The Mac Sports Heavy Duty Collapsible Folding All Terrain Utility Cart has the largest wheels and, at 6.7 cubic feet, the largest volume of any wagon we tested. So it’s easy to pull beach gear and little beachgoers across bumpy sand. This wagon easily folds and unfolds, and we found that it was simple (at 24.5 pounds) to lift into the car after a long day in the sun. We have a few issues with this wagon—the telescoping handle can feel flimsy, and it costs around $50 more than the standard Mac Sports wagon.
Then check out this hub of the best places to camp in Missouri. Experience the best RV camping in Missouri at Coconuts RV Resort, Big Creek RV Park, and Huzzah Valley Resort. Coconuts offers a paradise with a private pool and fitness center. Big Creek provides a natural escape with a swimming pool, petting zoo, and proximity ozark trail screen house to attractions. Huzzah Valley Resort offers both quiet family areas and lively sections with activities like hiking and river floats. Whether you’re a proud owner of an RV or prefer to rent one from a reputable service like RVShare, enjoy an unforgettable RV camping adventure in Missouri at these top-notch campgrounds.
Unlike basic folding wagons like the Mac Sports models, stroller wagons don’t usually list their capacity in volume, since they’re mostly used for toting kids instead of gear. For the first round of testing in 2019, I used all six wagons for two-kid trips to my son’s elementary school, traveling about half a mile each way over sidewalks and city streets during the course of two months. I also took the non-stroller wagons to the beach, rolling them down the beach path and testing them ozark trail screen house on the sand. Additionally, I tested each wagon (filled with soccer equipment) on grass and bumpy, broken concrete surfaces, paying attention to how the suspension and wheels performed under different conditions. In spring 2021, I tested four additional beach-friendly wagons during several trips from my home in Santa Monica to the beach (10 blocks away) and back. I hauled both of my sons along with beach gear like boogie boards, coolers, chairs, and endless amounts of sand toys.
If you plan on using a folding wagon mostly for transporting kids instead of gear, we suggest that you look at our stroller-wagon picks, which are specifically designed for safely carrying kids. At 30 pounds, the L.L.Bean Collapsible Wagon was the largest and heaviest of the folding wagons we tested. But even though it had nice wheels and construction, this wagon was a headache to fold and unfold. It took two people—and several minutes—to put the L.L.Bean wagon away after use. We had to wrestle the cover onto the bulky rectangle and tug it down to get it on. One of the wheels came loose when one of our testers was carrying about 100 pounds of gear, which is well under the stated weight capacity.
Unlike the typical stroller, wagons allow two kids to face each other, to climb in and out easily, and to feel like they’re a bigger part of the action. Over the past decade, more and more families have started to use wagons as a way to pull kids around—and stroller companies have noticed. Companies like Keenz, Veer, and Evenflo now make collapsible wagons that meet many of the same Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) safety standards as strollers. And many of them also have other stroller-like features, including five-point harnesses, sunshades, snack bars, and brakes. We were able to fix the problem, but a year of use has also led to scratches on the wheels and the plastic looking pretty shorn. One staffer who also owns the Mac Sports Heavy Duty Collapsible Folding All Terrain Utility Cart has also noticed scratches on the wheels.
But after previously recommending a cheaper, less-sturdy beach wagon—which broke after a year—we think the Mac Sports All Terrain’s overall durability and maneuverability on sand make it worth the increased cost. We tested the Pivot Xplore on multiple surfaces, including sand, grass, and concrete, and the large, stroller-like wheels moved smoothly through all the environments. As you’d expect, it was a bit harder to push through beach sand, though still feasible. The brakes on the Pivot Xplore are activated by a small pedal near the wheel, and we found them to be fairly easy to use. The Mac Sports wagon’s skinny rubber wheels, compared with larger-wheeled models we tested, sunk into the sand a bit during testing.
Its folded dimensions are 37 by 20 by 14 inches (with the big wheels removed, the folded height of the body is actually 8 inches). The Veer and the Pivot Xplore both have similar dimensions when folded down, but because of their different shapes, the Veer feels a bit bulkier when folded. The Veer also has a dedicated foot well for kids’ feet (none of our other picks have this).
However, if you’re setting up camp for an extended stay, having home-furniture level comfort — and a whooping 500-pound weight…