Ozark Trail 14 Person Spring Lodge Cabin Camping Tent Review

Ozark Trail 14 Person Spring Lodge Cabin Camping Tent is a huge summer camping cabin with all steel frame, a screen room, 2 cabinets, and 6 huge mesh windows on all the sides. This is a great family camping option for calm weather.

Key features

Where to buy

• This tent is available on Amazon so follow the link and check shipping conditions at your location.
• You can find it also at Walmart.

So what type of tent is this Ozark Trail Spring Lodge 14 tent

This is a very typical cabin style tent with steep and straight walls, and this is what I would describe as a framed tent. This means that the frame is freestanding itself, the hub elements are there to connect the legs poles and roof poles. 

So you attach the tent to the roof poles before raising the structure from the ground. This would be impossible later because the tent is tall, the peak height along the main axes is 84 inches (213 cm) and the connectors are above the mesh ceiling, see the picture below.

Note that there are pop-up elements which lock the poles to the hubs, you will hear a click when you put the pole into the hub connector. This makes the connection secure. The picture below shows one of them.

The rooms

• There are two rooms here, the back room which is 13.5 x 8 ft size, and the front room which is 13.5 x 6 ft. This front room is in fact a screen room, but here you have panels as well, all is zippered so you can use it as an ordinary room as well with full privacy and with protection against the rain. The floor is fully sealed in both rooms so the level of protection is the same.
• But when the sky is clear, you can unzip all the panels in the front room and have mesh on all sides. This is why I have included this tent in my list of tents with screen room.
• Note that the divider between the two rooms is sewn-in and you have panels on the inner windows and the inner door, for extra privacy.
• There are two cabinets (closets) on two sides of the tent, they are attached to the back room and the entrance is from inside, see the picture below. They are tall, all the way to the roof of the tent, but their area is small. The dimensions are 1.25 x 1.25 ft (38 x 38 cm) each. Note that they have separate poles and separate fly (permanently attached to the tent).

  

The cabinets come with mesh shelves for storage, see the picture below. They are fully protected and floored just like the rest of the tent. This is a very useful space, and this is why I have included the tent in my list of tents with cabinets.

The picture below shows the roof of one of the cabinets, so you can see the supporting pole and the fly which is attached to the frame.

The doors & windows

There are two entry points, both huge and you can see the doors in the pictures above. The doors are with mesh and panels, so if you count this as a window, the tent has 5 huge external windows, plus two inner windows between the two rooms. The inner door between the two rooms is huge and double-layer type.

All these openings, outer and inner, are with zippers, and this is surprising for such an affordable tent. So this is an incredibly pleasant environment.

There are zippered doors also on the cabinets, you can see one in the pictures above.

Who is it for

Capacity: The declared capacity is 14 people. Note that the inner floor size is 14 x 13.5 ft (427 x 411 cm) so in principle, one could put 14 pads on the floor. But this is a backpacking principle, it may work for a group of friends at some summer festival, but this cannot work for family camping.

The tent can accommodate 3 queen size beds so this would determine the capacity of up to 6 people or so. You can save lots of space by using bunk cots, these steep and tall walls are perfect for this.

Seasons & climate: They describe it as a 3-season tent but clearly, this is a summer camping tent or for 2 seasons maximum, and for calm weather without much wind and rain. This is a gigantic structure and would not last long in strong winds. But the frame is very strong as you have seen already.

The tent has plenty of mesh everywhere, so this looks perfect for warm weather camping. But if you have rain, you will have to close all the panels. I miss seeing some floor vents here, they are needed for such situations.

Weight: The tent is heavy, it weighs 44.95 lb (20.4 kg), but see its size and the steel frame. So such a weight is expected and this is not a big issue. This is a camping tent in any case.

Packed size: The tent packs down to 35.5 x 16.5 x 13 inches (90 x 42 x 33 cm). This is not so bad for such a huge structure. All in all, this is a tent for places with a car access.

Materials

The poles & stakes

I already mentioned, this is all steel construction with 6 legs poles for the tent plus 4 legs poles for the cabinets. Then you have numerous poles for the roof of the tent, plus the roofs of the cabinets. Everything is color-coded so the setup is easier than you might expect from such a big tent. The self-supporting frame is one of the reasons for that, you do not have to wrestle with poles, this is all sturdy and strong.

The tent attaches to the frame with clips and hooks. You have pin-and-ring elements at the base, and this applies also for the cabinets. Simple steel pegs are included so do not miss to stake the tent properly.

Fabric

As usual with this brand, they do not provide much info about the fabric. But the floor is polyethylene, and the upper body and the fly is polyester. The seams on the fly are taped, those on the floor are welded. There is no information about the waterproof rating.

Other features

• Hanging media sleeve that supports most tablet sizes.
• Multiple storage pockets.
• A carry bag is included.

Specifications

• Type: cabin tent, freestanding.
• Declared capacity: 14 people.
• Weight: 44.95 lb (20.4 kg).
• Dimensions: 16 x 14 ft (488 x 427 cm).
• Inner floor dimensions: 14 x 13.5 ft (427 x 411 cm).
• Inner floor area: 189 ft² (17.5 m²).
• Floor area per person: 13.7 ft² (1.27 m²).
• Closets dimension: 1.25 x 1.25 ft (38 x 38 cm).
• Closets total area: 3.1 ft² (0.3 m²).
• Packed size: 35.5 x 16.5 x 13 in (90 x 42 x 33 cm).
• Peak height: 84 in (213 cm).
• Frame: steel.

Ozark Trail 14 Person Spring Lodge Cabin Camping Tent vs Competitors

I thought you might want to see how this giant stands when compared with some other tents with the same declared 14-person capacity. As you realize, its inner area is slightly bigger than in the other two tents, but it is still lighter. Please follow the links in the table to read more, those two tents are presented in detail in my separate texts.

Final thoughts

This tent is on the market with a price tag that is amazing for such a large tent. Please see how I rate it against my standard set of criteria. This will help you to compare it with other tents in the site:

Ozark Trail 14 Person Spring Lodge Cabin Camping Tent

8.1

Area per person

7.6/10

Weight

7.8/10

Packed size

7.2/10

Protection

7.8/10

Ease of use

8.5/10

Features

9.6/10

Pros

• Very comfortable and functional.
• Very tall.
• Large windows.
• Huge doors.
• Great price.
• Great organization & storage areas.

Cons

• No floor vents.

Check on Amazon

Check at Walmart

Note that this is not a sponsored text, and I have no business relationship with this brand. Please use the comment box below in the case of questions or comments.