Eureka! Mountain Pass

I wanted to post this review to complement Eureka on a tent that has lasted us almost 20 years and is still going strong. This is a 4-person, 3-season tent that hadn't seen much use in the last five years but we ended up taking it backpacking this past summer for three girls and three dogs to use. It performed just as well as it did when it was new.

We got this tent back in 1995, the year after we moved to Colorado. At that time, it was my wife, my 4-year-old son, and our lab. I bought the four-person size to fit us all while backpacking, but I also had to get a 7000+ cu. in. backpack to carry everything. Oh to be young again :-).

We've used this tent many times since those days, mainly for car camping. Over the years I've bought smaller, lighter tents for us to use when backpacking. But, this past summer my girls (now 16) wanted to bring a friend and also our two dogs and the friend's dog so we decided to bring out the grandparent of all our tents.  The trail weight for this tent is close to 9 lbs, but split among the three girls it became a manageable weight.

The one negative is that the design back in those days didn't include a vestibule so they had nowhere to put their gear so it wouldn't get wet during any rains. I ended up setting up my UST Tarp over their tent door creating a vestibule and all was good. You can see it in the background.

Ventilation in this tent is good. It has pretty big windows/door screens and there is a roof vent too. In Colorado we don't usually have to deal with much condensation because the humidity is so low. Plus with no vestibule on either side, there's nothing blocking the breeze when the windows flaps are zipped open.

I'm glad we broke this tent out and used it again. I imagine we'll use it more again next summer when we backpack with other families and the girls want the same setup.

It set up quick. I am done while most of the people I paddle with are still setting up theirs. I am 5'11" and can not sleep straight without hitting walls. Hey this is a 4-person tent.

I find it is too heavy and bent a pole as soon as I got it. It still works but will be (is) for sale @ our next "demo" day. Make me an offer?

Four-person Timberline my dogs tore up was what I had before and would trade in a heartbeat.

Nice and roomy inside. Mesh pockets, zippered roof panel, bathtub floors.

Disadvantages--2 of too small of vestibules, condensation, cicle zippers fatigue faster.

Great for the beginning camper/backpacker, but for near the same price, you can get a more durable tent.