The Best Family Camping Tents of 2022

If you want a sturdy and strong tent with superior ventilation that sets up in a matter of seconds, you’re going to love the Coleman Skylodge Instant tent. It was the tent that turned my die-hard, backpacking tent-loving husband into a believer.

When we tested this tent, my son and I arrived at our campsite solo at nearly 9 p.m. in the pitch dark at an unfamiliar campground along with another family. It took them over 40 minutes to pitch their standard tent, which they had used many times prior. It took me, with a brand new tent, under 5 minutes. I expected this tent to be easy to set up, but I had no idea it’d be quite this easy.

Taking it down was just as simple, and my husband has been waxing poetic for weeks about the ease with which he was able to pack this tent up and hit the road.

As for the time spent in the tent: This is a great tent! It has a mesh sunroof that allows for excellent airflow and panoramic views, a floor-to-ceiling door, and three windows on the remaining sides—which makes for excellent cross ventilation during summer camping months.

Two storage pockets were roomy enough for a wallet, a phone, an e-reader, a couple of headlamps, and even a mini children’s audio player and headphones. We don’t tend to plug in when we are at a campsite, but an added E-port electrical sleeve allows you to easily run a cable to an outlet without compromising warmth in the tent.

Aluminum poles make for a durable frame that feels like it could stand up to heavy winds and a color-coded rain fly allows for simple orientation when inclement weather rolls in.

The biggest complaint we had was that the poles can be a little sticky at the first use. After a few more uses they now move with ease. Should we have difficulty in the future, a spray of lubricant should help. We also would have loved to have had two doorways, to allow for kids to enter and exit from either side.

This three-season tent is a total winner. Set-up and break-down are both quick and easy and it has a roomy interior with lots of floor space and headroom to give excellent shelter for families, with options to outfit groups as small as two and as large as ten.

My family loves this tent and—as far as family camping tents are concerned—it has made us complete converts to the world of instant tents. Whether you are a new camper or just looking to simplify things when taking your family on camping adventures, this tent is a total winner.

The Coleman Instant Cabin has an enormous cult following and when we tried it, we could see why. This is a phenomenal tent for the casual car camper and those of us that prefer not to mess around with complicated poles and protracted setup times. This charming little tent is perfect for weekend getaways, backyard staycations, or even for a little pop-up playhouse for kids to enjoy.

We tested the four-person version of this tent and have to say that, when they say instant, they mean it with this no-frills, well-priced, one-step family camping tent. The aluminum poles extend and collapse using a button system that is a cinch to figure out. Vertical walls, two large side windows, and one floor-to-ceiling door with an adjacent window gave this pop-up abode a decidedly cabin-like feel. A roomy floorplan and a center height of nearly 5 feet allow for easy movement. You feel like you have a lot of breathing room in this well-priced tent. An integrated rainfly further contributes to the ease of setup—particularly for the entry-level camper.

This family camping tent isn’t without its flaws, however. This tent can feel stuffy: The lack of a rear window and sunroof prevented the kind of airflow we prefer. We'd love to see either a second door or a rear window, to improve overall ventilation on this tent. That aside, this is a charming entry-level tent that impressed us and our volunteer testers right off the bat.

We loved the thoughtful design features of this tent by this Kansas-based company, including electrical cord access, a lantern hook, a gear loft, and a huge wall organizer. There’s a place for everything, so you’ll never be left scrambling to find your cell phone, headlamp, or wallet with this tent.

One of the better-ventilated family camping tents we tried, the Core has an adjustable venting system that includes three windows, a door, a mesh sunroof, and two floor vents to keep air circulating on hot days. Though, as with many of the instant tents tested, we were disappointed to find that there was no back window or door.

This was, however, a sturdy and easy-to-set-up tent that held up well to the elements and came with a lot of excellent features for the price. This tent comes in sizes small enough to accommodate four people and large enough to accommodate 12.

