The Best Large Family Tents (9P to 12P)

Camping can be a great family bonding experience, but that doesn’t mean you all need to be sleeping on top of each other and crammed together in the tent. And, speaking from experience, I can tell you it’s hard to be in a good mood when you were woken ten times during the night with kicks to the head! In this sense, having a large family tent can improve the camping experience.

There surprisingly aren’t too many good options when it comes to large family tents, especially ones that can withstand rain and bad weather. Here are the best large family camping tents (9 person or larger). I haven’t tried all of them myself, but scoured reviews and got recommendations from other outdoorsy families. Hope it helps!

Quick Picks

Best overall: Core 12P Instant Tent
Runner up: Eureka! Copper Canyon LX 12P
Budget pick: UNP 10P tent
Bad weather pick: Coleman Weathermaster 10P

Comparison Table

Click the arrows to sort the table by type, size, rooms, etc.

Tent	Sleeps	Type	Rooms	Doors	Footprint	Height	Weight
Core 9 Instant	9	Cabin	2	2	14x9'	78"	30.5lbs
Coleman Instant Dark Room	10	Cabin	2	2	14x10'	79"	35.5lbs
Coleman Skylodge	10	Cabin	2	1	14x10'	79"	40.5lbs
Coleman Weathermaster	10	Tunnel	2	1	17x9'	80"	30lbs
UNP	10	Mod. Dome	2	1	18x9'	78"	23.1lbs
Campros	12	Tunnel	3	2	20x9'	72"	24.3lbs
Eureka Copper Canyon LX	12	Cabin	2	2	14x12'	84"	36.8lbs
Coleman Skylodge	12	Cabin	2	1	15x11'	84"	52.7lbs
Core 12 Instant	12	Cabin	3	2	18x10'	80"	52lbs

Best Large Tents for Family Camping

Core Instant Cabin 12P

Best for: A massive three-room tent that can handle bad weather

Features

Type: Cabin
Rooms: 3 with removable divider
Footprint size: 18×10 feet
Max height: 80 inches
Weight: 52lbs
Buy Here

Review

Even though this tent is very affordable, it is surprisingly well-made and has a great design. For an instant tent, it is pretty sturdy and handles bad weather very well. It also has built-in ventilation so you don’t end up with condensation problems in cold weather.

I love the design of this tent. The entrance doors are in the middle. You enter to a large room which can be used for hanging out or storage. There are room dividers on each side, giving you two separate sleeping spaces. The room dividers zip so are easy to open/close. You don’t have to unhook them to get in as is the case with some cheap family tents. A queen size air bed fits in each section of the tent, but with little room around the sides.

The only real downside of this tent is that it is very heavy. There is also a lot of fabric, so packing it up can be a challenge. It does withstand bad weather well but you may need to reseal the seams eventually.

Pros

Three rooms
Great ventilation
Handles bad weather well
Affordable
Instant setup

Cons

Very heavy
Annoying to pack up

Buy Here

Eureka! Copper Canyon LX 12P

Best for: High-quality tent and two doors make the design very functional

Features

Type: Cabin
Rooms: 2
Footprint size: 14×12 feet
Max height: 84inches
Weight: 36.8lbs
Buy Here

Review

The brand Eureka! makes a lot of great-quality camping tents. The Copper Canyon 12P tent is one of their largest and has two rooms, each with their own door. The extra door is a game-changer: it allows you to enter/exit the tent without bothering people in the other room. This is great for privacy, such as if you have family members sleeping in separate rooms, or if you want to use one room for hanging out. You can remove the divider to create one large space.

At 14×12 feet, the Copper Canyon is a large tent. It is not nearly as big as the Core 12P tent above, but the smaller footprint makes it easier to pitch. It’s also lightweight for its size. The peak height is 84″, so it’s a good option for tall people and you can easily walk around inside the tent. There are massive windows so you get lots of light and ventilation.

This isn’t an instant tent but setup is pretty simple. One person can even set it up alone, though two people will make the job easier. It is freestanding though you will still want to stake it out completely. The tent does pretty well in bad weather and windows don’t leak. There aren’t any vents so condensation will occur in very cold weather. I’d also recommend getting a groundsheet to use with the tent since the floor material is fairly thin.

Pros

84 inches of headroom
Lots of light and air with windows open
Easy setup
Two rooms, each with their own door
Large windows

Cons

Needs groundsheet in rain
Pricier tent
Condensation in cold weather

Buy Here

Core Instant Cabin Tent 9P

Best for: Large shared sleeping space + separate hangout room

Features

Type: Cabin
Rooms: 2 with removable divider
Footprint size: 14×9 feet
Max height: 78 inches
Weight: 30.5lbs
Buy Here

Review

This 9P cabin tent by Core is 14′ long and 9′ wide. You can hang a divider in the middle to create two separate rooms. Unlike with most multi-room tents, the divide has a zipper going down the middle. That means you can just unzip it instead of having to completely unhook the divider to get in/out.

