Last Updated on January 6, 2022 by Douglas
If you want to travel, do it in a pop up camper with a bathroom. These pop up campers with bathrooms allow you to experience true adventure. You can live a life on the road and not miss a thing. Pop up campers with bathrooms are perfect for family travels in particular. Or if you want to travel with just one special person. Some pop up campers with bathrooms are made for a single inhabitant. They’re great for people that tend to prefer solitude. Whatever kind of pop up camper with a bathroom you want, chances are that you’ll find it.
You need to pay attention to the bathroom that you are getting in your pop up camper with a bathroom, though. Oftentimes you would buy a pop up camper with a bathroom only to find that the bathroom is not up to your standards. Some camper manufacturers are certainly guilty of not providing adequate bathroom facilities. This usually happens because they want to cut costs. We have created a list of 7 best pop up campers with bathrooms. Pop up campers with bathrooms are rare. Our list should make finding one a whole lot easier for you.
7 Best Pop Up Campers With Bathrooms And Showers
1. Coachmen Clipper Classic 1285 SST
It can be tough to find a camper with adequate bathroom accommodations that’s also quite light. Usually you need to compromise on one or the other. The Coachmen Clipper Classic 1285 SST manages to get around this issue. Its dry weight falls well under 3,000 pounds. Hence, you can tow it quite easily with virtually any vehicle. Not needing a special vehicle to tow your camper with a bathroom is definitely special. It can help you figure out the best path for you to take without having to account for vehicle weight.
The bathroom in the Coachmen Clipper Classic 1285 SST is a little small. But that’s quite normal for pop up campers with bathrooms of this size. You are opting for portability above all else here. So a slightly smaller bathroom isn’t too much of an issue. Coachmen has managed to provide an excellent bathroom in this limited space. It has a decent indoor toilet shower with a curtain. The curtain helps maintain privacy while you are using your bathroom. You can take this even further with certain other floor plans. But we feel like the original floor plan works best both for space saving as well as top notch bathroom uses.
Now, the bathroom doesn’t just come with a toilet shower, of course. That would mean it fails to fulfill the most basic function that bathrooms are originally meant for. A toilet will also obviously be necessary. However, it’s the type of toilet that you’re getting here that truly makes the Coachmen Clipper Classic 1285 SS stand out. It’s not a standard toilet. Instead, you are getting a cassette toilet. These toilets come with their own black water tanks instead of a centralized tank. You can dispose of the black water as and when necessary without it being too much of an issue.
Up to seven people can sleep in the Coachmen Clipper Classic 1285 SST. That’s phenomenal when you take into account how small it is. The first sleeping option would be the king sized bed. Usually two people would be sleeping on it. Three people can sleep on it easily, though. So if you’re looking for some extra sleeping space, three people sleeping on the king sized bed makes a lot more sense. As if that wasn’t enough, a queen sized bed is also available in the camper. Two people can sleep quite comfortably on this bed. To round off the sleeping arrangements you also get two sofas. Each sofa can be converted into a pullout bed. Hence, if three people are sleeping on the king sized, two on the queen sized and one each on the sofas then you can easily accommodate seven people in this pop up camper.
2. Jayco Jay Sport 12SC
Jayco Jay Sport 12SC comes with a 28 gallon freshwater tank. Which is more than the average tank that pop up campers with bathrooms usually provide. This would make it easier for everyone to shower when the need arises. Having to compromise on your shower time can be a real buzz kill. You don’t want to make any compromises while you are in the middle of a vacation.
There is a retractable awning on each side of the Jayco Jay Sport 12SC pop up camper. This greatly increases the amount of space you have at any point. While the camper might not look all that large at first, using the pop up feature would give you an idea of its true size. Take this into account before you make any assumptions after the first look. Exploring the true size of any pop up camper is essential.
You get three separate sleeping arrangements with the Jayco Jay Sport 12SC pop up camper. Two full sized beds are offered here. One is even king sized for maximum comfort. King sized beds are rare in the world of pop up campers with bathrooms. Up to three people can sleep on this bed. You can even squeeze in four if you want to travel in a really large group. The king sized bed is supported by a queen sized option as well as two convertible sofas. These sofas are a fair bit larger than the RV industry standard too. If you put them next to each other, three people might be able to sleep on them.
