When camping with a group of people, you need to make sure everyone is comfortable, and nothing quite says outdoor luxury like a 4 room camping tent. With over 250 square feet of space, and optional dividers providing privacy, these massive outdoor shelters rival small cabins.
Providing more than enough room for all the family, pets, mattresses, tables, chairs, and camping gear. With multiple rooms, you aren’t limited to using each of them only as a sleeping area, making them some of the best choices of family tents.
Instead, you can use them however you wish, with many people converting rooms to a common area, dining area, pet room, or games room.
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Some models even allow for expansion, so you can build your tent out, making it even larger. With such flexibility, 4 room tents are gaining in popularity with glampers as well as large families who want to camp closer together.
Some things you should know before you take the leap and buy one of these outdoor mansions. Like, should you invest in a standalone or connectable tent or perhaps a Free-standing or Instant Frame.
You will need to be aware of the waterproofing methods that have been implemented, allowing for 3 or 4 season camping. And what does the tent need to be outfitted with?
We give you the 411 on everything you need to know about 4 room tents and our top picks for the year.
Page Contents:
The 3 Best Tents with 4 Rooms
3. Ozark Trail Base Camp 14-Person Cabin Tent
This Ozark Trail 14-Person 4-Room Base Camp Tent with 4 Entrances has a straight-wall design to provide 235 square feet of living space
There’s a lot to like about this castle-like Ozark 14-person, 4 room tent, which is loaded with features at a very affordable price point.
Dimensions
Unpacking from an expandable duffle bag that measures 28.5 x 16 x 11.5 inches, and weighing slightly over 47 lbs., it includes all poles, guy lines and stakes for an all-in-one shelter. Designed with a central room/main entry, 3 additional rooms branch off to create separate living spaces, emulating a pod tent configuration. The 4 rooms can fit 5 queen mattresses with its 260 square foot floor area, and the center peak reaches 6.5 feet in height, which is more than enough headroom for most campers.
Materials
The tent canopy and rain fly are both fashioned out of 185T polyester taffeta, with the floor getting the 235gr polyethylene treatment for durability, and 68D poly mesh to keep bugs out while allowing air in. Setting up the tent takes about 20 minutes, as there are 12 steel uprights and 10 fiberglass poles that need to be constructed for the frame. One person can do it, but it’s much easier with a second person helping. Ozark uses a pin and ring system and pre-attached elbows to simplify the setup, with the fiberglass poles’ X structure giving superior frame support.
Layout
Aside from the main T door entry which includes a mud mat to keep dirt out of the tent, each chamber has its own large D door so everyone can come and go as they please. Sewn-in curtains divide the shelter, but they can be tied back, allowing 1, 2, 3 or 4 room configuration capability.
Structure
The entire roof is constructed of mesh, which makes for memorable camping under the stars on warm summer nights, and 12 windows surround the tent to provide additional views as well as air circulation. These mesh windows and doors also have zip-up flaps to regulate air flow, give you privacy, and keep rain from entering the shelter. When the rain does fall, the provided fly attaches to the uprights and works with the canopy to provide moisture protection, with both rated at a 600mm waterproof hydrostatic head.
Features
Inside the tent you will find a few cool features as well. An e-port allows you to run power to the shelter, which can be used to power/charge phones, tablets, and run small electric heaters if the weather is on the cool side. Each room also includes storage pockets that can be used to house your essentials so you always have them close to you. Multiple gear hammocks, cup holders, and a movable media pocket are also included so you can lay down with a drink and enjoy your favorite movies/shows at any time.
Key Features
- Large Model 260 Square Feet of Space for 5 Queen Mattresses
- 600mm Hydrostatic Head on Canopy and Rain Fly Fabric
- Entry/Exit Door in Each Room
2. Coleman 3-Person & 6-Person Connectable Tent Bundle
The Coleman 3-Person & 6-Person Connectable Tent Bundle is part of a connecting tent system starter bundle of 2 connectable tents
The bundle starts off as a 2-room tent, but it’s their connectable nature that gives you a myriad of configurations, allowing you to build as many rooms as you’d like. For the sake of this article, we will cover how to configure it as a 4-room tent.
Bundle Package
The bundle comes with 2 tents that are connected by way of a watertight zipper seal. The first is a larger, 6 person hexagon-shaped tent measuring 120 square feet, weighing 28 lbs., and standing 6.3 feet tall. The second, is a 3-person trapezoid-shaped tent that gives you 48 square feet of space and 4.8 feet of height in a 15 lb. package.
