Review: Copper Canyon 6 Tent From Eureka! – Perfect For Mother’s Day

My wife and I had an interesting conversation about tents a few weeks ago. I had told her that Eureka! was offering a tent to review, as part of our Mother’s Day gift ideas, and she thought that was a bit unusual. Then I asked her what she would come home with if I sent her to our local camping store, with instructions to get the family a new tent. At that point, it made a bit more sense. While most guys will put up with any tent that’s big enough for them, their gear, and either the missus, or even a wet dog, women are a bit more picky. They want a bit of extra space, maybe a floor big enough for an air mattress, or even a couple of cots. And if you’re car camping, where weight is not so much of a concern as it is when backpacking, then why not go big and roomy?

Eureka!’s line of Copper Canyon tents are big, (the smallest is 8’x8′) cabin-style tens with nearly vertical walls, and a ceiling that peaks at seven feet.  Some models have a divider, so you can separate them into two rooms, or roll it back and enjoy one very large space. The walls, fly, and floor are all 75D 190T polyester taffeta, 1200 mm coat, while the mesh windows are 68D polyester no-see-um. We recently spent the night in the Copper Canyon 6, which is a 10’x10′ tent, designed for up to six people, or two very spoiled adults. Like all our gear, I prefer to test it out in advance, which meant setting it up and taking it down in order to see how easily it can be done by one person, or if two are required. From the carry bag to fully set up with the rain fly, took about 15 minutes. Without the fly, it’s roughly a ten minute job, and that’s without rushing. Thread the two shock-corded fiberglass roof poles through the top and into the plastic elbow sockets, then put one of the steel poles into the other side of socket, and push the pin from the floor into the base. Snap the plastic clips around the pole, repeat three more times, and you’re done. It takes almost as much time to type it as it does to just do it. The result is shown below.

Without the rain fly, you can see the vertical poles where they join the roof poles, and you can see clips along the side as well. You’ll also notice the full bathtub floor, the generous door (I didn’t think to measure it either time we had it set up, but it’s got to be close to five feet high, and four feet across. The windows are similarly sized, and the roof has mesh panels so you can see the sky and stars above you. This worked well for our review, as the moon was uncommonly bright. So bright, we didn’t really need the lantern that we hung from the hook in the center. There’s a gear loft and stash pockets, as well as a port for an electric cord, none of which we used for our single night in the tent, but which will certainly come in handy for proper family outings.

How was our stay in Casa de Copper Canyon? Well, having so much space is truly a luxury. There was plenty of room to stand, sit, organize our gear, and relax, all the while being safe from pesky flying insects. But we did experience a minor downside. The large walls “breathe” in and out quite a bit in the wind. While the gently moving walls were not so much of an issue, the noise they made was a bit much for my wife. I found it relaxing, like camping at the ocean. Less relaxing was being woken up by a small animal running under the tent, across the front. Having such a large footprint means the tent isn’t stretched so tightly that it stays close to the ground, allowing room for curious critters to crawl underneath. Other than that, it was the most enjoyable tent experience we have shared so far.

To see the full line of the new Copper Canyon series tents, head over to the Eureka! online store. If the mom in your life is the outdoors/camping type, this might just be the perfect gift.

– Brian