
The North Face - Wawona 8
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Feb 15, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
7
3
"The vestibule is one of the defining features of this tent."
"the vestibule is awesome, we put a folding table on one side to hold out gear that doesn't need to be inside but needs to be covered"
"the vestibule is amazing, we set up a small table and chair under it for holding more gear ... I haven't seen another large tent with a built in vestibule like the wawona 8"
3
2
"we use the 8-person version (wawona 8) for a family of four - two double beds and space for gear"
"It fit two queen mattresses plus about 3-4ft of tent for supplies. ... It felt spacious and we could walk around easily."
"we use two duo exped mats for our beds and it still leaves room along two sides for gear"
2
0
"Color coded tabs so there’s no guesswork with the fly"
"single person setting it up is possible"
5
2
"It's an incredible tent -- we were poured on in the Hoh Rainforest and remained completely dry as did the interior of our tent."
"I’ve slept through a few huge rainstorms in my Wawona. It’s a great tent."
"The Wawona gets some heat because it doesn't have a full fly but, being PNW based, we've never had an issue in either the 6 or 8."
7
1
"aluminum poles over fiberglass ... good quality screen ... the seams are still solid after a decade ... It’s just made really well"
"It's an incredible tent -- we were poured on in the Hoh Rainforest and remained completely dry as did the interior of our tent."
"The Wawona seems better constructed and better materials. ... The wawona is about the same weight, but everything is sturdier. Thicker poles, mesh and fabric. Better zippers. No deforming after storms."
Disliked most:
0
1
"the giant vestibule has no floor and the walls also do not go down to the ground, sits about 3.inches off, so the vestibule will not be bug free"
1
2
"I have a North Face tent that I thought was a great find, just to find out it's so tiny inside it annoys me (I think it is only around 80")."
"But they’re cramped"
0
1
"They tend to be designed for snow not rain, so struggle above 0."
Yeah. I’ve slept in it with myself on a cot and my three boys in sleeping bags. The 8 doesn’t have the same vestibule setup. I didn’t prefer it as much but if that’s not a big deal 🤷♂️
The vestibule is one of the defining features of this tent. If you use the vestibule on this one, but want one smaller, there is always the wawona 6. That should be fine for 2 adults, 2 dogs, and gear. Otherwise, there are plenty of other 6 person tents that could be even smaller overall if you don't need the wawona vestibule.
We just did this and have 4 kids. Some items like a Coleman stove we already had, but here’s what we bought to get started. It adds up but was still so much less than the AirBnb even after campsite fees. We mostly camp in New England hence the sleeping bag choice. Good luck! 1 x NF Wawoma 8 Tent w/ footprint tarp 6 x NF Wawoma 20 Sleeping Bags 4 x Nemo Switchback Sleeping Pads 1 x Exped Queen Megmat
8. It’s a beast but so easy to put up.
we have a north face wawona 8. It fit two queen mattresses plus about 3-4ft of tent for supplies. It felt spacious and we could walk around easily. The only issue with this tent is that the front door is hard to open, it took two hands to hold part of it taught while the other hand pulled the zipper. This was particularly challenging as we have an infant in arms, but with older kids it may be a minor inconvenience rather than an issue. Our friends had the Marmot 6, the snowpeak 6 and the big agnes bunkhouse 6. The bunkhouse was giant compared to the other two tents. It could fit two queen mattresses plus a small 2ft strip for supplies. The quality is amazing and its very easy to set up compared to the north face. The marmot 6 and snowpeak 6 could only fit one mattress but with ample room for supplies. Marmot was simple to set up, snowpeak slightly more challenging, but both seemed equal quality to the north face.
Wawona 8 is legit an awesome tent. Tested it in rain, stays dry.
I have the Wawona 8 and it's pretty great, especially if you have bigger kids.
You’d have to buy the vestibule extension for the 8. The 6 has a nice vestibule
Wawona 6 would be awesome with the vestibule. We have a Wawona 8 for a family of 4 and can comfortably fit a megamat duo and lost horizon, plus lot of room to spare.
This is a great choice but a bit cramped for a family of 4. We upgraded to wawona 8 for that reason.
North Face Wawona 8 is awesome fits our family of 4 comfortably with enough space to keep luggage and move around. It has also has a big awning at the front and doors on both sides.
Yeah, I have the same one. The tent space and vestibule makes it super comfortable although I only have 2 kids.
The kingdom is not a well made or long lasting tent. With a 2 and 5 year old, ours lasted a year and a half. Returned it and got a second one that unstitched itself even quicker. Poles are not great either. Wawona has been solid so far for us
I’ve had both of those tents. I hung the kingdom out to dry during an overnight stop at my cousins on the way back from the boundary waters and took off without it. Stopped at REI in KC and they had the wawona returned for $160, so I bought it. I didn’t have the extended vestibules for either. I give the kingdoms the advantage in comfort. The pockets are perfect and everywhere. The Wawona seems better constructed and better materials. It took about 40 family trips with young boys over 2.5 years to have the kingdom pretty warn out. I just remembered that I swapped it out at REI halfway because the zipper eats holes in the rain fly, so really less than 2 years of hard use and it’s shot. The poles also bend too easy. One windstorm and it was never exactly in the right shape again. The wawona is about the same weight, but everything is sturdier. Thicker poles, mesh and fabric. Better zippers. No deforming after storms. I miss the stow pockets for the tent doors every time I use it. The pockets feel minimalist. The ones on the back door don’t help that much because it self empties when you unzip it. You can put a tablet in there and watch shows as a family. Both tents are cavernous. You need to stake everything out if there is going to be a storm. If you put the wawona with the front door facing away from the wind it actually does well in heavier weather.
we have a wawona 8 for a family of four, I think the wawona 6 would be good, we especially like the giant vestibule, covered exterior space is very useful
we have a wawona 8 and like it a lot, but note that the giant vestibule has no floor and the walls also do not go down to the ground, sits about 3.inches off, so the vestibule will not be bug free
we use the 8-person version (wawona 8) for a family of four - two double beds and space for gear; high ceiling single person setting it up is possible but will definitely easier with two people large vestibule on the wawona 8 and the wawona 6 is super useful
I am you, a family of four, kids 11 and 9, we have the wawona 8 and it's been really good for us we use it for state park camping and we also used it on our Utah BIG 5 summer vacation, camping at almost all of the parks for multiple nights the wawona 8 is about as small as I'd go for the family, especially with little kids; as the kids get older and more adventurous, theyay want to set up and have their own tent it's big enough that we use two double wide exped mats for sleeping and it still leaves some space for walkway and gear storage the vestibule is amazing, we set up a small table and chair under it for holding more gear I'm not sure what other tent I would go with but the wawona is rather pricey, but it seems very well constructed; we made it cheaper by buying from REI when they had their 20% member coupons sales if I did it again on a budget, I would check out some from amazon, some brands have been making a name of themselves and on YouTube - like naturehike, I would consider their 8 person tents to use (watch some YouTube videos to see them in action) I haven't seen another large tent with a built in vestibule like the wawona 8 so an option for a vestibule is to make your own with tarp and poles good luck in your search! https://preview.redd.it/hthebp3qp8yf1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b6d746e5761f309fcf18408fa5529e621f35a53c
family of four here, two kids 11 and 8, we use the wawona 8 and enjoy it very much, we use two duo exped mats for our beds and it still leaves room along two sides for gear the vestibule is awesome, we put a folding table on one side to hold out gear that doesn't need to be inside but needs to be covered
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