Eureka Desert Canyon 4 Person Tent Review – Incredibly Tall Cabin

Eureka Desert Canyon 4 Person Tent is a new item on the market, a very tall cabin style freestanding car camping tent for up to four people.

Key features & benefits

What kind of tent is this

The Desert Canyon 4 is a brand new model launched by Eureka in 2018, and this is a part of the series which includes also the 6-person version.

As you realize from the pictures, this is a very typical cabin-type tent, so the walls are almost completely vertical and it is incredibly tall, you have 86 inches (218 cm) at the highest inner spot.

The tent is freestanding in the best meaning of this term. So when you set it up, you attach the fly through buckles and at this stage you can still move it around and rotate to find the best position in the camp.

The tent is with a minimal fly which covers only the mesh ceiling. So a big part of the tent is a single-layer structure. This implies that the walls are as waterproof as the fly.

Who is it for

The declared capacity is 4 people, so when you check the area you get 64 ft² (6 m²) and this is 16 ft² (1.5 m²) per person. Clearly, they have used a backpacking principle for the tent’s capacity. So indeed you can put 4 sleeping pads on the floor, but for a real camping this would not make sense. I would not use this tent for more than 2 people. Eventually, parents with a small kid could also use it for camping.

Seasons-wise, this tent is for summer camping and I would not put it on harsh tests with respect to strong winds or heavy rains. Remember its height, this is a huge obstacle for winds. Also, with so much mesh on the ceiling, it would not keep the warmth, and it is not suited to a cooler environment. For such a use, better check this Vango Capri 400 XL tent.

The tent is heavy and the packed weight is 22.1 lb (10 kg). The packed size is not bad, you have a package of 28.5 x 9.5 inches (72 x 24 cm), so this is a tent for places with a motorized access. I have added it to my list of 4-person tents for car camping.

Overview of features and materials

Fabric

The mesh areas are 68D polyester no-see-um, and the fly and the rest of the vertical walls and the floor are 75D 185T polyester. So this is a reasonably durable but quite typical material.

Poles

Here you have a combination of steel and fiberglass, so the vertical poles are 15 and 13 mm steel and the roof poles are 16 mm fiberglass. There is no hub element on the top, but you have some connectors in all four corners. Here you have also shorter pieces of poles which are used for the overhanging fly design. You might want to compare this with what you have in this Outdoor Products 4 Person Instant Cabin Tent.

Waterproofness

The tent’s body and the fly are with a 1200 mm waterproof rating. This is not much but you do not need more for a typical summer camping. Note that a typical umbrella is around 400 mm. The floor is with an 1800 mm rating, and all seams are sealed.

Shelter pitch option

This is a bit similar to the so-called fast fly option which you have in backpacking tents (which have footprints). Though here this is a bot different because it works without a footprint. So you can use only the fly and the poles to create a shade in the garden or on the beach. This is possible due to poles’ connectors which are strong enough to keep the structure standing. You will see this in the video below.

Other features

• You have stakes included in the package and they are steel.
• There are 4 small pockets on the walls.
• The windows are with panels for protection and for privacy.
• There is a gear caddy, a set of organizer pockets for small items, a useful bonus indeed.
• There are no floor vents, this is not so great, but they count on the huge windows and the door that have mesh. This is fine as long as the sky is clear.

Please see more in this video by Eureka:

Specifications

• Type: cabin tent, freestanding.
• Capacity: 4.
• Minimum weight: 19 lb 12 oz (8.96).
• Packed weight: 22.1 lb (10 kg).
• Dimensions: 8 x 8 ft (2.44 x 2.44 m).
• Area: 64 ft² (6 m²).
• Area per person: 16 ft² (1.5 m²).
• Peak height: 86 in (218 cm).
• Packed size: 28.5 x 9.5 in (72 x 24 cm).
• Doors: 1.

Eureka Desert Canyon 4 tent vs Competitors

I thought you might want to see how this cabin compares with some other tents built in a similar style. So here I give two of them; the Coleman is well known and popular tent that has been on the market for a number of years, and the Kelty’s tent is a brand new model. See how they compare, to read more please follow the links in the table:

Final thoughts, rating, pros & cons

The price is a bit steep but still quite reasonable for such a tent. See how I rate it:

Eureka! Desert Canyon 4 Four-Person Tent

7.9

Area per person

7.9/10

Weight

7.3/10

Packed size

7.6/10

Protection

8.0/10

Features

8.7/10

Pros

• Exceptionally tall.
• Shelter pitch variant.
• Very pleasant and livable space.

Cons

• No floor vents.
• Too small for the declared capacity.

Please check also the Eureka Copper Canyon 4 and also the ALPS Mountaineering Camp Creek 4 tent built in the same style, otherwise visit my page with tents and you will find tens of tents of various sizes reviewed in detail. See also this Eureka Suite Dream 4 built in the dome-shape and with lots of space.

If you want something dome-shaped, check this Marmot Coolfax 4 tent with footprint and with a removable vestibule. If you need something far bigger for family camping, please check here.

Thank you for reading, please use the comment box below in the case of questions and comments. Have a nice day.