More often than not, the most memorable camping trips are not solitary reflective individual excursions but rather the camping trips that we take with large groups, like family members and friends.
A big tent suitable for 16 to 20 people is a great way for large groups of campers to connect. These big tents offer plenty of floor space for sleeping bags, air mattresses, and gear. Even if you tend to camp in smaller groups, these big tents will leave you with loads of additional space for activities and comfort.
With so many options available on the market to choose from, finding the best big tent that's right for you can be a confusing ordeal.
We've done the research. We tested over 20 of the best big tents for 16 to 20 people and put together the following list of our top seven.
In a hurry? Here’s the test winner after 10 hours of research:
- EASIER SET UP: Bell tent sets up easily with two pole assembly; Oversized door makes loading and unloading your gear quick and easy; Carbon steel stakes drive through the roughest camping terrain
7 Best Big Tents - Overview
Here's an overview of the best 16 to 20 person tents on the market today (Keep scrolling for 6-7):
How much space is required for 20 people really depends on how familiar you are with one another and the overall amount of additional gear you wish to bring.
Gear aside, 20 people, sleeping bags and all, can easily fit into a family-size tent that's advertised as a 16-person tent. We discovered that we could even fit 20 people into some models advertised as 12-person tents.
If you're planning on camping in a large group (more than 20 people) with multiple families, then there is always the possibility of connecting tents together in order to form a small village. The best tents for this need to have more than one entrance so they can be connected in a circle or in two lines leaving plenty of space in the middle for a common area suitable for bonfires and mealtime.
Be sure to keep reading as we break down the best big tents for 16 to 20 people.
With a larger tent, you can build camaraderie while enjoying the outdoors.
1. Coleman Cabin Tent with Instant Setup
- Illumiline reflective guylines for greater visibility at night
The Coleman cabin tent is a top-seller when it comes to group camping. This family tent is capable of blocking up to 90% of sunlight in order to reduce heat. This is a great feature as large groups of people living in a tent together can heat things up rather quickly. Personally, we found this tent to be suitable for up to 10 people.
This 10-person camping tent is made from high-quality, weatherproof materials. Its canopy is designed to quickly shed water and features additional weatherproofing. This family tent is easy to set up. We had it up and ready to go in less than 10 minutes.
In addition, this tent comes with a room divider. Another important feature when camping in a large group. Its interior measures 14 x 10 feet and stands 6' 7" at the highest peak. We could easily fit 4 queen-size air beds with plenty of extra room to spare.
This tent has a hinged door for easy access and comes with a handy carrying bag which easily allows you to transfer it to and from your campsite.
The Coleman Cabin Tent comes with a one-year warranty. If you experience any manufacturing defects, simply send it back for a full refund.
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2. Tahoe Gear Family Cabin Tent
- Large yet practical with a generous 7-foot center, the Tahoe Gear Ozark is perfect for group or family camping trips with up to 16 people
This Tahoe Gear cabin tent provides ample room for up to 20 people — it's 240 square feet!
Thanks to its zipper-enclosed carry bag, we had no trouble getting this tent to our remote destination out in the woods.
As the steel poles are shock-corded and fit together with a pin and ring system, setting up this tent was a breeze. This tent offers plenty of headroom — 7 feet to be exact. The included 1200mm polyester rainfly has taped seams and keeps bugs out. Furthermore, it has a polyethylene floor which makes it super easy to keep clean.
This Tahoe Gear tent features a fly canopy awning that extends over the tent entrance, providing a shady place to sit. The canopy itself is held down by included guy ropes to ensure it stands up to extreme winds.
Open mesh side, roof, and ground vents allow for excellent ventilation throughout the entire tent; just be sure not to block the ground vents with sleeping bags or air mattresses.
Although 3 season tents like this model are not insulated enough for winter camping, they are weather and water-resistant. As such, this model is perfect for spring, summer, and fall.
We loved that this tent includes an e-port for electrical cords located near the back door. This allowed us to charge our electrical devices.
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3. CORE Instant Cabin Tent
- INSTANT SETUP: Setups in 2 minutes or less! The poles are pre-attached to the tent- just unpack, unfold, lift legs into position and extend legs until they click into place.
The CORE instant tent has a super easy setup. We had it fully assembled within less than 2 minutes. The steel poles for support are pre-attached. All you need to do is unfold it and lift the legs into place until they snap into position — that's literally it!
The rainfly is water repellent and the tent itself has also been through a water-resistant treatment process to ensure rain and moisture can't penetrate it.
This tent includes two removable room dividers that fasten shut with a zipper to provide the occupants with some privacy. This tent is big enough to fit three queen-sized air mattresses and features two entrances making it fairly easy to connect it with other tents.
This tent offers excellent ventilation thanks to an advanced ventilation system patented by CORE. Large ground vents and a mesh roof allow hot air to quickly escape, leaving behind comfortable temperatures for a good night's sleep.
The front and back doors are covered by awnings that can be secured to the ground with guy ropes to ensure they don’t take damage in windy weather conditions.
The tent also includes an e-port and a durable polyethylene floor. In total, it will provide you with 180 square feet of room with a center height of 80 inches.
We loved that its mesh roof allows for stargazing; if it starts to rain, the rainfly can be attached within minutes. Simply pack it away into the zipper-enclosed carry bag for easy transport.
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4. Fortunershop Family Cabin Tent
- 3 sewn-in room dividers 1, 2, 3 or 4 rooms
This cabin tent was designed for connectivity. Complete with four separate rooms that resemble a crossroads, this massive tent is perfect for connecting with other family-sized tents.
