Pop-up Camper Pros and Cons - and a tour!

We have been camping in a pop-up camper for the last 5 years. Bree grew up camping in them and this camper was actually her parents. They gave it to us when they got a class B motorhome. There are some great things about this style of camper and we've had some wonderful adventures in it!

What exactly is a pop-up camper?

This type of camper folds into a small box, generally 6-10 feet long, 8 feet wide and ~5 feet tall. They will fit into a standard garage and tow easily because they don't have as much drag. Almost all Pop-up campers have canvas sides like a tent and a hard roof over the center.

To set up a pop-up camper, you crank up the roof and push the sides out to create a space inside with beds, a dining area and a kitchen.

Because the beds push out, you get a relatively large interior space for something that is small and lightweight.

To travel, the pop-up is folded together into a small box. There is still quite a bit of storage inside but you have to put everything in before you lower the roof and if you forget something, you have to either crank it back up or send in a small explorer to extract the wanted item!

Take a tour of our pop-up

Pop-up campers have some great features

It is so light that we easily move it by hand so that we can get into tight camping spaces.

Many pop-up campers have a stove that you can take outside so that you can cook outdoors without traveling with a separate cook top.

Pro's of our Pop-up Camper

Con's of our Pop-up Camper

It is lightweight and easy to tow It is simple, there is no grey or black tanks, all the moving parts are manual and (relatively) easy to repair (note some pop-up campers do have toilets and showers) Because the beds push out, there is a lot of space inside for rainy days The canvas makes you feel like you are sleeping in a tent and closer to the outdoors The whole thing is windows so you don't feel enclosed There is a lot of storage Our cook top can be moved outside so we can easily cook outside Our's has a heater and fridge that can run off propane and the deep cell battery so we don't need to be hooked up to electrical to have those Relatively inexpensive for a travel trailer

Set up takes 45 to an hour Take down takes at least 1 hour If it rains, you have to pop it back up later to let it dry Everything has to be tetris'd into place so the top can close You can't access anything inside once you've closed the top No bathroom so we can't boondock (well we could but we choose not to)

Overall

Pop-up campers are great family campers. They are also a great way to move from a tent to a more (in our opinion) comfortable camping experience without spending a lot of money. You sleep off the ground so stay warmer and have a space to go in the rain. If you are a weekend summer camper, this is could be a perfect camper for you. You can find the latest pop-up campers and read about new features like single button roof raise and heated beds(!) in our Ultimate Travel Trailer Guide.

As much as we have loved our pop-up camper, we did end up buying a different travel trailer for our camping needs mostly so that we could extend our camping season, you can read about that here.