A group of ten is definitely on the larger side of things. If you want to travel in such a large group, you need to spend the big bucks for a luxury RV. However, some people aren’t all that fussed about luxuries and the like. They just want a soft place to sleep at the end of the day. If everyone in the group is alright with a cramped sleeping arrangement, up to ten can fit into this Jayco Jay Sport 12SC pop up camper. We recommend that you avoid going for such a tight squeeze, though. It would push the fresh water tank to its limits. No one would have enough water if ten people are sleeping in this pop up camper.
A more reasonable number would be more like six or seven. Seven is the limit if you don’t want to test your fresh water tank capacity. Otherwise staying at an RV park can give everyone with more than enough fresh water. You can keep refilling the tank as and when it’s required. Ten people can sleep easily in this Jayco Jay Sport 12SC pop up camper if you have steady access to fresh water.
3. Forest River Flagstaff 2020 23SCSE
When you look at the weight of a pop up camper, you need to realize that different numbers mean different things. If you want to know how big of a vehicle you would need to tow the camper, you need to look at the hitch weight. Where the Forest River Flagstaff 2020 23SCSE is concerned, you will be getting a hitch weight of about 294 pounds.
The Forest River Flagstaff 2020 23SCSE is definitely lighter than most full sized travel trailers. But it’s a bit heavier than some of the previous pop up campers that you might have seen on this list. Try to keep this in mind. Large sedans would have a tough time dragging this pop up camper along. You might need a mid sized SUV to get the job done.
The thing that we liked most about the Forest River Flagstaff 2020 23SCSE was its smart use of space. Everything has been organized in such a way that you get plenty of room to walk around in the middle of the camper. This is the space that needs to be left open at most times. Otherwise walking from one end of the camper to the other is going to be a real pain.
The interior design for the Forest River Flagstaff 2020 23SCSE is also really nice. A lot of grey has been used. Some people might find this to be a little bit dreary. However, it does lend a really modern look to the whole place. Grey is also a very neutral color. It gives you a lot of options in terms of maximizing the interior design. You can add plenty of colorful things to spruce the place up. The grey color scheme means that nothing you add could possibly end up clashing. This gives you full control over how your space looks.
The kitchen is also admirably equipped. It comes with a handy three burner stove. It’s also built into the pop up camper. You wouldn’t be dealing with one of those portable stoves with this camper at all. Built in stoves are necessary if you want top notch cooking potential to be available to you. What’s more is that the dinette is right next to the cooking area. This means that you won’t have to take your food very far before you have to set it down. Close proximity to the kitchen makes the dinette quite easy to access. It can seat up to six people quite easily. You can always put up a lawn chair or something if you have some extra guests over for the day. This is a rare example of a camper that might actually let you cook for your guests and feed them with ease.
4. 2020 Somerset Utah
Once again we have a camper that has a hitch weight of around 290 pounds. This time around, though, you can sleep up to 8 people. That’s the official number that the manufacturer has given. Usually when you get a number of sleep that a camper can sleep, this only takes into account official sleeping capacity. Which means that you can bring this capacity up a bit if people are okay with squeezing in. A capacity of eight usually means that up to ten people can sleep in the camper while still being relatively comfortable.
The slide out section can help you get a lot of extra room in the living area. If you are the sort of person that frequently invites guests over, it’s important to have this extra space on hand. The slide out mechanism is quite smooth and requires very little maintenance. It also comes with an awning that has a built in mosquito net. We can’t begin to tell you how much we love this feature. Bugs and other critters are a huge nuisance when you are traveling.
Having a built in mosquito net can help you get a lot more out of your pop up camper. It might even help you save a few bucks on bug spray! It’s not just about convenience either. Mosquitos carry a lot of diseases. You don’t want to catch malaria while you are in the middle of nowhere. Hence, the mosquito net is a really great addition to this already solid pop up camper.
Now for the bathroom situation. The freshwater tank could certainly have been a bit bigger. It only offers 20 gallons. That’s a bit lower than the 24-26 gallons you would usually get from these kinds of pop up campers. A couple of gallons might not sound like a lot. But it can be huge when all you need to do is use the bathroom. Having that extra water capacity can help you get through a lot of tough times.
