2018 Forest River Rockwood A214HW Review
The Forest River Rockwood Hard Side series from Forest River is a harmonious marriage between a travel trailer and a tent camper: a solid-walled, fully equipped trailer that’s also easy to tow and store in your garage.
The 2018 Rockwood A214HW is one of five floorplans available in the Hard Side High Wall series. It has an unloaded vehicle weight of 2,700 lbs, cargo carrying capacity of 653 lbs and a hitch weight of 353 lbs. It measures 20’10” long, has a closed height of 5’8”, and width of 84”. As well as a 20-gallon fresh water tank, there is also city water hook-up. Outdoor storage space includes four separate compartments. Two of them have large bins that easily slide in and out and lock into place while driving. A third is also accessible from under the bed, and there’s also a very large, long space that runs along the width and opens from the top.
There’s a large tinted rear skylight with shade, two tinted front roof windows with shades, and a large, opening picture window. The power roof lift assist makes it a breeze to pop up the fiberglass vacuum-bonded roof; no muscles required. A few other details that make campsite set-up a little easier include four e-z crank-down stabilizer jacks with sand pads, a 2,000-pound tongue jack, and optional power front jack. The camper sets up and collapses easily within a couple of minutes.
Once you’re all set up, you can start to enjoy your campsite. It may be compact in size, but you can still live large outside the Rockwood A214HW both inside and out. A water heater and outdoor shower, outside gas grill with propane quick-connect and work table, outside speaker, patio light and an optional awning make for some lovely al fresco dining with musical accompaniment. The trailer’s water heater and outdoor shower mean you can even enjoy washing up amongst the trees.
Inside the camper, interior floor lights and residential style raised panel doors are the first things you’ll notice that elevate this pop-up camper to a higher level.
To the right of the entrance is the kitchen/food prep area with its appliances and a sink with residential faucet. Both the sink and cooktop have flip-up glass covers that, when closed, double the counter top surface area. A window at the front of the trailer lets in some light.
The wet bathroom is directly across from the kitchen area. It consists of a cabinet with shower, handheld showerhead, shower curtain rail, and cassette toilet.
At the back of the camper, the permanent queen size bed has a quilted memory foam mattress and lifts up to access storage space underneath.
A 20K BTU furnace and electric heater that can run off campsite power will keep you toasty on cooler nights while the air conditioner and Air Maxx fan cool things down and keep the air flowing.
Entertainment wise, the A214HW has a digital media receiver w/ AM/FM stereo, Bluetooth, MP3 player, USB & auxiliary ports located just inside the entrance, as well as a television outlet with cable and satellite hook-up.
The Rockwood A214HW starts at about $15,000. For more information, visit ForestRiverInc.com.