You can use each of the rooms for sleeping. However, the back room doesn’t have its own door (which is odd since the front room has TWO doors. Why didn’t they move one of the doors to the back?). Because of this, the front room functions best as a hangout room. There are mesh panels on all of the walls, which makes it a great space for hiding from mosquitoes during the evening. When the windows are all open, you get lots of ventilation and light. Annoyingly, the windows don’t have tie-ups so the flaps just hang there.

Note that there is really great ventilation on this tent, including vents on the bottom. It also holds up in thunderstorms well. That makes it one of the best large family tents for camping in bad weather.

Pros

Good ventilation
Handles bad weather well
Instant setup
Large front doors
Lots of light and air in front room

Cons

Windows don’t have tie-ups
Too small for large family
Both doors go to the same room

Buy Here

Coleman Instant Dark Room 10P

Best for: Camping in hot, sunny weather

Features

Type: Cabin
Rooms: 2 with removable divider
Footprint size: 14×10 feet
Max height: 79 inches
Weight: 35.5lbs
Buy Here

Review

The Coleman Dark Room 10P is a large family tent with a lot of nice features. It’s an instant tent so is very easy to set up. It also has two rooms. Each room has its own door, so you can actually get in/out of each room without bothering your family members in the other room. One of the doors is hinged. I love that the room divider zips down the middle so you can easily open it up.

This tent was designed to be used in hot, sunny weather. The Dark Room feature means it blocks sunlight so you can sleep in (also useful for getting your little kids to nap during the day). Unlike other dark tents, this one also blocks heat so it doesn’t get insanely hot inside.

The downside is that the tent isn’t great in bad weather. There are some leakage issues through the windows and some users said the door zippers tend to snag.

Pros

Two rooms
Each room has its own door
Divider zips down middle
Instant tent

Cons

Not great in heavy rains
Door zippers snag

Buy Here

Coleman Skylodge (10P and 12P)

Best for: Massive windows and quality construction

Features

Type: Cabin
Rooms: 2 with removable divider
Footprint size: 14×10 feet (15×11 for 12P)
Max height: 79 inches (84″ for 12P)
Weight: 40.5lbs (52.7lbs for 12P)
Buy Here

Review

The standout feature of the Coleman Skylodge is the massive windows. The ones in the front room are as big as the entire wall. When all are unzipped, you feel like you are outside. This is really great for when you need to hide from mosquitoes in the evening.

The tent comes in two sizes: 10P (14×10 feet) and 12P (15×11 feet). Both sizes will fit 4 queen size beds, though you won’t have any extra room around the beds to walk around in the 10P version. Don’t count on actually using both rooms for sleeping though. There is only one door and the front room is better utilized as a hangout room or for storage. It’s really too bad they didn’t put another door in the back.

As for weather resistance, the tent does handle rain pretty well. The bathtub floor is high and thick. Thicker material means the tent is very heavy though and it’s annoying to pack up. It isn’t great in windy weather though and is really only meant for summer camping because there isn’t much ventilation when the windows are all rolled up.

Pros

Massive windows
Good ventilation
Color-coded poles for easy setup

Cons

Heavy
Only one door
Doesn’t handle wind well
Condensation in cold weather

Buy Here

UNP 10P Tent

Best for: Affordable two-room family tent, but no hangout space

Features

Type: Modified dome
Rooms: 2 with removable divider
Footprint size: 18×9 feet
Max height: 78 inches
Weight: 23.1lbs
Buy Here

Review

Here is another modified dome family tent. There is a divider in the middle to create two rooms. The front door is divided into two parts, so you can get in/out of the tent without bothering people in the other room. However, the room divider doesn’t zip down, so you can’t move between two rooms easily when the divider is up.

A full air mattress will fit on each side of the tent. Or, if you remove the divider, you could get three air mattresses in. You wouldn’t have much room left for storage or moving around the beds though, so this is better for smaller families who want two rooms. Also note that the hinge going down the middle of the doors, so you get two small doors instead of one big one. This makes it annoying to get mattresses inside.

The fly on the tent and dome shape means it handles rain better than most cabin tents. However, the material is thin and cheap. Expect some leaking during heavy thunderstorms and you’ll probably want a groundsheet to use with the tent during bad weather. There aren’t many windows so ventilation is poor.

