The Rockwood A213HW trailer is a folding, hard-sided trailer that offers a full complement of amenities in a compact and foldable package. But first, before I say more, let me share a little about Rockwood trailers in general. (It’s relevant, I promise.)
Both Forest River and Thor offer a variety of choices and a variety of levels of features and build quality. These companies want to appeal to buyers where those buyers want to be. So, they make some models that are built for price. They make other models that are built for more function and feature. Rockwood is at the top of the Forest River family. Therefore, it may come as a surprise that they make pop-up trailers at all.
But they do. And they really do build a product with some rather high-end features, even if it’s a in smaller and more affordable package like the Rockwood A213HW.
At a Glance: Rockwood A213HW
I gave the Rockwood A213HW four out of five stars. These RVs are well-made and somehow still also easy-towing and garageable. This one, too, offers really good storage in a front trunk. It’s not difficult to open up, and it offers much of the benefit of a larger traditional trailer along with a lot of headroom once opened. However, being a pop-up, the bathroom is a compromise at best.
Check the Specs
- Sleeping capacity: 3
- Hitch weight: 372 pounds
- UVW: 2,670 pounds
- CCC: 702 pounds.
- Box size: 14 feet
- Exterior length (closed): 20 feet 4 inches
- Exterior length (open): 20 feet 4 inches
- Exterior height (closed): 5 feet 8 inches
- Exterior width: 7 feet
Benefits
- Twin beds and nice amenities stand out for a pop-up
- Hard walls make it HOA (and bear-country) friendly
Challenges
- Too light to be equipped for four-season camping
- Bathroom is right next to the dining table
Best For
- Solo campers who want an affordable, quality trailer
- Dry campers looking for a pop-up with more storage
The RV Trader Process
RV Trader asked RV shoppers what was most important to them in their RV buying process. Potential buyers — like you — helped us to identify a list of six key areas that camping and travel enthusiasts always look at when they’re searching for the perfect RV: sleeping space, bathroom, living area, four-season capabilities, and storage space.
The RV Trader team then got to work providing you with an honest and unbiased evaluations. And that’s where I come in. I’m Tony Barthel, RV expert and enthusiast. I provide an honest look at RVs from RV industry insider perspective. That way, you can learn the good, the bad, and the intriguing about any RVs I review. I inspect each RV with the buyer’s perspective at the forefront. And I always evaluate those six key areas that buyers have told us that they have in mind.
So, that said, let’s take a closer look at the 2024 Forest River Rockwood A213HW.
Sleeping Space
There’s a reason the floorplan for the Rockwood A213HW is one of the more popular in the line. And it has a lot to do with the twin beds at the back of this trailer. This arrangement makes it possible for two friends to go camping and each have their own bed, of course. There’s also a provision to put a platform in the open space and have a single large bed as well.
You might wonder about headroom with the A-frame sloped roof over the twin beds in the back — especially if you use these as two couches in the day. But the Rockwood A213HW has a bowed-out skylight back there, which actually works to provide headroom when seated on the beds. It also provides additional light in the day, although there’s a curtain to cover it at night.
Bathroom
There’s a toilet in the Rockwood A213HW,as well which is a cartridge toilet, but let’s be very honest: This is not a camper to get if you’re shy about doing your business. That toilet does have a curtain that goes around it, but it’s right there … next to the dining table.
In fact, when one of these came in — while I was working at the dealership — we had a great time with jokes centered around being able to have dinner and, uh, make room for more in the same seating position. But it’s a pop-up. It kinda comes with the limited territory.
Living Area
This trailer features an A-frame design where the roof is comprised of two hard sections which fold up like an A-frame cabin with the space filled in by hard-sided sections as well. There is also a dormer on the front of the trailer that sits over the dining area making for even more space inside the unit.