Customizable
If you wish to make this a 4 room shelter, you have a few options, as the big tent has 3 attachable points that can be built out. With this bundle, you can add 2 more small tents, or if you prefer even more space, you can attach a second bundle (making and “S” shaped shelter). Additionally, another option is to purchase only 6 person tents and connect them all together! The possibilities are endless and the flexibility of these connectable outdoor shelters from Coleman are their main selling point.
Protection
Both large and small tents have enough floor space to fit a queen air mattress, and include a rainfly with adjustable roof vents, as well as an extended awning over the entry doors to provide shelter from wet weather. Coleman also includes their patented Weather Tec features throughout these tents.
Inverted stitches and zipper cuffs keep water from leaking in through the tiniest of cracks. The bathtub floor is welded shut and comes with corner reinforcements that keep you safe from groundwater, and the frame is built tough to resist 35+ mph winds. Additionally, both tents have mesh windows on all sides that can be zipped up, mesh roof panels for excellent air circulation, and reflective guy lines so you aren’t tripping over them once the sun goes down.
Setting Up
Setting up the tents will take a bit of time, but Coleman tries to make it as painless as possible, with pre-attached poles, fast-fit feet that quickly lock everything firmly in place, and insta-clips for quick attachments of the canopy to the poles. As with all tents, it is advised to use a footprint under them (separate purchase), to prolong the life of your tent floor. You can use a 12’ x 12’ footprint for the 6 person model, and a 12’ x 8’ footprint for the smaller pod.
Features
Taking a look at the special features, each tent includes a port for running electrical into the tent. This is especially handy as you can run multiple lines so each room has its own separate power source, eliminating everyone sharing a single power bank, or only have a single electrical heater running to fill all chambers at once. The interior also includes storage pockets, and once you are finished, everything collapses down to fit in an expandable carrying bag for easy repacking and compact storage.
Key Features
- 2 in 1 Tent Bundle That Can Be Configured To 4 Rooms
- Excellent Waterproof Features with Coleman’s Weather Tec System
- E-Ports on All Tents Allows Power to Be Brought Inside at Multiple Points
1. Ozark Trail 4 Room Cabin Tent
This ginormous Ozark Trail 20-Person 4-Room Cabin Tent can be used as a room
With a massive 283 square feet of space, this 4 room cabin tent is just shy of 7 feet tall, and weighs 50 lbs in its 28 x 14 inch storage bag. With plenty of features and quality construction, you should get some good life out of this model from Ozark Trail.
Design
Designed with a blend of polyester fabric and mesh, 6 windows take air into the shelter, with the fully mesh roof expelling it to provide circulation at all times. The mesh windows also come with flaps that can zipped up for privacy, or in cases where you need to quickly take refuge from the rain.
Dividers
Dividing the shelter into separate rooms are removable curtains that are attached to the loop points using hooks. This makes the tent customizable, as you can utilize it in 1, 2, 3 or 4-room configurations, fitting up to 6 queen sized mattresses so you won’t have any shortage of beds to sleep on.
Structure
Steel legs give the tent a strong structure, and the central hub uses 3 fiberglass cross-poles in a pentagon design to provide excellent support and flexibility. Large D doors outfit each room of the tent, making it accessible wherever you may be inside, so getting in and out will never be a problem, and you won’t have to step over people and objects in the middle of the night. These doors can be left fully open by rolling them up when the weather is ideal and mosquitos aren’t swarming, and if you do keep them closed you can still use the embedded windows as venting points.
Protection
As for waterproofing, the rain fly provides coverage during storms, and its light color will also help repel the sun’s rays, keeping the temperature inside the tent from rising too much. Ozark also covers the doors’ zippers with a cuff to roll moisture off the canopy’s edges, eliminate any leaks from penetrating through small openings. Mud mats are also included, allowing you a place to store your shoes while keeping mud, grass, and other dirt outside of the tent.
Features
Feature-wise the tent includes an e-port that you can use to run power into the shelter, keeping your devices charged, or powering lights, fans, and heaters. The interior is pretty bare-bones, but you do get a few storage pockets that can be used to keep your essentials at arm’s length. A relocatable media pouch allows you to hang up your phone or tablet, turning it into a small movie screen to keep you or your kids entertained.
Key Features
- 283 Square Foot with Removable Dividers
- Can Fit 6 Queen Size Mattresses to Accommodate Many Campers
- Rain Fly and Zipper Cuffs Provide Protection During Rainfall
How to Choose a 4 Room Tent
As companies start producing more and more family style tents, there will be new features that need to be taken into consideration so you know what you are getting into (no pun intended).