That said, the 2020 Somerset Utah pop up camper has created an innovative solution to reduce water usage. This is the recirculating toilet that you get. It uses the same amount of water at all times. This is more conservative than drawing from the tank every time someone needs to flush. A recirculating toilet is far less likely to cause bad odors and the like. The 20 gallons in the fresh water tank can be used just for showering and washing up. This really extends how long you would be able to make it last. Most of the water from the tank tends to get used during the flushing process. Hence, the slightly smaller freshwater capacity is more than made up for by the excellent recirculating toilet which uses very little water to operate.
5. Forest River Rockwood HW296
You might assume that a proper bathroom means that other space would be restricted. This doesn’t have to be the case though, and Forest River proves it. You get a surprisingly spacious interior area with the Forest River Rockwood HW296 pop up camper. Now, this extra space does come at a cost. We’re not talking about money here either. Rather, we are referring to the weight of the camper. This is in no way a lightweight camper. It’s actually on the heavier side.
With a hitch weight of 370 pounds, the Forest River Rockwood HW296 camper might be the heaviest pop up camper on this list. You do get a lot of extra space for it though. Even with all the extra room in the living area, the bathroom manages to be larger than average. This is what allows it to have a normal plastic toilet. Cassette toilets and the like work fine. They can even be more convenient if you want to live life on the road without having to stay close to RV parks. But dealing with them can be a huge hassle. You want to be able to travel as far as possible.
That’s why the 12 gallon black water tank is so great in the Forest River Rockwood HW296 pop up camper. Whenever a black water tank gets full, you would have to empty it. The contents of a black water tank can’t be thrown out just anywhere. It’s basically raw sewage. It can cause a lot of illnesses if it’s not properly disposed of. You would normally have to go to a campground to empty your black water tank. They have dumping grounds meant for this.
A 12 gallon tank will take a long time to get full. You can use an RV park as a starting point. Then you can go as far from the park as possible until your tank gets half full. You can then turn back and head to the RV park so that you can get there in time to empty the black water tank. 12 gallons means that you can travel much further. It gives you more adventure options where you can conveniently travel and a single black water tank would suffice for all of the waste that you might produce along the way.
One thing that you should note is that the plastic toilet will use more water. This Forest River pop up camper has a 26 gallon freshwater tank. That might seem like a lot but it’s really not if you are flushing a lot. You should use water sparingly if you buy this camper.
6. Forest River Flagstaff Hard Side T21DMHW
Sometimes you want a camper that offers a bit more luxury than the rest. This offering from Forest River fills that category nicely. Now, you should bear in mind that the Forest River Flagstaff Hard Side T21DMHW is a fairly heavy pop up camper. It has a 350 pound hitch weight so you can’t use it the same way you would some of the lighter pop up campers in our list. This Forest River camper also sleeps only around 3 people so that’s not a very good hitch weight to sleep capacity ratio.
That said, the whole purpose of the Forest River Flagstaff Hard Side T21DMHW is to provide luxury and space. You can see that in virtually every aspect of the camper that you are going to be shown. There’s plenty of room for you to walk around in. A small family of three can have room to spare in the center. This is a premium amount of space that you probably wouldn’t expect from a pop up camper. It’s more in the realm of RVs and travel trailers, although it’s more like smaller variations of those mobile homes.
The bathroom can show you how much of a premium pop up camper this is. It doesn’t just come with a toilet shower. It also has a proper plexiglass barrier in the shower. This is a level of separation that is truly rare in pop up campers. Most pop up campers can only manage to provide a shower curtain. The separator does drive the price up a bit. But it’s worth it when you see how much privacy you are getting.
The Forest River Flagstaff Hard Side T21DMHW is also a hard sided pop up camper. Which means that it’s a great deal more durable than your average pull out sections which are most often made of canvas or some other type of material. The hard sides benefit you in two ways. Firstly, of course, it helps make the camper more durable. It can withstand heavy rains and other inclement weather pretty easily. Hence, you would be able to travel to a lot of different places regardless of the kind of weather that you might end up seeing there.
