Spacious enough for car camping, yet light enough for multiday backcountry treks, this Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 tent with footprint is ready for adventures no matter where your plans take you.
68-denier ripstop polyester 2,000 mm polyurethane/polyester
Rainfly Fabric
68-denier ripstop polyester 2,000 mm polyurethane/polyester
Footprint Included
Yes
Design Type
Freestanding
Buying Advice
How to Choose a Backpacking Tent
What capacity tent do you need?
How many are in your group? Backpacking tent models usually hold 1 to 5 people.
There’s no industry standard for what each size means, so check product specs.
Assume a close fit for the number of people your tent is designed to accommodate, especially with ultralight models. If you need more elbow room, consider the next size up.
Decide whether you need all-year protection
Many backpackers, especially beginners, choose a 3-season tent for great all-around protection.
3+- season tents are a little sturdier and warmer than their 3-season cousin, and with less mesh.
4-season tents are engineered to handle high winds and other severe weather. This can make them stuffy in warm weather.
Consider alternative shelters like hammock tents, bug shelters or bivy sacks depending on your preferences and the conditions you may typically encounter on backpacking trips.
Tent weight
Backpacking tents are a tradeoff between weight and comfort. Pay attention to the difference between packaged weight (every part included) and minimum trail weight (the weight of just the tent, rain fly and poles).
21 out of 24 (88%) reviewers recommend this product
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Michael
San Antonio, TX
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Superior tent
1 year ago
An absolutely great tent for moderate climates. Easy set-up. Sturdy and lightweight. Great 85% mesh design for summer breathability. Front flaps are easy to stake out and use. Two big pluses w this tent both related to the fly. If unneeded when turning in for the night but possible inclement weather later simply clip in 2 of the corners on one side then you can easily cover over and clip into the other side. Also, you can tie up fly so have Privacy screen or shade on 1/2 of your tent. Only downside is I wish they had put more loops and tie ins towards ceiling of interior. Also as w most tents the 3- person is best suited for 2 people and their backpacks. I've used this tent for at least 30 plus days in @ past 2-yrs.
Age:65–74
Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
KP
Colorado
Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars
Great purchase
1 year ago
Quality made tent. I’ve got about 15 nights in it so far and It has already weathered many Colorado afternoon storms. My main issue is how transparent the fly is, it gets bright quick in the morning.
Yes , I recommend this product
Originally posted on mountainhardwear.com
Maxwell
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Great car camping tent
4 years ago
I used this tent for a few weeks in the PNW, South west, and east coast. I can comfortably say that it is a fantastic car camping tent, which is more than capable for continuous rain, wind, or whatever else you may encounter.
Pros: it is very spacious, looks good, has many pockets and hanging clips for drying out gear or stashing flashlights, glasses, or cellphones when you sleep. It is constructed very well, and has handled multiple storms on the trot.
Cons: while this tent is a three season, I find that it is colder than other tents that I've used in the fall and early spring. This is due to the construction. The tent itself is a netting inner layer with a shell outer layer for rain/wind. The shell has a gap between the ground and the base of the shell that lets a lot of breeze through. In the summer this can be welcome, however, in the fall/spring, this can be quite cold even with my 15F MHW sleeping bag.
Yes , I recommend this product
Originally posted on mountainhardwear.com
Rider51
Great Pacific Northwest
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Roomy and Well Built
2 years ago
This tent is surprisingly roomy, easy to set up, and well built. My best friend, his best friend and I took out out recently and were comfy in it. It was easy to set up, the tub is tough, and I love the feature of being able to easily pull back half the fly and partly sleep under the stars. The doors are also big, easy to open and crawl in and out of.
Yes , I recommend this product
Originally posted on mountainhardwear.com
Botany Girl
Utah
Rated 3.0 out of 5 stars
Spent about 220+ nights in this tent for the past 3 years for work.
2 years ago
I bought this to replace my old (had for over a decade) Mountain Hardwear tent thinking it would be of similar quality. I'm a field botanist who spends spring, summer, and fall doing field work full time in the Western US. After only 3 years and numerous repairs I have decided to toss this tent. The zippers no longer work on either door and the tent has become more patches than original tent. Zipper pulls can be replaced easily enough, but on this last trip I actually ripped the rain fly across the top of the tent. I was shocked when it ripped just by grabbing it at the top of the tent when it was wet and sticking slightly to the tent.
When it is hot and the weather is decent I love the openness of this tent and sleeping under the stars without worrying about bugs. When the weather is bad I don't love this tent. I re-waterproof and UV protect every fall and so far it has kept me dry mostly. The design of this tent is not good in the wind as fine sediment is easily blown inside and it is impossible to snug the rainfly down so it's not flapping. In a hard rain the splashes also mist into the tent. I do like the vents at the top of the door. I think the screen door design could be improved so it's easier to open and close the doors. It would be awesome to to be able to buy replacement rain covers as those are what take all the abuse from sun and weather. I'd still probably be using my original Mountain Heardwear tent if this was the case.
Overall I think this tent performed fairly well considering how much I use it, but I won't be buying another polyester tent to replace it. I think I'm gonna try a smaller canvas tent or bedroll system and save the polyester for backpacking trips.