Pros

Very cheap
Lightweight
Handles bad weather okay
Two usable sleeping spaces

Cons

Hard to fit large mattresses through doors
Only one entrance
No zipper on room divider
Not many windows or ventilation

Buy Here

Coleman Weathermaster 10P Tent

Best for: Camping in windy or colder temperatures

Features

Type: Tunnel
Rooms: 2
Footprint size: 17×9′
Max height: 80 inches
Weight: 30lbs
Get It Here

Review

The Coleman Weathermaster is similar to the UNP tunnel tent above. However, there are some key differences that make the Coleman better suited for spring, fall and colder-weather camping. The main one is that it doesn’t have large windows or a double door. While this doesn’t mean it doesn’t get as much ventilation in summer, it is better at trapping heat in cold temps and keeping rain out. Considering the price, the tent is well-made and does live up to its “Weathermaster” name. The windows on the side are slanted, so you can leave them open during light rains.

Another nice feature of the Weathermaster is that it has a hinged door. This feature comes in handy when you have lots of people entering/exiting the tent constantly. There’s a room divider you can hang in the middle, but the doorway only goes into one room. Three queen sized mattresses will fit, but without much room for anything else.

Pros

Affordable
Side windows can be left open in rain
Hinged door
Lightweight
Durable

Cons

Poor ventilation
Only one door
No vestibule or awning

Get It Here

Campros Tunnel 12P Tent

Best for: Budget tent with multiple rooms and configurations

Features

Type: Tunnel
Rooms: 2 or 3
Footprint size: 20×9′
Max height: 72 inches
Weight: 24.3lbs
Get It Here

Review

The Campros 12P is a tunnel tent with a massive 20 foot by 9 foot footprint. It comes with two room dividers. You can hang them at the sides of the tent to create three rooms. However, with this setup, the side rooms are very cramped. You also have to unhook the dividers to get in/out of the side rooms. For that reason, I think it’s better to just hang one divider in the middle of the tent. This gives you two rooms, each with enough space for sleeping and gear and with its own door. Or, if you are sleeping on pads, you can all sleep in one room and use the other room for hanging out.

Campros tents are cheap and definitely not the best quality. They do hold up well enough in rain, but you’ll need to make sure you’ve staked it out properly. A plus of having cheap, thin material is that the tent isn’t heavy like most large family tents are. As expected from such a cheap tent, you don’t get much in terms of extra features. There are just a few storage pockets inside and nothing else.

Pros

Affordable
Lightweight
Good ventilation

Cons

Needs to be stake down very well
Low headroom
Three-room setup creates cramped, inaccessible bedrooms

Get It Here

Advice for Buying a Large Family Tent

1. A Large Tent Never Fits As Many As Promised

Tent sizes are listed based on people in sleeping bags. If you use air mattresses or cots for camping, the tent will fit fewer people than listed. Depending on the layout, some of the space might be completely useless for sleeping.

2. Two small tents may be better than one large tent

Large family tents can be very difficult to pitch. The footprints are so massive that it’s sometimes impossible to find a flat, rock-free site. This usually isn’t a problem when camping at campgrounds. But if you want to do any wild camping, it may make more sense to bring two small tents instead of one large one.

Look how much space this tent takes up! The guylines become major tripping hazards too.

3. Draw the tent layout

It really helps to make a little drawing of the tent layout. This will give you a better idea of how you’ll be able to use the tent.

For example, the picture below shows a tent with a 14×9 foot layout and a room divider down the middle. With a queen and twin air mattress in one room, there is absolutely no room around the beds.

4. Think how you want to use each room in the tent

Most large family tents have multiple rooms. However, these rooms often aren’t practical for sleeping.

For example, look at the tent layout picture above. If you were to put a queen mattress in the front room, it might block the door. One person might have to sleep against a wall and crawl over the other person to get out. Or people in a back room might have to crawl over campers in a front room to get out!

So, even though that tent is large, the front room only makes sense as a storage/hangout room.

Also read: Best Three-Room Tents

5. Choose a tent with multiple doors

Large tents with multiple doors are much more versatile. Ideally, each sleeping room should have its own door so campers don’t disturb each other when getting in/out of the tent.

6. Ventilation is important

Condensation can be a major problem with large family tents. Unlike with smaller tents, large tents are usually single-wall and don’t have full flies. You have to zip them up completely when it rains.

With all windows closed up, the tent will trap heat from your bodies. On cold nights, the inside temperature gets much higher than the outside temperature. Condensation will form on the tent and may drip on your head.

Good tents solve this by creating air vents in the tent. Yes, these vents may create a draft but they are actually necessary to keep you dry.

Read more about tent condensation in this post about How much warmer is it inside a tent?

Tents get HOT inside. Mesh ventilation keeps them comfortable.

7. Will It Leak?

Large family tents usually perform poorly in bad weather. They have very small flies which don’t cover windows completely. With large cabin tents, wind will beat against the vertical walls instead of flowing around them like wthy would with a dome tent.

Keep this in mind when people complain about their large tent leaking. It’s almost inevitable down the line. To fix this, make sure you pack tent seam sealer in case of leaks.