While pop-up trailers with canvas walls might be something that some buyers consider, these hard-sided models do have an unexpected advantage to consider. Hard-sided pop-ups may be accepted in remote certain campgrounds (like Yellowstone’s Fishing Bridge RV Park) that don’t permit canvas-sided trailers — because they’re in bear country. It’s worth it to call around before you ultimately make a buying decision, though.
Kitchen
Rockwood’s high-wall A-frame trailers mean that the counter sidewalls are taller than some other folding trailers. That means that inside the two-burner stove and sink might be closer to normal height than you might think. There is not a gray tank on this unit, but you can either divert the gray water into a sewer connection if you’re camping in a developed campground or into something like a portable wastewater tote if you’re not.
The fridge in here is a small, 12-volt model. Rockwood also includes a 200-watt solar panel. This should be able to keep up with the demands of this smaller fridge, but I would still consider a lithium battery for any towable nowadays. However, a downside is that it’s difficult to get to this fridge when the top is down. (Not impossible, though.)
If you do want to cook outside (and I like doing so), the Rockwood A213HW includes a flat-top griddle with this trailer that hangs on a rail outside. I have one of these myself, and I really like it.
Four-Season Capabilities
If you’re someone who likes camping as the weather gets colder this might not be the first choice. Tanks are not protected from freezing on these trailers, which are designed to be lightweight.
Under the bed, you’ll find a few storage drawers and cabinets, but there’s also a Cool Cat air conditioning system, which is essentially a heat pump. This means that you can air condition the space when it’s hot outside, but this unit can also double as a heater for the space as well. But when it’s really cold, there’s also a propane furnace. This is not unlike how many modern home air conditioners work and it makes a lot of sense. There is also a water heater aboard as well as an outdoor shower and some owners of these do bring those shower tents.
Storage Space
Rockwood has a trunk that spans the width of the front of this trailer with a flip-up lid that provides a pretty decent amount of storage space. There’s also a full-width rotomolded drawer below that which can be accessed from either side of the camper and, again, provides a lot of storage. I really like this drawer set-up.
Another advantage of this camper is the fact that the Rockwood A213HW includes racks on the top which are capable of carrying up to 150 pounds. So, this would be a great place to haul bicycles or kayaks and that sort of thing.
Closing Notes on the Rockwood A213HW
Pop-Up Choices
When I worked at an RV dealership, one of the concerns I heard the most about this style of trailer centered around raising and lowering the top. Several of the Rockwood trailers, including this one, can be optioned with a power actuator so raising and lowering the roof is literally as simple as unlatching the catches that hold it in place and then pushing a button.
It is neither heavy nor clumsy. Once the main sections are up you simply go inside and push the sidewall sections up and you’re ready to camp. The model I saw did not have the power feature, but gas struts to make the process pretty straightforward.
I think these folding trailers are a really good choice for a lot of campers simply because they don’t extend beyond the roof of the tow vehicle when in tow mode. This means that the list of vehicles that can legitimately tow this is much longer simply because of the light weight of the trailer plus the lack of aerodynamic drag on the tow vehicle. These are also relatively affordable and fit into a garage easily.
Now I can see there will be some readers who look at the placement of the toilet and, like we children who worked at the dealership, might question that positioning. These models do sell well, but there is the A214HW that has a full bathroom with a shower that takes advantage of the dormer space in front.
Extra Rockwood A213HW Touches
I had mentioned that Rockwood is at the higher end of the food chain in terms of quality and, to that end, know that even these more affordable models still have torsion axle suspensions (I really like that style of suspension) and Goodyear Endurance tires. Rockwood also does all its own lamination in-house and features man-made substrates which basically means that water intrusion into the laminate won’t cause it to fail.
Additionally, I can see these making a lot of sense if you live under an HOA, for example, since you could park the camper in the garage when it’s home. But with how easy it is to set up and the convenient features of this model, hopefully it won’t be home much.
Also know that this is identical to the Flagstaff hard-side, pop-up model T21TBHW. So, if there isn’t a Rockwood dealer in your neighborhood, but there is one that sells Flagstaff, that would be the same trailer.
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