I live in the panhandle of florida, we are getting ready to travel from Florida to Yosemite in the summer. We plan on going to north rim of grand canyon among a bunch of other stops. We are on the search for a camper on some sort. I have 3 kids, my boyfriend and myself and going to be in our 2011 suburban LT with the extra transmission cooler for more pulling weight We are thinking a pop up tent will give us the best gas mileage for our trip, but I also hear that the HTTs are nice. Any suggestion on what would be giving us the best gas mileage or the best option as far as traveling such a long distance? thanks!

It doesn't matter. It's whatever works for you.When our kids were home we pulled a pop up because it was lighter, smaller, and we could take it places where we couldn't get a bigger trailer. It also got the kids more outside when camping. We drug it and the kids thru the lower 48 states, Canada, and Mexico.

Do yourself a favor and check into the campgrounds you plan on staying at.....in some of the "national Parks" & campgrounds, they do not allow pop-ups because of the animals....just saying!

well I guess what we are looking for is something that is a bit more gas friendly..right now we are in the PUP market. We have decided we are not worried about the full bathroom option, as most campground have decent bathrooms. Except we have a 3 year old going to be potty training. We are kind of new to the camping scene, as we are more into the BOATING scene here in florida!

Buy a used $10K Airstream which you can sell for what you paid for it if you decide to not keep it after your trip.

Depending on whether your Suburban is a 1500 or a 2500 will have a bearing on what type/size of trailer you can safely handle. For your situation and if your going to bear country, you might look for a Hi-Lo trailer. Best of both worlds. Low profile for travel and hard sides when raised for comfort and safety.

What kind of camper for trip around the United states

Wadcutter
Nomad
Jan 26, 2014
It doesn't matter. It's whatever works for you.
When our kids were home we pulled a pop up because it was lighter, smaller, and we could take it places where we couldn't get a bigger trailer. It also got the kids more outside when camping. We drug it and the kids thru the lower 48 states, Canada, and Mexico.
Poppy___Nana
Explorer
Jan 26, 2014
Do yourself a favor and check into the campgrounds you plan on staying at.....in some of the "national Parks" & campgrounds, they do not allow pop-ups because of the animals....just saying!
jenjen77
Explorer
Jan 26, 2014
well I guess what we are looking for is something that is a bit more gas friendly..right now we are in the PUP market. We have decided we are not worried about the full bathroom option, as most campground have decent bathrooms. Except we have a 3 year old going to be potty training. We are kind of new to the camping scene, as we are more into the BOATING scene here in florida!
Ivylog
Explorer III
Jan 26, 2014
Buy a used $10K Airstream which you can sell for what you paid for it if you decide to not keep it after your trip.
donn0128
Explorer II
Jan 26, 2014
Depending on whether your Suburban is a 1500 or a 2500 will have a bearing on what type/size of trailer you can safely handle. For your situation and if your going to bear country, you might look for a Hi-Lo trailer. Best of both worlds. Low profile for travel and hard sides when raised for comfort and safety.
jenjen77
Explorer
Jan 26, 2014
Thank you poppy and nana for that advice..i will definitely have to look into that... It is very hard to find an airstream (decent one at least) and even a PUP is HARD..to the point of, we are going to have to travel 4-6 hours to look at decent one that interests us!
fla-gypsy
Explorer
Jan 26, 2014
A PUP that can sleep 5 comfortably and have a bathroom will be very large and tend to cost as much as a HTT. An HTT would in turn be much more comfortable for 5 than a PUP. Have you ever been trapped in a PUP during a thunderstorm or all day rain event with 5 people? Think miserable!
jenjen77
Explorer
Jan 26, 2014
donn0128 wrote:
Depending on whether your Suburban is a 1500 or a 2500 will have a bearing on what type/size of trailer you can safely handle. For your situation and if your going to bear country, you might look for a Hi-Lo trailer. Best of both worlds. Low profile for travel and hard sides when raised for comfort and safety.

we have a 1500 suburban but with the extra transmission cooler, i think the rating on the decal says 7500 max weight to pull.. we have a hefty boat we have to pull with it at times, but never for long distances
jenjen77
Explorer
Jan 26, 2014
fla-gypsy wrote:
A PUP that can sleep 5 comfortably and have a bathroom will be very large and tend to cost as much as a HTT. An HTT would in turn be much more comfortable for 5 than a PUP. Have you ever been trapped in a PUP during a thunderstorm or all day rain event with 5 people? Think miserable!

do you think a HTT is much heavier? I'm thinking an HTT is much more high profile, also, we are not sure we like the idea of having to make the bed every time we have to stop, as we have a few stops we are planning to just "sleep" and leave the next morning. I dont have experience with any of the campers, which is why I am getting others advice!! :)
tragusa3
Explorer
Jan 26, 2014
There's nothing you're going to tow in a hard-side that will get close to a PUP for gas. If it's a concern at all, go PUP. If you're young and don't mind some "roughing it" aspects (sounds like you are), then do a used PUP for awhile and you won't lose much.

We appreciate our hard-side for local trips, but are about to do a 5k trip that I wish we had a PUP for.

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What kind of camper for trip around the United states

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