Size
I’m willing to bet that if you are in the market for a huge tent, the old adage of “bigger is better” applies to this situation. Keep in mind that this also applies to the weight of the tent, and while you most likely won’t be backpacking with a tent this size, the weight can be troublesome as the average weight hovers in the 50 lbs. range. 260 square feet is the average size you will get in a tent with 4 rooms, with peak height somewhere in the area of 6.5 feet. All of these tents will be able to accommodate multiple queen size air mattresses that 3 people can each sleep on.
Style
There are basically two tent styles – traditional free-standing, or instant tents. Free-standing tents are the ones that come in many pieces and need assembly, whereas the instant tents are pre-assembled and go up within seconds after you take them out of their storage bag. Both need to be staked down but free-standing tents take more time to pitch, especially in cases where it’s a large 4 room tent.
There are also connectable tents systems in both free-standing, and instant designs, that can be built out like a small colony of pods. Keep in mind that most pre-assembled tents are more expensive due to their convenience.
Materials
The go-to fabric for tents is polyester taffeta, with varying degrees of quality. Some tents will use a thicker and more durable polyester oxford material for the tent floor, as this is the area of the shelter that will see the most activity.
As for the frame, the majority of manufacturers will use fiberglass legs and poles, as they are lightweight while providing a strong yet flexible structure. Heavy-duty tents will use a mixture of steel legs that attach to fiberglass poles. The steel legs just give it stronger support during inclement weather.
Waterproofing
As most tents are designed for multi-season camping, waterproofing them is a necessity. 4 room tents will come with their own water-resistant rain fly that is coated in vary degrees of hydrostatic head, with some providing awning support over the doors and windows (which can be zipped closed) to deflect moisture from those areas.
Bathtub floors are almost standard in all tents today, and they usually have about 6 inches of space between the bottom of the door and the ground, to reduce the chances of water seeping in if its pooling in that area.
Welded floors and taped seams are another water-resistant feature to reduce the chances of the tent springing a leak, and some models even include zipper covers. Of course, even with all these features, some campers will still waterproof their tents with some spray and seam tape you can pick up at the store.
Additional Features
Some bonus features you may see in 4 room tents are entry/mud mats, which give you a place to store your footwear while reducing the amount of dirt you track into the shelter, E-ports to bring power into the tent for running various electrical devices, storage pockets, gear lofts, and media pouches you can use to hang a device inside the tent for movie viewing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Connect a Room Divider?
Room dividers connect easily using a hook and loop attachment, with some models using zippers to lock the divider into place. Others may be an integrated meshed netting to divide space, like a curtain almost, while other integrated version will be thicker material, same as the tent.
Why Use a 4 Room Tent?
4 room tents cater to a specific type of camping, but it can be used in many ways. Large group camping caters to hunters, fishers, and families that also need extra storage space. The abundance of space also allows for the use of large mattresses, camping tables, coolers, and any other camping gear you bring along. More space also means more ventilation, which is something that can smaller tents can lack.
How to Utilize the Space?
Aside from using the rooms as bedrooms, some people convert them into a common area, dining area, kitchen, games room, or storage room.
Are Room Dividers Removable?
Most room dividers are removable, but some tents have sewn-in dividers that cannot be removed. However, they can be rolled up if you want to keep the space open.
What Size Group Should Use a 4 Room Tent?
It really depends on your situation, and what you are bringing along with you. While they have the capability of housing 10-20 people, usually 8-10 is the maximum number so everyone is comfortable on a bed, and there is plenty of extra room for moving around and storing gear.
How Big is a 4 Room Tent?
The average size of a 4 room tent is around 260 square feet, with 6.5 feet of peak height. Some of the top tier models can easily hit 7 feet in height, and the low-profile dome versions usually average out about 6 feet in height. In terms of space internally, you will find larger rooms with any cabin style model, due to the tall straight walls providing larger interior space.
How Much Does a 4-Room Tent Cost?
Depending on the build quality and size, 4 room tents start around $230 and can go all the up past $600 for the connectable/expandable models. I’d be content forking out around $300-$350 for a quality model, due to the fact that buying 2-3 individual tents to house everyone would cost you more in the long run.
Are 4 Room Tents Waterproof?
Yes, the ones in our list are, they are outfitted with water-resistant coating on their rain fly and canopy, and also use various waterproofing features like bathtub floors, and taped seams to keep wet weather out of the shelter.
How to Reinforce a 4-Room Tent?
Staking down the tent to secure it to the ground keeps it from moving around or blowing away in windy conditions. It is also advisable to stake down the guy lines on the fly and canopy, as these provide additional structural support at points where the poles do not.
Conclusion
There are a lot of variables to consider before you decide to purchase one of these oversized tents. With a plethora of features, flexibility, and some models having expandability, there is no shortage of 4 room tents that can fit every budget, and provide years of use for you and your group.