This tent features three removable room dividers that can be easily connected and taken down at will with a simple zipper mechanism. Thanks to this feature, you can customize the interior from one large communal area, to as many as 4 separate rooms.
This tent is outfitted with 12 large mesh windows to provide great air circulation day and night. It boasts 400 square feet of floor space with a center height of 78 inches.
This behemoth family tent is not an instant tent. As such, the Fortunershop family cabin tent takes longer than our other models to set up. It took us just under 20 minutes from start to finish. That being said, this tent is spacious enough for 5 queen air mattresses — that's equivalent to 14 sleeping bags.
This tent includes a weatherproof rainfly with taped seams to prevent insects and rainwater from getting inside.
Although it could benefit from some additional features, such as a gear loft, screen room, gear hammock, media pocket, and storage pockets, still, this heavy-duty 3 season tent is perfect for any large camping trip.
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5. TETON Sports & Outdoor Sierra Canvas Tent
- EASIER SET UP: Bell tent sets up easily with two pole assembly; Oversized door makes loading and unloading your gear quick and easy; Carbon steel stakes drive through the roughest camping terrain
Despite its gargantuan size, the 20x20 TETON Sierra Canvas Tent can easily be set up by just one person.
Unlike the other cabin tents on our list that are supported by multiple steel poles, the TETON Sierra Canvas Tent is supported by one central pole, guy ropes that tether the canopy to the ground, and two small A-frame poles that support the door frame.
Although it may seem too large to transport easily, it easily folds up into the included carry bag for quick and easy transport.
This tent is crafted from heavy-duty cotton canvas that will last a lifetime. It's fully waterproof (not just water-resistant), and provides excellent ventilation year-round.
Furthermore, this 4-season tent features an all-weather interwoven polymer floor with welded stitching to ensure groundwater stays out. In addition, the ground tarp completely unzips around the entire perimeter, transforming this tent into a floating canopy.
As it can be transformed into a canopy, ground vents are not required. Instead, it features 3 built-in weatherproof top vents for air circulation and to allow heat excess heat to escape.
Providing up to 314 square feet of floor space, the Sierra Canvas Tent is one of the largest tents currently on the market.
As mentioned, this is a 4 season tent. It provides enough insulation regardless of how cold it gets. Furthermore, you can easily tailor this tent, making it suitable for a portable woodstove for cooking and additional heat and atmosphere.
This tent includes a lifetime limited warranty. Due to its size, versatility, and overall craftsmanship, we've chosen the TETON canvas tent as our top pick.
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6. Victor-Tech 20-person Instant Camping Tent
- Large Space Canopy Tent: 10x30 feet with straight legs canopy tent provides 300 square feet of shade coverage, rommy enough for covering 4 tables in your garden, 3 beach chair on the beach and 15 to 8...
Camping with a large number of your friends and family is always fun, especially when you all can get together under the same shelter. One great example of a high-quality camping tent for a large number of people is the Vector-Tech camping tent, which can accommodate up to 20 people at once.
One of the best things about this camping tent is how easy it is to set up. All you need is 2 or 3 sets of hands to assemble the top frame, cover the top with the cloth, put the legs into the ground, and attach the sidewalls. The dismantling process is exactly the same, if not easier.
The tent itself measures 10 feet x 30 feet, which allows for plenty of space for four tables and up to five chairs per table. The heavy-duty fabric provides a great level of water resistance so if you are camping or hosting an event during the rainy season, you and your family and friends are safe. It’s also pretty good against strong winds.
As for design, you can adjust this camping tent to your liking. Ideally, in most cases, the entire is unfolded with either a singular or double entrance at both ends on one side of the shelter.
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7. CAMPROS 12-Person Tent
- 【Roomy for 11 People or 12-Person Family】 CAMPROS tent is the perfect family tent you’ve ever seen. With the dimension of 20 x 9 x 6(H) ft. 3 queen air mattresses or 12 sleeping bags are well...
When out camping with a large group, it can be helpful to have a large tent that allows people to have their personal space while also being very cozy to invite a sense of family and community. This CAMPROS option can fit up to three queen size air mattresses inside, which is about enough for 12 happy campers to fit in comfortably.
This is a great option for family camping as it can be easily set up by just three people in a matter of 10 minutes, which can allow campers to instantly enjoy all the fun that comes along with a tent, without having to wait too long. The tent is made of 185T polyester, so it is fairly water resistant, so in the event of light rain, the entire family can seek shelter in it and remain completely dry.
On top of that, this option comes with two curtain dividers so you can section the tent into three different rooms, allowing for a certain level of privacy that you don’t get with other tents. On top of that, it has two mesh doors and six mesh windows that allow for air to come in and cool the tent, so you won’t have to worry about it getting too hot inside, even when full of people.
So if you’ve been looking for an affordable, light, and convenient tent for large groups, this could be the right one for you.
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Our Winner
Due to its huge amount of floor space and the versatility of its 2-in-1 canopy design, out of all of the tents we tested, the TETON Sports & Outdoor Sierra Canvas Tent is our top pick.
This large family tent provides excellent ventilation. Furthermore, as the guy ropes provide the main source of structural support, the initial setup couldn't be easier — just one person alone can easily handle it.
Its center height is massive compared to all of the other models on our list. More spacious than any cabin tent or dome tent, with the Sierra Canvas Tent, you'll literally have room for anything you desire: beds, chairs, woodstove — you name it!
The quality and craftsmanship of this 4-season tent cannot be matched. Plus, it even includes a lifetime warranty making it a risk-free purchase.
Bonus tip: Check out this quick introduction to our winner:
