Hard Side Pop Up Campers: Every Model You Can Still Buy, and How They Compare to Tent Campers

Waking up in a wet tent is what sends most people to an RV lot, and the dealer’s answer is usually a trailer twice the size they need. A hard side pop up camper is the middle path: a rigid-walled camper that folds down to a box or an A-frame for towing, sets up in about a minute, and tows behind a small SUV or a minivan.

Here is where the market stands. Only four companies still build them new: Forest River (the Rockwood and Flagstaff A-frames, 1,918 to 2,728 pounds dry), Aliner (the original A-frame, from a 1,190-pound Scout Lite to the 1,985-pound Expedition with a cassette toilet), TrailManor (the clamshell trailers with a real dry bath, 2,580 pounds and up), and the Coachmen Clipper hybrids, which are only half hard-sided. Chalet, which used to be on every list like this one, is out of business, so a Chalet is a used purchase now.

The honest catch: a hard-sided pop-up costs more than a canvas tent trailer, from about $16,000 at the small end to more than $50,000 for a TrailManor, and it weighs more. What you get for that is a camper that stays dry, holds heat, keeps the bears on the other side of a wall, and lasts long past the point where canvas would need replacing.

Below: what a hard-sided pop-up actually is, every model still in production with dry weights, closed lengths and prices, how they compare with tent campers, and the drawbacks the brochures skip.

What a hard side pop up camper is

There are two kinds of pop-up camper. Soft-sided tent trailers fold down to a low, flat box and raise a canvas room on a lift system. Hard-sided pop-ups use rigid panels instead of canvas: the roof and sometimes dormered walls lift and lock, and the finished camper feels like a small travel trailer rather than a tent on wheels.

They come in two shapes. A-frames, from Aliner and Forest River, hinge two roof panels up into a triangle. Clamshells, from TrailManor, lift a flat roof straight up and then slide the halves apart into a full-height, full-length trailer. Both fold to roughly the height of a car for towing, which is the whole appeal: low drag, easy storage, and a tow rating most crossovers can meet.

Every hard side pop up camper you can still buy new

Every dry weight and length below comes from the maker’s current specification sheet; prices are from dealer listings and manufacturer MSRPs and move with the season, so treat them as the neighborhood, not the number.

Model	Type	Dry weight	Closed length	Sleeps	Price (list or dealer)
Aliner Scout Lite	A-frame	1,190 lb	13 ft	2	about $13,000 to $18,000
Aliner Classic	A-frame	1,725 lb	15 ft	2 to 3	$39,100 MSRP
Aliner Expedition	A-frame, cassette toilet	1,985 lb	18 ft	2 to 4	about $44,600 to $48,600 MSRP
Forest River Rockwood / Flagstaff A101RB (T10RB)	A-frame	1,918 lb	16 ft 2 in	2	from about $16,000 (dealer)
Forest River Rockwood / Flagstaff A122S	A-frame	2,120 lb	18 ft 4 in	2 to 3	high teens (dealer)
Forest River Rockwood / Flagstaff A213HS (T21HS)	A-frame, wet bath	2,728 lb	20 ft 4 in	3	about $20,000 to $26,000 (dealer)
TrailManor 2518 (KB / KS / KD)	Clamshell, dry bath	2,580 to 2,600 lb	18 ft (16 ft 1 in with swing hitch)	4 to 6	$48,600 to $55,200 MSRP
TrailManor 2720 / 2922 / 3124	Clamshell, dry bath	2,960 to 3,200 lb	20, 22 and 24 ft	4 to 6	higher; ask the dealer
Chalet (Classic, LTW, XL)	A-frame	990 to 2,165 lb	12 ft 9 in to 18 ft 7 in	2 to 4	used only; the company is closed

Forest River Rockwood and Flagstaff A-frames

Forest River sells the same A-frame under two badges, Rockwood and Flagstaff, with matching floorplans under different names, and it is the biggest builder in the category. The current list runs seven floorplans: the A101 pair at 1,918 pounds and 16 feet 2 inches closed, the A121FD and A123RG around 2,200 to 2,350 pounds, the A122S at 2,120 pounds and 18 feet 4 inches, and the two high-wall models, the A216HS at 2,528 pounds and the A213HS at 2,728 pounds and 20 feet 4 inches closed. Every model ships with both an air conditioner and a furnace, which is unusual at this size.

The high-wall models are the ones to look at if you want a bathroom: the A213HS (the Flagstaff T21HS) carries a wet bath with a shower inside a 20-foot box, plus a three-burner cooktop, a microwave, a hanging wardrobe and an exterior griddle. The smaller floorplans trade the bath for a lighter tow and a shorter box that fits a residential garage. Dealer prices start around $16,000 for the smallest and run into the mid-$20,000s for the high-wall bath models; the diamond-plate front cap, solar prep, electric brakes and four stabilizer jacks are standard across the line.

TrailManor: the clamshell with a real bathroom

TrailManor does not build an A-frame. Its trailers tow as a flat box, 6 feet 10 inches tall, then lift straight up and slide the roof halves apart into a trailer with 6 feet 4 inches of headroom and a full-length floor. The 2518 series tows at 18 feet, opens to 21 feet 6 inches, weighs 2,580 to 2,600 pounds dry, and sleeps four to six depending on the floorplan: the KB pairs a 78-by-78 king bed with a front double, the KS and KD trade the double for a slide-out living room or dinette.

