coleman Instant Cabin tents. Make sure to buy the manufacturer's footprint to help site cleanup be easier and to protect the tent floor. I also recommend upgrading the tent stakes that come with the tent as they are usually not great. The Paria Outdoor Products Spiral Y beams work great and are affordable for $20 for 10 of them. Use the welcome10 coupon code to save a couple of bucks. Use cashback sites like ActiveJunky.com and Topcashback.com to save a few more bucks. We have a Labor Day megathread stickied on the main subreddit landing page. Sales are quite good right now.

All all good choices. The Wawona 6p can be had for $299 assuming you can find one in stock. The Wawona has a large vestibule porch area but is large to setup. It does not have a full coverage rainfly. The Wawona 4p doesn't come with the really big vestibule of the 6p, you have to buy an optional vestibule accessory to get that. The Aurora Highrise doesn't have a full coverage rainfly and I would avoid it. The Big House is basically the Bunk House without the Big front vestibule or the really nice carry bag. It has a more basic stuff sack. You can buy an optional vestibule for this. Habitude/Habbiscape are similar. The Habbiscape is a newer design and is a little bit larger. Only a single door and vestibule on this tent.

In our area, it is easier to use 2 tents as it can be hard to find a nice spot for one large tent. We have a North Face Wawona 6 and also a Wawona 4. Wawona 6 has an excellent vestibule, which is great for kids changing out of swimsuits or storing their shoes. My kids were older when we started. At first we had all 5 kids in the Wawona 6 with adults in Wawona 4. They are getting too big for that now, so we are switching to guys/girls tents. I imagine if we had started earlier, we could have divided out the kids between us before they were old enough to handle a kids-only tent. I like the versatility-- for instance, we will only have the two youngest for a bit this summer, and we can do a camping trip with just the Wawona 6.

Sounds like you're on the right track for some great comfort upgrades! Here's my take based on years of family camping: For tents, the North Face Wawona 4P (or even the 6 person) is a solid choice. The vestibule adds valuable covered space for gear or hanging out. Another option to consider is the Nemo Aurora 4P or 6P. If you want more of an upgrade, we love canvas tents - Springbar and Kodiak make great tents and Kodiak's 9x8 is slightly larger than the Wawona 4P. Cooking-wise, we've had our Jetboil HalfGen Stove for years and it works great. We use a 1lb propane tank with it and can boil water for a family of 6. Other comfort boosters to consider: - Insulated food bowls (we use Hydro Flask) make a big difference on cold days/nights, so your food doesn't immediately get cold - Camping pillows: Small luxury, big comfort difference - String lights and a tent rug - I thought it was excessive at first but it really does make it feel nicer Car camping can be a great way to bring along little extras that make the outdoors feel like home. Enjoy the upgrade process!

The NF Wawona 4 or 6 person. They are on sale right now as well. The 6 person come with the big vestibule whereas the 4 you can add a bigger vestibule for additional cost. $350 for the 6 person on backcountry right now. Great tent and an adult can stand up in it. 😊

The North Face Wawona 4 has plenty of room and a floorless vestibule in the front. I ditched my coleman cause it leaked at the last scout outing and we were miserable. The wawona was the only tent in this entire shootout(there was a video of like 6 or 8 top brands) that stayed 100% dry through all her tests. I just snagged one. Haven’t tested but I did setup and this thing is solid. Pricey, but man sleeping wet just ruins the whole experience. Any tent is fine for fair weather, if you can guarantee it. I live in Florida, so…. https://youtu.be/G6Y_iXNrJsI?si=O2voTqRF3Jh9pm-4

That Megallan tent is awful. You would be better off sleeping beneath a plastic tarp. The pack weight is like 30lbs. It's an absolute dump truck of a tent. 30lbs and none of the seams are sealed, and the rainfly doesn't cover the sides. You would be better off spending more and getting something like The North Face Wanona 4. Wawona 4 ● 13lbs ● Waterproof seams ● Floor area: 58.13 ft² (5.4 m²) ● Tall / vertical headspace ● Huge vestibule

All of these are car camping tents. The Wanona and Homestead are 13 lbs, and they're absolutely massive when packed. The skydome 6p is enormous and weighs 19 lbs. You wouldn't ever want to hike with these tents. The North Face tents suffer from outdated design philosophies. There are no clips. You have to feed all of the poles through sleeves. The fabric can bunch up, so you have to be mindful while feeding the poles through. Slow to set up, slow to take down. The Wanona 4P performs well in the rain. It's lovely in the rain, but not so terrific to set up or break down in the rain. These taller tents don't do well in high winds. They're like giant sails, and the poles tend to bend. Questions to ask yourself: What type of camping do you envision for yourself? How many people will you be camping with? Do you plan on thru-hiking? Your ideas about camping will evolve as you gain experience with equipment.

