The pandemic significantly transformed the landscape of camping in the USA. While travelers put the brakes on air travel, hotel bookings, and car rentals in 2020, camping, already experiencing a surge according to Kampgrounds of America (KOA) in its annual North American Camping Report, witnessed an unprecedented boom. The surge in interest doesn't seem to be subsiding according to the numbers. In 2021, 48.2 million households embarked on at least one camping trip, and in 2022, KOA's report indicated a further increase to 58 million.
Thanks to Instagram, a whole lot more Americans are interested in Overlanding, Van Life or whatever you want to call going to a remote location in your vehicle. You can camp in whatever you have, but doing it in a vehicle equipped with things like roof rails built to support a rooftop tent and power outlets that can run your accessories sure makes it more comfortable. This list is comprised of vehicles that either are specifically equipped to be good at camping or have a thriving aftermarket with the equipment that can make camping even more pleasurable.
We’ve stuck to new vehicles here, but check out our list of The Best Vans for Camper Conversions if you’re browsing the used car market for the answer to your camping needs. Prices correct at time of publication, but are subject to change.
The Best Cars for Camping 2024
- Crossover SUV: Subaru Outback Wilderness
- Off-Road Pickup Truck: Jeep Gladiator
- Minivan: Kia Carnival
- Full-Size Van: Ford Transit
- Sports Car: Subaru WRX
- Midsize Pickup: Hyundai Santa Cruz
- Full-Size Pickup: RAM 1500
- Truck-Based SUV: Toyota 4Runner
- Compact Crossover: Volvo XC40
- Midsize Crossover SUV: Dodge Durango GT
Crossover SUV: Subaru Outback Wilderness
Max. cargo volume: 75.7 cubic feet
Priced from: $39,960
If it feels like the Subaru Outback design and marketing team was scanning Instagram for the #outbackoverlanding hashtag, well, that’s because they were. Like the smaller Subaru Forester Wilderness, the Outback Wilderness is a vehicle that was constructed specifically for the needs of that audience, with more ground clearance, greater off-road capability, and the strength to support not just sleeping bags but a full tent and campers on the roof. The 2024 model has been refreshed with a more aggressively styled front end.
The Outback Wilderness has 9.5 inches of ground clearance, and better approach, departure and breakover angles than any Outback before it. Sure, you can add a lift to your lesser Outback and achieve much the same goal, but you can’t re-gear it for better low-end performance, and you can’t recalibrate the advanced safety tech to work as well when the vehicle sits higher. Subaru can.
It also increased the capacity of the roof rails, allowing for 700 pounds of roof capacity, enough for a tent, a couple of occupants, and all the bear spray you need to get you through a weekend.
Research the Subaru Outback Wilderness
Off-Road Pickup Truck: Jeep Gladiator
Max. cargo volume: 35.5 cubic feet
Priced from: $37,895
Jeep went from selling zero pickup trucks in 2018 to selling around 80,000 a year thanks to the Gladiator. This truck has a unique position in the marketplace, offering all the accessories of a true overlander, a pickup bed complete with tailgate, and of course the ability to take the roof and doors off, just like you can with the ever-popular Jeep Wrangler.
The best overlanding Gladiators we’ve seen have started out with the Thule TracRac, which is the base for all kinds of accessories like cargo boxes, rooftop tents, and kayak storage. With the Mopar tonneau cover, you can stow stuff you’d like to keep dry while you’re three levels up inside the tent. It’s a pretty wild setup that will get you just about anywhere you’d like to go on your outdoor adventures.
Which equipment level to get is a tossup. Of course the Rubicon has it all, but it’s pricey. For a little less money, the Willys offers a standard rear locking differential to put power to both rear wheels in slippery conditions, and it backs it up with 32-inch mud terrain tires and the same rock rails that are on the Rubicon.
Research the Jeep Gladiator
Minivan: Kia Carnival
Max. cargo volume: 245.1 cubic feet
Priced from: $33,200
While SUVs with a third row are apparently widely accepted, the thought of a minivan generally seems to fill people with a sense of ennui. It’s seen as an admission that you’ve given up on having fun. The Kia Carnival really changes that. It is—and we say this unironically—a great-looking vehicle from every angle. The proportions are right and there are design details that just haven’t made it to the minivan class before.
The interior is every bit as nice as the ultra-popular Kia Telluride, too, and with the Carnival, you won’t have to wait in line to get one. The 145.1 cubic feet of space means that if you limit your excursions to two rather than filling all three rows of seats, you can actually camp inside it when the weather is lousy. On the aftermarket, check out the nifty magnetic Skeeter Beater window screens that attach to either the front or middle windows (or both), allowing you to stay bug-free inside and still catch the breezes.
The only downsides to the Carnival are that it doesn’t have an all-wheel-drive system the way the Chrysler Pacifica or Toyota Sienna does, and it’s not offered in hybrid form like the Toyota. But its lower price can help offset the additional money you’ll spend on fuel.
Research the Kia Carnival
Full-Size Van: Ford Transit
Max. cargo volume: 148 cubic feet
Priced from: $46,415
If you’re an Instagram fan, you’ve seen these bad boys converted into living spaces that rival a Manhattan studio apartment. Transits are great vans and they come in all kinds of sizes, with weight capacities that will let you carry almost anything inside. We’ve even seen businesses use these for mobile tire services: they have enough room for a tire-mounting machine and a balancer inside, along with a full-size air compressor and the generator to run it. Trust us, you’ll be fine with your mini wood stove and chemical toilet.
