The North Face pays homage to Yosemite’s Wawona Tunnel Tree with a 6-person tent that’s fit for a sequoia. You’ll be able to pack a boatload of gear and multiple campers into this spacious tent that boasts a total of 150 square feet if you include the two vestibules. We loved the roomy front vestibule as well as the impressive headroom, and its level of weatherproofing cannot be understated. That being said, we found this tent just a bit difficult to pitch and pack away, and the location of the storage pockets could have been a bit more thought-out. At $449.95, it’s no small investment and it’s not without its flaws, but it’s absolutely a well-constructed tent that will leave you prepared for a range of weather conditions.

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The North Face pays homage to Yosemite’s Wawona Tunnel Tree with a 6-person tent that’s fit for a sequoia. You’ll be able to pack a boatload of gear and multiple campers into this spacious tent that boasts a total of 150 square feet. At $449.95, it’s no small investment. Unfortunately, it’s not without its flaws, though it’s undoubtedly a well-constructed tent that will leave you prepared for a variety of weather conditions.

Comfort

Dimensions for the Wawona 6 are 10′ x 8’6″ (85sqft) with a peak height of 6’8”, which gives this tent the second highest headroom of any tent in our review, just behind the Big Agnes Big House 6, which is taller by an inch. Being a dome-style tent, that height does drop off relatively quickly on the sides, but it’s still quite shocking to think that an NBA player could stand up inside without having to crouch. Although jamming six people in the Wawona would probably be a bit of a stretch, it’s not hard to imagine a family of four fitting inside comfortably, even if they bring along the dog. Storing your small items is made easy thanks to 6 storage pockets; however, three of these pockets are located on the back door, which we found to be a slightly strange location rather than using the side walls.

There are windows at the front and back of the tent—where there are also doors; however, the front window loses some of its views when the rainfly is attached. Although the main tent has two doors, with the rainfly and vestibule attached, that number goes up to three. That’s because the front vestibule has entryways on both sides rather than the front. This was a very unique feature that caught our attention. The Wawona actually boasts two vestibules: a rear vestibule that’s 21sqft and a front vestibule that’s a whopping 45sqft. We were blown away by the design of the incredibly roomy front vestibule, which has large doors on the sides and enough space to store a mountain of gear or even act as a covered cooking area if the weather gets temperamental.

Ease of Setup

Despite its very clever design, we did find that the Wawona 6 was just a bit complicated to assemble, with roughly a 10-minute setup time. The size of the tent alone makes it more of a two-person job; suffice it to say that on a windy day, the tent can quickly turn into a kite. The main tent is erected with three poles; two color-coded poles crisscross at the top, threaded through sleeves, and locked into the corners using grommets. We found these to be a very tight fit, and it took just a bit of effort to lock them into place. A third pole then loops over the front door to provide some additional headroom. There’s also a fourth pole that is used to erect the front vestibule.

The rainfly and vestibules also proved to be a bit of a challenge to put together. The rainfly is attached to the tent using a pin-and-hook system that could be more elegant, and the front vestibule will need to be staked out as well as guy-lined in order to function. All packed up in its “unique” open-top rope bag—which wasn’t our favorite design but did make it a bit easier to fit all the contents—the Wawona weighs 21.9lb with a packed size of 25.5″x9.5″x16.5″. This makes it the third heaviest tent in our review, but much of that comes down to the high-quality, durable materials, which we will dive into later on.

Weatherproofing

Fully staked out, the Wawona 6 should be capable of handling winds of more than 50mph. It’s also one of only a few tents in our review that is single-wall, so it is waterproof even without the rainfly attached. Given the moderate hassle associated with erecting the rainfly and vestibule, it can be comforting to know that you can opt to skip this step if you simply don’t have the energy or patience. Should you opt to include the rainfly, however, it is worth noting that this is in fact not a full rainfly and does not cover the back window. You’ll want to close up that rear window with the waterproof zippered layer. You can give the interior a bit of ventilation by opening up the two vents at the top of the rainfly.

Durability

The North Face is one of the many brands in our review renowned for build quality, and the Wawona 6 is a prime example. The floor material is 75D polyester while the canopy is 150D polyester taffeta, and the rainfly is 68D polyester. The DAC MX poles are made of 14mm aluminum, which is quite rugged. All in all, we were delighted with the construction of this tent. However, we were a bit disappointed to discover that there is no footprint included. You’ll need to purchase the Wawona footprint separately for just under $50; its dimensions are large enough to fit both the tent and the front vestibule.

Other Features

Along with the aforementioned front vestibule, which was probably our favorite thing about this tent, we were pleased to find internal dry lines, hang loops, and a Velcro lantern loop inside the tent body. Most of all, we appreciated that the Wawona 6 was clearly built to last and handle practically anything you can throw at it. The North Face offers this tent with two color schemes: choose from the eye-catching Light Exuberance Brown/Orange or the more subdued Green/Asphalt Grey.

The Bottom Line

The Wawona 6 is a high-performance tent with some very cool features. We loved the roomy front vestibule as well as the impressive headroom, and its level of weatherproofing cannot be understated. That being said, we found this tent just a bit difficult to pitch and pack away, and the location of the storage pockets could have been a bit more thought-out. The Wawona 6 is an eye-catching and versatile option for campers at a competitive price.

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