The best all weather camping tents must be suitable to handle all four seasons. Once you get the camping bug, it’s hard to stop you from camping in any type of weather. Whether its rain, sun, snow or strong winds, the desire to be out in nature overrides any doubts.
But in order to successfully camp all year round, you need a tent that’s up for the challenge. There’s absolutely no point taking a 3 season tent with you to the snow. You will freeze to death before you have time to complain about the insulation properties of the tent.
But if you’re relatively new to camping, it can be difficult to determine a 3 season tent from a 4 season tent. The simple way to look at it is to determine whether the tent is designed for summer conditions or winter conditions. More often than not, a tent that can be used all year round will be best suited to the colder conditions of winter.
All-Season, Or Specific Season?
Below you can find some of my personal recommendations for the best tents to camp all year round in. However, I do want to make it clear that some tents are better suited to either hot or cold weather. The tents below have properties that make them good in both climates, but not specifically the best in one or the other.
For example, if you are planning to camp during the hottest parts of summer, a tent designed for hot weather would be a better option. These tents specialize in the circulation of air and ventilation to reduce the temperature inside the tent along with condensation build-up.
If your primary camping purpose is to tackle the harshness of winter, the tents below can do a decent job. However, a tent specifically designed for winter conditions would make a better option. Especially if you plan to camp in the snow and need the use of a stove jack for your wood heater or cooking stove.
Best 4 Season Tents For Durability
Kodiak is responsible for some of the most exceptional tents on the market by keeping their tents high quality and providing a range of products for a variety of people’s needs. Of all the canvas tents, I find this Kodiak to be one of the best for all year round camping.
To be called a four-season tent, your tent needs to meet some requirements that a lot of tents struggle to conquer. It’s a delicate balance trying to get a tent to be able to handle the winter while also being suitable handle the summer temperatures as well. The fact the Kodiak does this so well is one of the main reasons why I like this tent so much.
Heavy-Duty & Durable Canvas
This tent consists of a duck canvas, which is very durable and breathable. Being breathable is a big thing for the warmer months, and this tent achieves this with the four large windows that are no-see-um mesh. When you combine the breathable canvas and the windows, you get an excellent tent for the warmer months.
While the duck canvas is very breathable, it does allow heat to stay in the tent longer. So in summer, it takes longer to heat up and become uncomfortable. But in winter, it maintains the temperature inside the tent for more extended periods compared to a nylon tent with a mesh ceiling.
Which is one of the reasons it’s suitable for all four seasons. Some people still like to use a heater inside the tent during winter camping to be more comfortable, but it’s not a necessity. However, having the option to maintain a consistent temperature inside the tent is a useful feature. The thick canvas walls of the tent are ideal for keeping the heat from a heater inside the tent.
Resists Wet Weather
So this tent can handle the winter and the summer months quite well, so it only has one more box to check, which is waterproofing. This tent has a good level of waterproofing, thanks to the cotton duck canvas. The tight nit canvas makes a natural barrier to wet weather, which helps with keeping the rain out. Adding additional coats of waterproof spray works well on canvas, so I would highly recommend you take the extra steps to make this tent the best it can be.
The height of many tents can be awkward for some taller people out there. This 6 person tent has a good amount of space and a maximum ceiling height of 6’6″ tall. For those who have issues because of height, then this tent will help ease that issue for them.
Best 4 Season Backpacking Tent
Backpack camping is an enjoyable experience, but it’s also quite grueling at times. By having a tent that can’t handle all four seasons can quickly turn that enjoyment into regret when the unexpected storms or a heatwave rolls in. Thanks to Naturehike you can have the assurance of being well protected year-round.
To be considered a backpacking tent, you need the tent to be not only lightweight but also easy to set up, which is what Naturehike has achieved with this dome-style tent. The Naturehike is a two-person tent weighing just 4.7lbs, which I find to be the right amount of weight for backpacking.
1 Or 2 Person Varieties
If you wanted to cut down the weight even more or if you need something smaller, there is also the option to go with the Naturehike 1 person tent. Naturally, the 1 person tent is smaller all around and weighs a little bit less at 3.8lbs.
Setting up this tent is very simple, and it doesn’t take too long, which is another requirement for a backpack camping tent. It’s easy to set up by yourself and will only take around 5 minutes once you get used to setting it up. Arriving at your campsite late isn’t too much of an issue with a tent that is quick and easy to set-up.
This tent has two layers, which makes it great for both summer and winter. The inner layer of the tent is what makes this tent good for the hotter months as it breaths really well. Then for the winter months, you have the second layer, which is what keeps the warmth in and the cold out.
The material the tents made of can handle most weather quite well, with it only struggling with the most extreme winds and snow that the everyday camper wouldn’t be camping in any way. The 210T polyester and breathable mesh are otherwise excellent materials for most camping tents.