The price, though: For the base cargo van, it increased by about six grand in the last couple of years and goes skyward from there. The best advice we can offer is to buy one that’s taller than what you think you might need. The ability to stand up straight inside is key for enjoyment when you’re using something like this regularly.
Research the Ford Transit
Sports Car: Subaru WRX
Max. cargo volume: 12 cubic feet
Priced from: $32,735
The WRX isn’t going to be great for stowing lots of gear with its tiny trunk, but we’ve seen it put to excellent use with supplies stashed in the rear seats and campers ensconced in a rooftop tent.
The latest WRX was all new for the 2022 model year, and we had a chance to spend a week with it on two occasions in that first year. It’s a much more grown-up car than the one it replaces. It feels a lot more comfortable running around in regular traffic than ever. And if you didn’t like the photos from when it launched, well, we didn’t either. Trust us when we say that it was a lot better-looking in the metal.
Subaru’s standard all-wheel drive provides added peace of mind should you encounter slippery terrain, and all models now come standard with EyeSight driver assistance technology for added safety.
Research the Subaru WRX
Midsize Pickup: Hyundai Santa Cruz
Max. cargo volume: 27 cubic feet
Priced from: $26,650
The Hyundai Santa Cruz was a huge surprise. It’s a significantly more useful vehicle than we anticipated. The 27 cubic feet of cargo volume isn’t quite as big as what you get in the Honda Ridgeline (you lose about five cubic feet), but during a basement remodel, we crammed a thousand pounds worth of flooring under the tonneau cover and the Santa Cruz handled it like nothing was back there.
For campers, we’re starting to see more accessories from brands like Thule and Yakima that provide ladder racks you can mount all kinds of things to, including rooftop tents, bikes, and all your other camping accoutrements. It’s not going to get the fuel economy of the hybrid-powered Ford Maverick, but it is also readily available in inventory at most Hyundai retailers, which is a bonus these days.
Research the Hyundai Santa Cruz
Full-Size Pickup: RAM 1500
Max. cargo volume: 57.5 cubic feet
Priced from: $39,420
Ram trucks have been known to make ideal overlanding vehicles for the right campers. With a roof rack and a Tepui rooftop tent, plus an auxiliary sleeping area in the truck bed, a Ram 1500 easily has room for the whole family.
While we’re sure that most Ram prospects are going to opt for the high-trim variants, it’s worth checking out the Tradesman trim. With four-wheel drive, the V6, and a miserly view of the options list, you can buy a Ram 1500 for $43,515. If you ditch the four-wheel drive, you can get into it for $42,170. That’s not “cheap” by any stretch, but it qualifies as such today in the full-size pickup market.
If you’re out for towing capacity, you’d have a hard time beating the base RAM 1500 with 6,490 pounds.
Research the RAM 1500
Truck-Based SUV: Toyota 4Runner
Max. cargo volume: 89.7 cubic feet
Priced from: $40,705
Unlike the Toyota Tacoma, which got a facelift recently, Toyota hasn’t given the 4Runner more than a few styling tweaks since 2009. TWO THOUSAND AND NINE. Regardless, Toyota sold more 4Runners back in 2021 than it ever sold in its 38-model-year history. That’s a testament to getting it right.
The 4Runner is the last of a breed of truck-based, body-on-frame SUVs that were built to take a ration of abuse. It makes the 4Runner a fantastic camping vehicle, especially if your road trip has you headed to places that are barely on the map.
If that’s the kind of camping you’re into, the TRD Pro is your trim level. Equipped with a variety of off-road features, the TRD Pro includes a front skid plate, enhanced suspension, electronic locking rear differential, and a TRD roof rack that’s sure to come in handy for extra camping gear.
Research the Toyota 4Runner
Compact Crossover: Volvo XC40
Max. cargo volume: 47.2 cubic feet
Priced from: $40,500
The Volvo XC40 is a handsome little vehicle, and with up to 247 horsepower and AWD, it’ll get you anywhere you’d want to go, quickly.
But what we love about the XC40 is how much thought went into the interior space. There are all kinds of nifty little Easter eggs hidden in the XC40’s interior—all designed to help you make the most use out of the car. There’s a waste bin in the center console and a retractable hook in the glovebox for hanging things like towels and bags of food you don’t want wildlife to get into.
Volvo designers moved the speakers out of the doors to free up clever interior space for things like flashlights and bug spray in the door pockets. In the cargo area, the floor is designed to fold up. It allows grocery bags to stand up without falling over, and then it provides a hidden storage space under the floor for your expensive belongings when you’re in the tent.
Research the Volvo XC40
Midsize Crossover SUV: Dodge Durango GT
Max. cargo volume: 85.1 cubic feet
Priced from: $46,170 (GT AWD); $43,670 (SXT AWD)
Slowly and quietly, Dodge has built a fan base for the humble Durango. While other manufacturers seem to be making their crossovers look like minivans, Dodge went in the other direction, offering a bit more brawn than the competition. The formula seems to work.
It’s a great camping package. It’s got 85.1 cubic feet of cargo space, plenty of room for stowing all your gear, but it’s also got back seats that aren't a total penalty box for human occupants. And while you can light your hair on fire with the SRT or SRT Hellcat trims, the humble GT with its 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine is surprisingly capable on back roads and the highway, thanks to that eight-speed automatic transmission.
Research the Dodge Durango GT