Honestly, we loved this tent. My husband, the gear nut, couldn’t stop praising it.

Pre-attached poles that unfold break down easily and ensure that you are never scrambling to figure out which pole goes where. Color-coded hooks make the rain-fly assembly intuitive. High-quality features like a full mesh upper area, storage pockets, a storage loft, and battery-operated interior lighting make this a well-priced, well-structured tent that is loaded with bells and whistles.

The only issue of note is that, while the Coleman Skydome calls itself an instant tent, it really isn’t one. It lacks telescopic poles or pop-open features to make it truly instant. It is, however, one of the easiest family camping tents we've ever assembled, making it a perfect middle-ground for a family that wants an easier tent setup and a sturdy build, without the bulk of an instant tent.

Be careful with this tent—it goes up so fast you could lose an eye! As far as family camping tents go, you can’t get an easier setup than this pop-up tent, and it comes down almost easier than it goes up.

The connected rain fly is a cinch to connect and, what’s more, the open roof makes this a dreamy tent for gazing up at the stars or at a tree canopy. Our son loved hanging out in this pop-up abode when we tested it in our front yard, which is a testimony to its excellent ventilation.

This pop-up tent packs up into a large, flat disc shape, which is super lightweight. While it held up fine in drizzling rain this tent only has two guylines to secure it to the ground, so we are skeptical it will be able to stand up to heavy winds.

While it bills itself as a four-person tent, know that it’s a tight fit—so we wouldn’t recommend it for more than three people and, if you're tall, it may only be suitable for two.

If there is an easier family camping tent out there, we haven’t seen it. No tent was more simple to set up and take down than the Moon Lence.

Shaped in a hexagon this five-point tent opens and closes like an umbrella, so it makes for a speedy and intuitive setup. The four windows and floor-to-ceiling door, as well as the skylight roof, allow for lots of ventilation and superior cross breeze on hot days.

This is an extra roomy tent for a four-person family, while not being as large as a six-person. That does make for some nice breathing room, however, due to the hexagon shape, it seemed impossible for this tent to actually be able to fit five people as they claim. What’s more, the odd shape made it challenging to add an air mattress or inflatable sleeping pads.

We were excited to try out this tent by Night Cat. It had a ton of great online reviews and video bloggers extolled the virtues of this fast and easy tent, hailing it as one of the best family camping tents for the price. We, unfortunately, were disappointed with the tent we received.

While the telescoping frame opened up easily, one of the fiberglass poles popped apart when it came time to break it down. It looked easy to pop back into place, but we don’t love the idea of constantly needing to repair a tent at the end of each camping trip. What’s more, the carrying bag split open the first time I zipped it shut and won't last more than two or three camping trips from the looks of it.

What we did like about this tent was the spacious footprint and the two doors that allowed for a refreshing cross breeze. This tent has an integrated rain fly, and where it could have been stuffy, there was a lot of thoughtful attention to ventilation. Additionally, while the tent can’t stand on its own without the rainfly, the rainfly is attached to the frame. Removal of the internal tent can turn this into a sun tent, which could have made this a real value winner.

This could have been our best value winner, but cheap components knocked it down to the bottom of our list. The design was great, so this is a real shame of craftsmanship.

With cheap components and a design that seems better suited to suffocation than shelter, this tent is one we strongly advise you to pass on.

Like the Night Cat, this is a tent that can’t stand on its own. The integrated rainfly is attached to the telescoping fiberglass poles and you can remove the internal tent for a sun tent or a minimal camping cover. The problem is that when in tent mode, the Toogh doesn’t have nearly the same level of ventilation as the Night Cat.

For one, it only has one door. For another thing, it was designed where the rainfly and the internal tent didn’t seem to have enough clearance to give proper air circulation. Every time I was in this tent I felt like I was going to suffocate.

What’s more, there is no way this is a four-person tent. This is a two-person tent—and if you and your partner go camping, you’ll probably want to leave your dog at home.