RV REVIEW
By Howard J. Elmer
2016 Forest River Wildwood Wildwood designers offer unique camping solutions for all modern families
folks who visit unexpectedly—but when you buy a unit like this you probably didn’t want them to stay long anyway. Wildwood designers should get props for offering unique camping solutions for all modern families. I mentioned space earlier; it’s first found in the length of these units (range from 29 to 39 feet); which have up to three slide-outs and with extra inches added to areas such as around beds, extra large pot/pan drawers, and deep overhead cabinets. Storage throughout the trailer interior is extensive; however, there are also two exterior pass- through cargo spaces. At each end of my tester, passing under the queen beds, were sizable spaces each with a 20x30-inch door. These lock and have good weather seals. Speaking of weather, theWildwood is billed as a 3½-season capable trailer. That’s a new one on me, but I get that Forest River is suggesting that they’ve gone a bit further with the cold-weather proofing on these units.
Two bedrooms, each with a queen bed—not what I was expecting in a bunkhouse trailer. I’d seen the BH, or bunkhouse, in the model code and expected a normal set of bunk beds. Sometimes there are even three beds in a space set aside for kids—but two queen beds? As I investigated further, the design philosophy of the Wildwood line emerged to explain this variation in a phrase Forest River uses in its brochures—“Family Affordability”. My take on it is mid-market pricing for the largest trailer with the most options possible at that family price. This is not to say that all builders don’t want to hit this ideal, but with the Wildwood I found a particularly nice variety of floorplans to cover most every “family” dynamic. Looking at the 21 layouts (travel trailer and fifth-wheel) you’ll find sleeping arrangements for as many as ten, or as few as two. In fact, this last unit (in several versions) has just one bedroom and the rest of the trailer is a huge open living area. Yes, there is always at least one fold-out couch for the
20 COAST TO COAST SPRING 2016
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