Best 4 Season Family Tents
Having a family and trying to camp in year-round conditions can make camping more difficult for a variety of reasons. Trying to get everyone together at the same time or kids only getting school holidays off can limit the seasons in which you can camp. So having a family tent that can handle all four seasons is crucial to make your life easier.
The NTK Arizona is a large and spacious tent that is designed for 9 to 10 people. While you could fit that many people, it would be a bit too snug for many people’s liking. So it’s recommended to have fewer people, but this is for most tents tho you can still fit a lot in this tent with it measuring 17.39 ft by 8.04 ft.
The family aspects of this tent are what make it stand out from the others on this list. One of the best family-friendly features being the room divider. The option to have a separate compartment from the kids or your storage area is a requirement when camping with the family in my opinion.
Best Feature: Rain & Wind Proof
Protecting yourself and your family from the elements is what I consider the primary purpose of a tent. This tent manages to do this quite well with its impressive rainfly. The rainfly goes the entire way around the tent and all the way to the ground. Having a rainfly like this helps to keep the cold and rain out, while it also helps to keep the warmth in.
When the rainfly surrounds the tent like it does on the NTK, condensation, and ventilation can be an issue if the tent is designed poorly. Fortunately, NTK doesn’t create tents to be poorly made.
There is a lot of ventilation in this tent thanks to its multiple windows. The addition of these windows allows it to breathe well in the summer months, which makes your camping trip a lot more comfortable on hot, humid nights.
Setting up a tent can ruin your whole camping trip if it’s challenging to assemble. Especially when camping with the family as you want a tent to be easy to set up. This tent is easy to set up, but it does take a little time setting up solo, so I recommend getting one of the kids or your partner to help with the set-up. Having an easy to assemble tent like this is surprising since it’s such a large tent, which can often be more complicated than its worth
Best 4 Person All Year Camping Tent
There are a lot of four people tents on the market, but not all of them are all year camping tents. One of the things that set this ALPS mountaineering Taurus tent apart from a lot of the others is the fact its a 4 season tent.
Now, what makes this tent an all-season tent? There’s a number of things that this tent does that makes it for all four seasons, with one of the best being its incredibly good rainfly. The fly covers most of the tent to help keep the elements out.
In terms of how breathable it is, it does rate reasonably high thanks to its mesh roof and the two doors it has. The combination of these two features allows it to breathe well in the warmer climates.
While it’s a smaller 4 person tent, it does weigh a little bit more than I expected. The total weight is 10.2lbs, which does rule it out for backpack camping for certain people who will struggle with such a weight. Tho it does work well for someone who does a lot of car camping.
While this tent has a good amount of waterproofing, there is no such thing as a no-fail tent. So it’s recommended to put your own coat of waterproofing and make sure that you set your tent up in the right spot. Having an utterly waterproof tent will make a big difference in your overall camping experience.
One thing many people don’t consider is the zippers of the tent. The last thing you need when camping is a zipper busting or if it’s too small and not easy to find. Which is why I like the oversized zippers this NTK camping tent has. While this is just a small piece of the puzzle, it’s a nice touch that most others ignore.
Best 4 Season Instant Tent
Instant style tents can get a bad wrap in the camping community as they’re often seen as too fragile to be an all four season tent. I believe this MoKo tent has managed to disprove a lot of people’s concerns on these styles of tents. I find the Moko tent to be high quality and durable for all year round camping.
Being an instant tent has one real substantial advantage over most other tents, and that’s how easy and quick they’re to set up. This tent continues this trend by being both of those. The most challenging part of the set up is threading the pole through the loops, which isn’t difficult at all to be fair.
Because this is an instant tent, he rainfly goes on while you’re setting up this tent. This can be a bit tricky to get use to, but it’s worth doing because it’s a high-quality rainfly. It’s made out of a 210D waterproof polyester, so it keeps the rain and some reasonably strong winds out.
Unique Front Porch/Vestibule
Even tho this tent doesn’t have a lot of windows, it still does breathe remarkably well. This is in big part thanks to the front porch style area it has, which can be zipped up or down to allow for some extra ventilation when needed. This porch adds a lot of additional value, especially in the rain.
The space in this 3 person tent is pretty decent and can fit an adult and two kids reasonably well. It would be a bit more of a tight fit if you had 3 adults, so I would probably be looking for a larger tent to fit 3 adults. Tho there’s still a good amount of room for such a small tent, with its measurements being 70.8 inches by 82.7 inches.
One thing I do like about this tent is all the fabrics of it are fire retardant. This is something not a lot of tents seem to have so I like that they went with this option for it.