We have this line of tent in the 4 person and it worked well for our golden plus two people (though we’re both of shorter stature). The 6 felt huge to us but it’s def nice if you like to keep equipment inside your tent.

I have a Kelty, an Alps, a North Face, a REI, a Magellan and one from Bass Pro (I can’t remember the name). All are for different situations. Kelty is a great brand. Just realize you are entering a world where you are going to wake up and ask “Do I need another tent?” and the answer is always yes. Applies to backpacks as well :)

We also have an rei half dome, used a lot when bike camping. We progressed to car camping long trips and bought a north face tent that my spouse ( and me too) can stand up and move around in. Fantastic!! On multiple day stays we love it. we took the little tent too and if just getting somewhere late and moving on the next day we used that. The bigger one has a porch and in bad weather having that space and more inside space is so good.

I have a Eureka, Marmot and North face tent. All of them have been very good.

If you want a “good” tent you will need to spend more than $400 unless you get lucky. However if your girlfriend wants a big tent and previously bought an outbound one, she doesn’t seem too concerned about having a really good tent (I don’t mean that in a rude way, but outbound is not considered quality and people looking for “good” would never consider one, and most people looking for something really technical are buying at most a 3 person, it’s just how this works). I’d just get the same one if she was happy with it. That said, as another suggested, if you keep an eye on sales you may be able to get her a slightly fancier tent like the north face Wawona for a good deal, and if she knows about good gear she’ll probably be stoked, because the wawona is just about the only tent people will suggest as a good big tent. Depends on whether you are looking to just replace/make things right, or try to treat her at the same time. Either way is fine.

Having a large porch area is great if there is inclement weather. The screen canopy would still require you to run through the rain unless you had raingear or a umbrella, or setup your tent adjacent to the picnic table which isn't always possible depending on the site. In addition, tent porches tend to be more wind resistant than the standing canopies. I definitely like the Wawona series, I was looking at the 6 before picking up a Wonderland X on steep discount instead. Also worth noting, the Columbia has fiberglass poles while the Wawona has aluminum. DEFINITELY prefer aluminum myself as I've had wicked splinters before from fiberglass poles as well as they just last significantly better. Nearly all premium tents now use Aluminum for this reason.

If the Wawona is a bit too close to budget (not sure about any additional costs/budgeting for sleeping gear, etc) the Colemans Tents (also available from REI) are pretty solid though only come with a 1 year warranty vs the Wawonas Limited Lifetime Warranty.

Wawona. Its fantastic 

In scouts where you have to buy your own tent then I highly suggest getting a sub 3-4lbs backpacking tent, and spend the $$$ money once. That way you have a tent for all occasions s. Big agnes is my favorite brand for that for a tent you can stand up in that is cheap and good I highly recommend getting over to a North Face outlet store right now. They have the extra tall Wawona tents for under 100$

Do you care about wind resistance or weight? Tall tents are nice but don’t resist wind well.  Wawona or limestone are both good. Use a tarp or footprint underneath.  If you care for it, some tents have an awning, like https://www.rei.com/product/202983/rei-co-op-wonderland-mud-room

I own the Kaiju 6, which is the predecessor for the Wawona. NF has backtracked the Wawona design so it's pretty much identical. I also use it to car camp with a 5 & 8 year old. I would look for something else. The REI kingdom series with a garage would be my do-over setup. 

I never buy anything that is trying to be sold to me by an “influencer“.  I’m sure they are pretty neat in the way they go up, probably a lot less so when you are putting them down. I highly doubt they would last as long as a similarly priced normal tent. More moving parts always equates to more problems.   I guess if you have space in your car/truck/trailer for it, the extra cash, and dislike of a regular tent then go ahead.  I will stick with my lightweight REI, or my Wawona for more comfortable car camping. If I wanted a more convenient solution I’d get a rooftop or a teardrop trailer. 

6'4" here, also Halo 6. Upgraded from a first gen NF Wawona, which I could also stand up in.

In that price range my top two would either be a Wawona or the REI Wonderland. Both have space to stand up inside, more roomy design that the Base Camp style l, and do great in even super rough weather with a couple guy-lines staked out. Go for at least a 4P, but we have a 6P, and it was worth it the few times we've been stuck inside it for hours waiting out a heavy rain storm.

Look at Northface Wawona and Marmot Limestone. Both are solid, seam taped and built like bomb shelters. The Wawona is taller, 6'2 in the middle, so slightly taller than Limestone. But if you want standing room being 6'4, you might have some tough time finding one for 4 person.

That's how we fell in love with the Wawona by watching Liz!