Looking for small, lightweight trailer with dry bath

Fourkidletts, I have the 195 and love it. The black water tank has to be emptied every third day with me, my wife and two grandchildren. It works fine for us, but I usually stay at full hook up to avoid hooking up and going to the dump station. It limits us from some state parks and national parks, but that is okay too. We like Corps of Engineers (COE) many of those now offer full hook up. Best wishes on your hunt.

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, as I stated the kids are fine in tents. I can't see us going into 26-30 ft range just for bunks. And in my research, it sounds like because of weight limits, no one will be able to sleep on the top bunk in about another couple of years. (150 limit, youngest is 115 lbs now at 14. 2 of my kids are adults, a disabled son and a daughter coming back home to do college post-grad work. Not sure the bunks would be useful. Everyone is 5'7-6'3")

Alabama Jim, I have been looking at those retro ones you have! LOVE. It is exactly what prompted my question about the black water tank. The 195 model I'm seriously drooling over, but it has black water of 17 gallons. So I've been doing water tank storage research and that does seem small, but do-able with being able to dump at the site (??)

Small and lightweight are relative terms, especially when talking about six people living in the RV and traveling in the tow vehicle. Lightweight often implies trying to stay within the carrying and towing capacity of some van or SUV somebody has, but if you are willing to use a F-250 as a tow vehicle you have a wide range of travel trailers that could fit your need.

Six people in a F-250, four children and two adults, you can easily carry the tongue load of a 24-30 foot trailer of at least 6000 pounds, maybe as much as 8000 pounds with any F-250 offered in the past 15 years. Most configurations of the F-250 today will tow at least 12,000 pounds, some diesel models 14,000 pounds. For that many people, 24 foot is small, you will be converting sitting and dining spaces into sleeping spaces. Going on to 28-30 foot, there is either bigger living space or more permanent sleeping spaces.

There are hundreds of different travel trailer models in the 6000-8000 range, from almost all major manufacturers. For that weight range in sizes suited for a family, i.e. separate sleeping areas and maybe a bunk room, you will be looking at models built as lightweight rather than conventional, but that is most of what is on the market today. One manufacturer I know has tried to better accommodate families in smaller trailers is Keystone, particularly models in the Outback line that put a bed in a slideout room that come in over seating space for travel.

Whether or not a black water tank is too small depends on how you are using it and how often you dump it. Mine is just under 30 gallons, I need to dump every 3-4 days with two of us, every other day with daughter and two granddaughters along. But most of the time with family we are on the move each day and so can dump on the way in or on the way out of the campground each day. Most RV parks and many modern campgrounds have a place to dump at each campsite.

with a small trailer you will not be able to sleep 6 people. The kids would need to sleep in a tent or lean to. As to dump station, all parks have a place to dump. The only place that does not have dump facilities is federal land where people are boon docking. I use a F- 150, 8 cylinder, to pull my 24ft TT. It has been no problem. I would suggest that you look at manufactures web sites to see what models they have. I have a walk around queen bed. They call it an island bed. That was a must so we would not have to crawl over one another at nigh to visit the bathroom. Mine is a 2016 White Water Retro by Riverside. It looks like a trailer from 1959, but has all the conveniences of the modern TT. You can look Riverside Manufacturing web site and then visit others, such as Forest River. Take your time and pick the one that is best fit for what you want. There are wet baths, commode and shower together and some are separate shower and commode, as ours is. There are bunk beds in some Forest River TT's and most all TT's have a table that lets down into a bed. If you ask what is best you will get dozens of different opinions. Take a look at the various manufactures and then pick the one you like. Welcome and have a wonderful, fun, and safe time camping.