Durability aside, the hard sides also provide some pertinent insulation benefits. Hard sides are easier to insulate than soft sides. Better insulation further protects you against the elements while you are inside this Forest River pop up camper. Weather protection is definitely important. However, most pop up campers aren’t built to withstand it. It’s nice to have at least one option that takes this into account. If nothing else you can use this pop camper as a cheaper alternative to full on travel trailers because it similarly allows you to travel freely without worrying about the weather.
7. 2020 Aliner LXE A-Frame Camper With Shower
This is the perfect pop up camper for two people that want to be able to travel together. It might just be the lightest pop up camper on the market right now. With a hitch weight of just 180 pounds, even a standard midsized SUV can tow this along. You would barely even notice that it’s there since it has such a low weight. Towing it with a sedan might be a bit of a risk. But it can work fairly well considering that the hitch weight is well below 200 pounds.
You shouldn’t expect extravagant sleeping accommodations here. It’s limited to just one pull out sofa that can sleep two people. It’s fairly comfortable for two people, though. This is a budget camper so luxury was never in the equation anyway. The unique design means that there’s plenty of vertical space that you can use. Much of it goes towards optimizing storage space. The more vertical space you have, the more items you would easily be able to store. Hence, the rather odd conical design at the top has a very real practical use. It’s part of what makes this pop up camper so great.
The main thing to focus on here is the bathroom. Even though this is a really small camper, it still provides a full toilet. You get a proper plastic toilet here, one that has an effective flushing mechanism that you can use. There’s even a half wall that you can put up. This provides a bit of privacy if both occupants of the camper need to use the bathroom at the same time.
Another surprising addition considering how light this camper is would be the shower. You get a full shower here, one that comes with a curtain and everything. The freshwater tank is definitely one of the smallest you could go for. It only has a capacity of about 11 gallons or so. This is perfect for two people that are on a road trip. While the freshwater tank is pretty small, you also get a 6 gallon water heater. This means that you can heat up more than enough water for a comfortable, long shower. The extra 6 gallons means that you would always have spare water that you can use.
The kitchen is quite admirably equipped. It comes with a two burner stove, a microwave and a small fridge. The fridge even has a built in freezer. For such a tiny and lightweight pop up camper, this model certainly manages to pack in a lot of excellent features. Pretty much everything about this camper makes it an excellent buy for couples and especially people that want to travel the world on their own.
Different Types of Camper Toilets
You need to understand the different kinds of toilets that you can get when you buy a pop up camper. The kind of toilet that you have can have a real impact on your travels. There are three basic types of toilets that you can opt for in a pop up camper. Each toilet has its own pros and cons. We will be discussing all three and giving you our opinions on them as well. Don’t forget to form your own opinion though. What doesn’t work for us might work perfectly well for you.
The Normal Flushing Variety
This is the standard toilet that you would see pretty much anywhere. It’s the same kind of toilet that’s used in homes. Although pop up campers tend to use plastic toilets. Plastic is used because it’s cheaper. It’s also lighter. This means that it wouldn’t add a lot to the hitch weight of your pop up camper. The flushing mechanism is quite easy to understand here. The toilet uses water from the freshwater tank to flush its contents. The waste is then sent via sewage lines to the water tank.
There are a lot of benefits to using this kind of toilet. Firstly, it works just like any other toilet that you might be used to. There’s also no chance of any unpleasant odors arising. That said, these kinds of toilets add a lot of weight to your camper. You would need a larger fresh water tank to facilitate them. You’d need larger grey and black water tanks to go with it as well. All of this would come together to make your pop up camper really heavy. It’s also worth noting that normal flushing toilets use a lot of water. This makes the freshwater tank requirement even more significant. As well as straining your precious water resources during long journeys.
Cassette Toilets
These kinds of toilets are great if you want something cheap and convenient. The defining feature of a cassette toilet is that it has its own water tank. This tank is attached to the toilet itself. It usually has a capacity of about 5 gallons. Hence, you would need to empty the tank more frequently. But the low capacity means that disposing of it would be a lot easier.
