The Best Canopy Tent for Camping and Picnics Reviews by Wirecutter

Like regular camping tents, these camping gazebos are not intended to be left up for extended periods, as the fabrics are susceptible to UV damage. The legs are locked into place with old school metal push button locks, something you won’t see on many modern pop up tents now-a-days. These push locks get very difficult to use over time, especially if the tent is used on the beach and exposed to sand and saltwater, causing rust build up. Many newer tent brands like EZ-Up use revolutionary thumb lock sliders or larger easy to release buttons, which are a much better user experience when setting the canopy up or taking it down. With the push buttons you need to worry about pinching fingers or not being able to release the button when it gets rusted, which is never a pleasant experience.

This was especially reassuring for testers with knee or hip issues, who noted that they felt confident using the Dual Lock seat’s armrests to stand up and get out of it. With all that in mind, we found more than a dozen tents that met our criteria. The Ozark Trail canopy very well might be one of the best selling 10×10 tent brands of all time. The easily recognizable logo has been seen by nearly everyone at youth soccer tournaments or beach vacations in recent years. We wanted to do an in-depth review of this popular instant shelter and ultimately give our recommendation as to if this value brand tent is worth the lower price point vs. the higher quality but more expensive competition. The REI Co-op chair’s polyester seat material feels both more forgiving and more durable than the thinner material on many other kids’ chairs.

The Renetto Original Canopy Chair is the best chair with a built-in canopy. Escape to the beautiful sunny days and gentle warmth found at all our sunbelt resorts. With our resort-style amenities and variety of activities, you’ll want to stay all winter long.

Center height means even tall members of your crew can stand up in your tent. The Ozark Trail 6-person Connect Ent comes with a sewn-in floor to help keep bugs out. Set your 10 ft. x 10 ft. straight-leg canopy up for a backyard barbecue or while camping, and then convert it into your sleeping area with the Ozark Trail 6-Person ozark trail chair Connect Tent to enjoy an evening in the outdoors. It has the most comfortable and supportive seat shape of any chair we tested. The Dual Lock chair has a firmer backrest and seat bottom than the competition. And it avoids the slouchy shape of most traditional camping chairs, which can sag to create a hunch-and-slouch posture.

ozark trail canopy

Finally, these shelters feel noticeably smaller than any of our picks. We also tested and liked the Coleman Mountain View 12 x 12 Screendome Shelter; it was an also-great pick until Coleman discontinued the model. Make your tailgate, campout, or backyard party even more enjoyable with the Ozark Trail 10′ x 10′ Instant Straight Leg Canopy. Made of a durable polyester construction, this canopy tent provides 100 square feet of cooling shade anywhere and the easy push-button system offers safe setup and takedown. It features built-in vents on the top for added ventilation and offers you 50+ UV protection from the hot sun all day long. All you need to do to put together this Ozark Trail 10-foot by 10-foot Canopy is extend the one-piece steel frame, attach the canopy top, and adjust the telescoping 3-position legs to the desired height.

The Chair One has a 600-denier polyester and mesh seat and aluminum legs, which are linked with shock cord (like what you’d find inside high-end tent poles). In our tests one camper took less than 10 minutes to put it up on the first try. Two shorter aluminum poles cross to support the roof while four longer poles join to the roof poles at the top of the tent and slide into pegs at the ground. The tent roof is made of polyester taffeta treated with a DWR (durable water repellent) coating. The walls are made of fine no-see-um nylon mesh edged with polyester taffeta.

Keep in mind that lightweight chairs won’t be nearly as comfortable as traditional camping chairs, so take the word comfortable with a grain of salt. The first trip was an early-February expedition to Indian Cove Campground in California’s Joshua Tree National Park, where our highly exposed group campsite made daytime temperatures in the high 70s feel like the 90s. We used the shelters for sun protection, setting up camp chairs inside one and a play mat and toddler toys inside another, and placing the large Clam shelter over a picnic table piled with markers and coloring books. No other chair in our testing pool—except perhaps the extremely pricey Yeti Trailhead—came close to matching the King Kong’s build quality. Our testers consistently said the King Kong chair was the most heavy-duty-feeling model of all the chairs we tested. The Coleman Cooler Quad has been our pick since 2016, through numerous camping trips and several testing sessions.

That’s because it’s among the most durable and comfortable chairs we’ve tested. It’s large enough to accommodate a wide range of body types, and its steel frame supports up to 325 pounds. The weight of this Ozark Trail is lighter than most of the same size alternative steel frame canopy tents, coming in right about 29 lbs. From a positive perspective, the lightweight design increases portability which is certainly important in carrying the tent to its intended location. From a negative perspective, the weight is indicative of a lack of high quality material and components used throughout the shelter.

But when you’re camping or eating outdoors, you’ll likely want protection from insects, as well. That’s why we focused on collapsible camping shelters with mesh walls to keep bugs at bay. The Helinox Chair One weighs about 2 pounds, compresses smaller than a 2-liter bottle of soda, and is our most lightweight pick. It’s not the lightest chair we ozark trail camping chair tested, but it is the one that struck the best balance between a low weight and comfort, with a roomier seat than the competition (except for the Moon Lence) and a strong and supportive frame. Other chairs we tested sacrificed too much comfort in order to shave mere ounces off of their weights, and we don’t think the trade-off was worth it.

It’s currently low in stock, but REI tells us this chair will be widely available again over the summer. If you’re planning a car-camping trip, you’ll probably want to bring camping chairs. They’re also ideal for sporting events, field trips, outdoor concerts and movies, and picnics in the park.