The first time I carried the camp stove, a full cooler, and the 12-year-old's duffel bag across a state park in one trip, my back reminded me I was 44 and not 34. It was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend at a state park in northern Utah, and the walk from the parking lot to our site was a solid 200 yards, most of it uphill. I made it about halfway before I had to set everything down and stretch. I've been camping with our five kids for about twelve years now, and the single best fix I've found for that walk is a collapsible wagon. That was the trip where I told Jenna we were buying a wagon before the next outing. Two weeks later, it was in the back of the Expedition, and I haven't carried the cooler by hand since. The MacSports folding wagon has done more for my back than any stretch or brace, and it's the reason our trips to the car went from four or five to one.
Stop hauling camp gear by armful
One collapsible wagon carries what used to take three trips. It folds flat for the drive and rolls over grass, gravel, and packed dirt.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →It turns five trips to the car into one
With five kids, our campsite setup used to mean a parade of loads: chairs, cooler, tent bags, sleeping bags, the bin of cooking gear. Last July at a national forest campground in Idaho, I loaded the MacSports wagon with a 48-quart cooler, four camp chairs, the stove, the 12-year-old's duffel bag, and a bin of cast iron, and I still had room for a bag of firewood. It made one trip where we used to make five, and the kids stopped asking whose turn it was to carry the heavy end of the cooler. That's the whole reason I bought it, and it's still the reason I use it every single trip.
It keeps the weight off your lower back
Carrying a loaded cooler by the handles puts all the strain on your spine. Rolling the same cooler on wheels puts it on the wagon. My lower back used to ache by the time we got the tent up. Last season I carried our 48-quart cooler from the car to the site exactly once, when the wagon was already full with the rest of camp. I felt that one carry in my hips for the rest of the afternoon. Now I'm stiff from bending over tent stakes, not from hauling gear, and that's a much better kind of tired.
The 150-pound capacity covers a family load
The MacSports wagon is rated to carry 150 pounds. I've loaded it with a full cooler, a five-gallon water jug, four folding chairs, and a bag of firewood, and it rolled without complaint. For a family our size, the rated capacity is the difference between a wagon that works and one that buckles on the first trip.
The steel frame takes the bumps
Campground paths are not sidewalks. The MacSports wagon uses a heavy-duty steel frame, and it shows when you roll over a root or a rock. The plastic wagon we tried before this one was the kind with mesh sides and a flimsy folding frame. It made it through one weekend, then the crossbar bent on a root near the vault toilets and the whole thing sagged in the middle. We finished that trip carrying the wagon and the gear. I've had this wagon for two full seasons and the frame is still square, the wheels still roll straight, and nothing has cracked. The wheels are the other giveaway. They're wide enough that they don't sink into soft sand, and they roll over exposed tree roots without jamming. I've loaded this one to the top of the handles and the frame hasn't complained.
It folds flat enough to live in the Expedition
Our Ford Expedition has a rooftop cargo box and still somehow fills up with five kids and their stuff. The MacSports wagon folds down flat enough to slide behind the third row. The folded footprint is about the size of a large suitcase, so it fits even with the cargo box full. On our trip to Yellowstone last summer, we packed it between the tent bag and the kids' duffels, and we never had to rearrange to get it out. It lives in the back of the Expedition all summer, which means it's always there when we need it and never costs us a packing argument.
It keeps the kids from carrying things that are too heavy for them
The 8-year-old wants to help, and the 8-year-old should not be carrying a full water jug. The wagon lets the kids haul the light stuff while the heavy stuff rides on wheels. It also means the teenagers can take over wagon duty entirely, which is the real long-term win for my back.
It saves your back on the long road trip too
Once a year we do a longer road trip through Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. The wagon isn't just for campsites. On last summer's trip, it carried a week's worth of laundry from the campsite to the coin laundry at the edge of town, and it carried the clean load back. That's not a job I ever expected a wagon to do, but it beat three trips with a garbage bag in each hand. It's the thing we use to move luggage from the Expedition into a hotel room, to haul chairs down to a lake, and to bring groceries from the car to the picnic table. One tool, a dozen jobs, zero extra lifting.
The handle height actually fits a tall dad
I'm 6-foot-1, and most wagon handles make me hunch. The MacSports wagon's handle sits at a height where I can walk upright while pulling it. That sounds like a small thing until you've spent a season bent over a short handle and felt it in your shoulders at the end of the weekend.
It keeps camp gear off the muddy ground
The wagon has a floor, so the cooler and the duffel bags don't sit in the dirt or on wet grass while you're moving them. That means less mud in the tent, less sand in the sleeping bags, and fewer things to hose off when we get home. It's a small thing that saves real cleanup time.
It pays for itself in saved trips alone
We camp at state parks and national forest campgrounds across Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, and the walk from the car to the site is rarely short. One weekend last fall at a Wyoming campground, the site was at the bottom of a hill and the parking area was at the top. The walk back to the car with the empty wagon was still easier than the walk down with the first armload used to be. Cutting that walk from five trips to one, every single weekend, every single summer, is worth the space it takes up in the Expedition. My back agrees every time we pack up to leave.
What I'd Skip
If you're a backpacker, or if every campsite you use is more than a short walk from the car, a wagon is dead weight. It's a car-camping tool, not a hiking tool. I'd also skip it if you camp with just one or two people and can carry everything in one load anyway. And if you're shopping on a tight budget, know that the cheapest wagons on the market use thin frames and small wheels, and they tend to fold up on the first rocky path. The MacSports wagon is a solid value for what it does, but the bargain-bin versions are not the same thing.
I've had this wagon for two full seasons and the frame is still square, the wheels still roll straight, and nothing has cracked.
Give your back the same break mine got
One wagon, one trip, no more hauling the cooler by hand. The MacSports folding wagon is the camping upgrade that keeps paying off all season.
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