The main benefit of a cassette toilet is that you can use a much smaller water tank. A five gallon tank would add next to nothing in terms of weight. Therefore bringing the hitch weight down by a large margin. It can be inconvenient to use these kinds of toilets though. This is partly because the black water needs to be disposed of more frequently. They also tend to smell pretty bad. Since the water tank is right next to you, you would be smelling your waste at all times while you are in the bathroom. Try emptying the water tank everyday even if it’s not full. Disinfect it every time you empty it to get rid of bad smells.
The Recirculating Toilet
This is the gold standard of RV toilets. You’ve probably seen something like this before. They’re commonly used on planes and trains. This is because they’re so compact. They use a vacuum flushing technology to pull the waste away from the toilet. This process uses little to no water. Hence, a recirculating toilet would be perfect if you want a small freshwater tank. You can get by with a really small tank if you don’t need any water for flushing.
The waste disposal process used by these toilets is quite sophisticated. A special disinfectant is used to keep the toilet bowl clean. The waste is also flushed into a very heavy chemical concoction that starts to break it down immediately. Hence, this toilet has a very neutral smell. It’s better at neutralizing odors than cassette toilets for sure. In some cases it might even be better than a standard flushing toilet. Combined with the low water usage, this makes this toilet the best option for you to look into. It costs a lot of money though. Only high end campers would have toilets like these.
FAQ
How can I get rid of odors in my camper toilet?
Some camper toilets are going to cause a lot of bad smells. This is a real problem. Campers are fully enclosed spaces. They are made to be as compact as possible. Even the smallest bad smell can permeate really quickly. Pretty soon the whole camper would start to sink. This can cause a lot of health issues. It would also make it difficult for you to live comfortably. The smell of human waste is quite possibly the worst thing for anyone to deal with. You would definitely need to think of a way to solve this issue.
The best thing you can do is to keep clearing out your water tank. This is especially important with cassette toilets. Disinfect the tank every time you clean it so that no bad odors can remain. With recirculating toilets, a bad smell might mean that you need to replace one of the chemicals. Try to keep the chemical levels consistent. These toilets won’t last very long if you try to stretch the chemicals even a little bit. It’s mostly upkeep that can get rid of odors coming from your toilet.
What kind of waste storage tank should I get?
This depends on the kind of toilet that you have. Your waste storage tank is also referred to as the water tank. If you have a cassette toilet it would probably come with a removable black tank. This tank would usually have a capacity of five gallons. If you have a regular flushing toilet you might need to get a separate tank.
This is better since it would put some distance between you and your waste. Such storage tanks have higher capacities. They usually have about 10-15 gallons capacity in most campers. However, they add quite a bit of weight. You should only opt for a full black tank if you plan on getting a high end camper.
Recirculating toilets are a bit different. You get both kinds. Some come with portable black water tanks whereas others connect to a separate central tank. You can choose whatever tank works better for you. Smaller groups can get by perfectly fine with a portable tank. Larger groups would definitely need a separate fixed tank with a higher capacity. Otherwise you might have to empty the portable tank multiple times a day.
What kind of toilet paper should I use?
Well for starters don’t under any circumstances use normal toilet paper. It’s far too thick. If you use it you will definitely end up with a clogged sewage line. This can lead to leaks and all kinds of other issues. If your toilet is giving off a bad smell it might be because you used regular toilet paper in it and it’s resulted in a blockage.
There is a special kind of toilet paper that is designed for use in RVs. This toilet paper is very thin. It disintegrates immediately after you flush it down the toilet. This means that it would never cause a clog. Some people struggle to get used to this kind of toilet paper. However, you have to use it if you don’t want to damage your RV toilet. The special toilet paper works fine if you use a big bunch. The great thing is that you can use however much toilet paper you need as long as you are using the right kind. Toilet paper is less of an issue if you have a portable black tank, though. These storage tanks need to be emptied anyway and they’re not big enough to allow a clog or blockage to form.
Conclusion
Pop up campers are a great way to see the world on a budget. You just need a good bathroom to tide you over. You can make do with limited space and a tiny kitchen but most people can’t get by without a decent bathroom. We hope that our selections showed you that pop up campers that are lightweight and still have good bathrooms certainly do exist. Try to get one with the right kind of toilet. By this point you probably know what the different types of toilets are and why they matter. Pretty soon you will be out on the road and living your best life, and you will have a reliable toilet by your side too.