Camping Trailers

One thing to consider before embarking on a camping adventure is transportation. Another is shelter once you're there. Camping trailers provide one solution to both considerations.

Camper trailers come in many varieties and each is used in a number of ways. They are as adaptable as camping enthusiasts are.

Perhaps the simplest and most compact of camping trailers is the camper shell that fits over the bed of a pickup truck. Sometimes called a topper or cap, this rigid-bodied enclosure provides ready sleeping space and it doubles as extra storage space when a tent is used for sleeping.

One step up from camper shells is the pop-up camping trailers. These handy little accessories are towed behind a vehicle or horse to the overnight destination. Once parked, they unfold (or pop up) like a tent to reveal sleeping and seating areas, table top, and sometimes a cook stove or heater for warmth. These camping trailers are sometimes called tent trailers.

Bigger camping trailers that are fully enclosed and of rigid, hard-sided construction come in towable models and motor homes that contain the engine, steering wheel, etc., that allow them to be driven to the destination without need of a separate vehicle to tow it.

Like so much other outdoors equipment, camping trailers run the gamut from simple and inexpensive to elaborate and very expensive. Some amenities in the upper-end camping trailers include electronics such as TVs and VCRs, fully equipped kitchens, full bathrooms, and separate living rooms and bedrooms with closets. Luxury camping trailers sometimes feature washers and dryers, electricity generators, pull-out patio awnings, and outside storage for recreational equipment.

Camping trailers were originally designed with camping only in mind. Many of today's models also make great longer-term living quarters for the homeowner with unquenchable wanderlust.