Top Rated 4 Season Tent
One of the most ignored tents on the market is single-person tents, which is a little unfair in my opinion. While they’re not the most common, several people go by themselves and only want something small. This is why I always appreciate when someone like Geertop gives solo campers a great four-season tent.
Since there is a lack of poles for this tent, with it only having the center pole, the Geertop is an extremely lightweight tent. The lightweight of the tent makes it an excellent option for backpacking. In total, the Geertop weighs about 2.8lbs, which is extremely light and easy to carry.
Very High Waterproof Rating
The rainfly is PU3000mm waterproof, which is above the industry standard for waterproof rainfly. So it will do the job in the rain and snow better than a lot of other tents on the market, in my opinion.
The ventilation at the top of this tent is something that I like because of its intelligent design. The way it’s been designed allows the tent to breathe but also keep out bugs and every camper’s worst enemy, mosquitos. Being a bug-proof tent makes it an invaluable asset for your next solo camping trip.
One thing I like about this tent is its impressive inner tent section, as I find that it breathes well. It manages to breathe this well, while still keeping the mosquitos out. I find this an impressive engineering feat, in my opinion.
Geertop has gone above and beyond with this impressive single person tent. It’s been designed exceptionally well and followed up with some quality manufacturing. I find it to be one of the best single-person tents currently on the market in regards to being an all-season tent.
3 Season VS 4 Season Tents
Before going on any camping trip, it’s best to know what kind of weather you’re going to be facing. Being aware of the forecasted weather will help in knowing if you need a three or a four-season tent, since it can be based on what weather will be like, rather than what season it is. Tho there is an argument to be made by going with a four-season tent no matter where you’re going, as you’ll be prepared for the more intense weather.
3 Season Tents
Most tents you come across are three-season tents that are better suited to the warmer times of the year. Because most people go camping when it starts to warm up, it does make them great tents for a lot of campers out there. However, they can lack the protection from the more intense weather one can face during camping.
But this doesn’t make them bad tents by any stretch, just more suited to other conditions. They’re usually more lightweight and breathe better than a four-season tent, which can make them better for some people during the warm times of the year.
What Is A 4 Season Tent
What does a 4season tent even mean, this is a question many first time campers face, and for good reason. A four-season tent is primarily designed to handle the colder, intense weather conditions. This is why they’re also brightly colored in most cases, so you can see them in a storm in case something goes wrong. For me, this makes four-season tents overall better as you’ll be more prepared if the weather goes south on you.
There are some smaller drawbacks to four-season tents, but nothing I’d consider to be a deal-breaker. They’re generally more cumbersome than a three-season tent making them more challenging to carry.
Are 4 Season Tents Warmer
As I mentioned above, four-season tents don’t breathe as well as a three-season tent since it needs to keep the warmth inside the tent. Whereas, a 3 season tent has vents and mesh ceilings to allow air to circulate the warm air up and out of the tent. So a 4 season tent will be warmer in winter and as a slight disadvantage, warmer in summer more often than not.
So it comes down to what the weather will be where you’re camping more than what season it is. So trying to find as much info as you can beforehand makes a big difference to your camping trip.
Can You Camp All Year Round?
Some folks may not see the point in camping year-round, while others can’t get enough of it. But for some, the option to camp year-round is not possible.
Depending on where you live, and your eagerness to travel, there may be limitations to how often you can camp. Especially if you’re car camping. Many campsites close down during the offseason as demand is too low.
But with a little forward planning and research, you can map out a plan to camp during all 4 seasons of the year.
Is A 4 Season Tent Worth It?
If you have been researching all-weather camping tents for some time now, chances are you are aware that they can be more expensive. But is a 4 season tent worth it? Does the extra price justify the ability to be able to use the tent all year round?
Whether or not a 4 season tent will be worth it for you will come down to a number of factors. These can include:
- The price: Will the extra cost of the tent force you into financial hardship. It’s never worth it if the tent is going to put a huge strain on your financial situation.
- How often you use the tent will play a vital role in whether or not the tent is worth it. If you’re just testing the waters with camping, maybe a 3 season cheaper tent will suffice.
- Extreme weather? If you plan to camp in the harshest of conditions, a tent for extreme weather is certainly going to be worth your investment.
- A tent that can handle all weather, needs to be able to handle high winds. Do you plan to camp on the side of a mountain where winds are much stronger? A tent designed to withstand strong winds will certainly be worth the initial investment.
4 Season Tents Are More Durable
When you want to go camping in all weathers, the tent has to be durable. 4 season tents are generally more durable and can handle stronger winds compared to a 3 season tent.
The tents listed above are my personal recommendations for camping year-round. They may not be the best suited for you, but they certainly can be used in all weather with the right amount of preparation and planning.