No, I do not recommend this product
Originally posted on mountainhardwear.com
bthoma
Austin, TX
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Nearly perfect, lightweight tent for 1-2 people
2 years ago
I purchased this tent for use on a five-day canoeing trip with Boy Scouts on the Current River in Missouri. Before I went on the trip, I did try it out on a weekend camping trip. I decided I didn't need the extra space, so I exchange this for the 2 person version, but the experience is exactly the same. The 3 person version is 14" wider and an inch or two longer. I am 6'1", and using an REI 3.5" Camp Bed Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad, I had more room than I needed to sleep and stow gear. I could see two people, plus gear, fitting comfortably. Especially with the space to stow gear under the vestibules.
This was my experience with the 2-person tent:
After 5 days on the river, I pitched the tent 4 different times, rolled it wet and dry, slept on gravel bars and grass, and packed it into and out of the canoe each time. The only thing I didn't experience was a heavy rain (fortunately for me), so I can't speak specifically to that, but the dew condensation was fairly heavy and the rain fly did as well as any other I've used. The footprint dried pretty quickly (30min?) in indirect morning sunlight. My experience so far has made this my new favorite favorite tent.
Here's what I love:
- included footprint (no guessing if a third party footprint is too big or two small… you get "just right" out of the box)
- footprint loops into the tent straps without needing extra stakes
- floor is a continuous bathtub design, so I didn't worry about water getting in at any corner
- two doors and two canopies to stow gear outside the tent, but out of the rain and dew - five places to clip into the ceiling
- pocket in the ceiling for stowing or drying gear
- two sidewall pockets for stashing the open door or gear
- optional vents built into the rainfly zippers
- super easy to put up alone
- tall enough for me to sit up without my head touching the top of the tent
- brow pole opens up the interior for a *very* roomy feel
- bag is big enough to fit the tent, rain fly, poles, stakes, and footprint rolled-up, with room to spare! (I was even able to pack in an extra set of stakes and small mallet.)
Negative, but not dealbreakers:
- the vestibules in the rain fly stake out far enough from the tent that it's a hard reach to unzip in the morning. As long as you don't need to do this multiple times a day, no big deal.
- there are no instructions on how to use the "brow pole" which gives you a lot of extra room inside. See the attached image for how I believe it should be used. A lot of other reviews say that the two ends just need to be in the grommets and then it can float above the main poles, but I think this is a weird configuration. There is enough room in the center straps that attach the roof to the poles for the brow pole to go through. It's tight but possible. Just be sure to get it in place BEFORE you attach the C clip to the plastic center-point of the poles. Otherwise the straps will have too much tension.
- venting doesn't happen at the very top of the tent, but the side vents seem adequate, and if you guy wire out the two non-vestibule side (there is an attach point) then the circulation seems adequate for most summer camping. (I didn't roll back half of the tent for ventilation because I preferred the privacy of the rain fly, but I could see how that would really cool off the interior if needed)
Befuddling:
- the tent comes with enough stakes for the footprint and rainfly vestibules (6), but there are no stakes included for the two guy wires (which are included)
- there are only two guy wires included, but four points of attachment (I realize that you ideally only need two if they are put on the windward side of the tent, but I prefer to secure all four poles if I am going to use guy wires)
- guy wires are NOT reflective, which makes them a big tripping hazard at night (I knew they were there, and still tripped over them three times)
Overall, I love this tent. I'm definitely interested to see how it holds up over time and in heavy rain, but I can imagine it being my go-to tent for nearly every campout going forward.
Yes , I recommend this product
Originally posted on mountainhardwear.com
grfxpd
Portland, OR
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent car camping tent
4 years ago
The Mineral King 3 is an excellent tent. The materials and construction are high quality, setup is easy, and the tent is exceptionally roomy. However, I would not recommend this tent for backpacking. The sack the tent and materials come in is too large for most backpacking trips. I suppose you could stuff the tent, fly and footprint into a compression sack but I don't want to damage them. So, perfect for car camping -- not so much for backpacking.
Yes , I recommend this product
Originally posted on mountainhardwear.com
TurtleLover
San Francisco Bay Area
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Tent
4 years ago
Very happy with my new Mineral King 3 person tent, that I purchased for car camping. It is roomy and perfectly accommodates my Exped, Megamat 10, Long Wide Double sleeping mat with room to spare. It will be light enough to take on short backpacking trips with another person to share the load . Love the full mesh on the top. Easy to set up and take down in a flash . I also love that it does not contain fire retardant chemicals .
Yes , I recommend this product
Originally posted on mountainhardwear.com
MeditationforGood
Portland, OR
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Just the right tent
5 years ago
Looking for a 3-season tent to accommodate 2 adults car camping - something refined, lots of mesh, but storm-worthy as well. Enter the Mineral King 3 person package. We shopped many tents for this purchase (and have used many tents across the decades) and heard good reviews for this particular one.
This is what we found:
Good head height, lots of mesh for starry nights, easy to put up, easy to add fly if weather changes, easy to take down, very good construction, sturdy, nice layout of poles...and good size floor plan with 2 functional doors, making it easy to get in and out regardless of site orientation.
We haven't used it yet, but given our experience, and what we have seen in our trial setup, we feel confident that this will be another satisfying Mountain Hardwear purchase. Thank you for consistently creating functional, elegant outdoor equipment.
Yes , I recommend this product
Originally posted on mountainhardwear.com
MayaS4
Portland, OR
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Great all around tent
5 years ago
The three-person tent has plenty of room for two people plus gear to spread out, could easily squeeze in a third. Quick setup and it comes with a footprint which is a great perk!
I bought this for an all-purpose tent both car camping and backpacking if going with a group. A bit heavier than the Aspect for backpacking but if you are looking for one tent to do it all thats more budget-friendly this is a great option!