What you are paying for is the interior. Every 2518 has a genuine dry bath with a cassette toilet and a shower, a stove with an oven, a refrigerator, a furnace and a wardrobe, which no A-frame matches, and the optional swing hitch shortens the stored length to 16 feet 1 inch so it fits a standard garage. The bigger 2720, 2922 and 3124 series stretch the same idea to 20, 22 and 24 feet of towing length at 2,960 to 3,200 pounds. MSRPs run from about $48,600 for a 2518KS to $55,200 for the 2518KB, so this is the expensive end of the category, and the one that feels most like a travel trailer inside.

Aliner: the original A-frame, from 1,190 pounds

Aliner invented the A-frame pop-up and still builds the widest range of them: Scout, Ranger, Classic, Expedition, Evolution and Ascape series, plus an all-electric model and slide-in truck campers. Three models cover most buyers. The Scout Lite is the lightest hard-sided camper you can buy new, 1,190 pounds dry and 13 feet long, with a 12-volt fridge, a sink, city water and a high-wind lift assist; dealers sell it in the $13,000 to $18,000 range, which is why it is the usual first pop-up.

The Classic is the sweet spot: 1,725 pounds, 15 feet closed, 97 inches from floor to peak inside, two beds (46 by 76 and 60 by 76 inches), and an 18,000 BTU furnace, a 3.2-cubic-foot 12-volt refrigerator, a microwave, a water heater and an outside shower as standard. MSRP is $39,100. The Expedition stretches to 18 feet and 1,985 pounds, adds taller counters, bigger beds (40 by 80 and 60 by 80) and about 30 percent more storage, and puts a swivel cassette toilet in as standard, which makes it the lightest hard-sided pop-up with a real toilet. Dealer MSRPs run about $44,600 to $48,600.

Chalet: out of business, so buy used with your eyes open

Chalet built some of the best-loved A-frames, the 990-pound LTW, the 15-foot-6 Classic and the 18-foot-7 XL with a queen bed and up to 8 feet of headroom, all with a push-button electric roof lift. The Oregon company stopped production and is closed, so every Chalet on the market is used. They hold value because the design was good, but check the lift motors and the roof seals before you pay, since the parts supply is gone.

Coachmen Clipper and Viking hybrids: half hard, half tent

Coachmen’s Clipper line (and its Viking sibling) is mostly canvas tent trailers, but the Clipper Express 9.0TD is a true hybrid: a hard-sided aluminum teardrop with a pop-up tent section at the rear. They are lighter and cheaper than anything above, and they are not hard-sided pop-ups; you get the tent trade-offs below on half the camper. Worth a look if the budget stops short of an Aliner.

Are hard-sided pop-up campers better than tent campers?

For most people who camp more than a few nights a year, yes, and for four reasons.

• They feel like a travel trailer. Step into an expanded A-frame or a TrailManor and you are in a room with rigid walls, a real door and a hard roof, not a tent on a trailer. Some tent campers have a hard A-frame with canvas dormers; the true hard-siders have none.
• They outlast canvas. Tent fabric fades, leaks and eventually needs replacing, which costs more than most owners expect. Rigid panels need nothing but a cover in storage.
• You get privacy and a wall between you and the wildlife. Canvas offers no more protection than a ground tent, and some campgrounds in bear country prohibit soft-sided campers outright. A hard wall also cuts the noise from the party three sites over.
• You stay warmer and drier. Insulated panels hold heat, dew does not soak through, and most hard-siders carry a propane furnace; every Forest River A-frame ships with a furnace and an air conditioner.

The drawbacks of a hard side pop up camper

• They cost more. A canvas tent trailer is cheaper up front, and the gap is real: an Aliner Classic lists at $39,100 and a TrailManor 2518 near $50,000. The counter-argument is upkeep, since canvas is the part that wears out.
• They are bigger when closed. A folded A-frame still has a peaked profile, and a TrailManor is a 6-foot-10 box. Check the closed length against your garage; the 13-foot Scout Lite and the 16-foot Forest River A101 fit almost anywhere, the 20-foot A213HS and the 24-foot TrailManor 3124 do not.
• They are heavier. Hard walls weigh more than canvas. The lightest models here still tow behind a small SUV, but a 2,728-pound A213HS or a 3,200-pound TrailManor wants a mid-size SUV or a truck once you load it.
• You lose the tent feeling. Some campers genuinely prefer canvas walls and the sound of the woods at night. If that is you, a hybrid or a tent trailer is the honest choice.

The one to buy

If you tow with a small SUV and camp as a couple, start with the Aliner Scout Lite or Classic, or the Forest River A101 and A122S. If you want a bathroom, the choices are the Aliner Expedition (cassette toilet, under 2,000 pounds), the Forest River A213HS high-wall (wet bath with a shower), or a TrailManor 2518 (a dry bath and a king bed, at a travel-trailer price). If the budget is the limit, a used Chalet or a Clipper hybrid gets you off the ground for less.

Go stand in one before you decide. Most people are surprised by how much room an expanded hard-side pop-up has, and by how little there is behind the tow vehicle. If you would rather try before you buy, renting a camper trailer for a weekend is the cheapest way to find out which shape you actually like.

Sources: Forest River’s current Rockwood and Flagstaff A-frame floorplan lists (dry weight, hitch weight and closed length per floorplan); TrailManor’s specification brochure and 2518-series dealer MSRPs; Aliner’s Scout Lite, Classic and Expedition model pages with dealer MSRPs and Autoevolution’s Scout Lite report; Camp Addict and the PopUpPortal owners’ forum on Chalet’s closure; RV.com on the Coachmen Clipper Express hybrid. Prices and specs checked September 2026.