ALPS Mountaineering Trail TP Tent II Review: A Light Pyramid Shelter With Clear Caveats

Introduction

ALPS Mountaineering builds mostly budget-focused shelters, and the Trail TP Tent II is its take on the pyramid, or TP, trekking pole tent. It is a single-wall, three-season design rated for two people, and it pitches with a trekking pole you supply yourself.

The packed weight is 3 lb 10 oz, which looks impressive until you remember the pole. Add your own trekking pole and the real carried weight climbs. The tent retails at $150 and has been widely discounted, often landing near $112.

Setup is straightforward: stake out the perimeter, open the door, step inside, and raise the pole. The shape is a steep pyramid with a noticeably tapered footprint, which matters a great deal once you start thinking about sleeping space.

Packed down, the stuff sack measures 16 in by 6.5 in and carries two compression straps plus a webbing handle and a drawstring closure at the top.

Who This Product Is For

This is where the Trail TP Tent II needs an honest conversation. On paper, the footprint is 7 ft long by 6 ft 4 in wide, narrowing to 4 ft 4 in before the taper. Center height is 53 in. Those numbers read like a comfortable two-person shelter. In practice, the steep walls cut usable volume sharply, and the tent feels closer to a generous one-person shelter than a true two-person one.

The most realistic configurations are one person with a full pack and gear, or one person plus a dog. Two very short sleepers could lie one on each side, angled toward the peak, but most adults will find it cramped.

It is also a non-freestanding tent. Remove the stakes and it collapses, so it needs ground where you can drive stakes in reliably.

Main Strengths

Pitching is the standout. If you have set up a pyramid shelter before, nothing here is unfamiliar. Each stakeout point uses a metal ring and is adjustable, which makes tensioning the perimeter quick and repeatable. Once the perimeter is set, you open the door, insert your pole into the cutout in the middle of the floor, and the shelter stands.

That floor cutout is a genuinely thoughtful detail. It locks the trekking pole in place so a sleeping bag or a restless night cannot easily knock the pole out from under the tent.

Both door panels roll back, and the body uses two YKK zippers. There are three vents on the body. At the apex there is a loop, which opens the possibility of pitching without a pole at all if you can tie off to something suitable, such as a low tree limb in the right spot.

Materials look sound for the price: 75 denier, 185T polyester with a 1,500 mm hydrostatic head rating, a polyester mesh panel and a polyester taffeta floor. Seams are taped, and the package includes aluminum stakes, guy lines, a pole cap and a square of repair fabric. The floor is a bathtub design, which is the right choice for a shelter this simple.

Things to Consider Before Buying

Weight is the first thing to recalculate. The 3 lb 10 oz figure excludes the trekking pole, and that pole is not optional unless you happen to have a perfect tie-off point. Budget for the combined weight when comparing this tent against alternatives.

Condensation is the second. This is a single-wall tent, meaning the fly and body are one piece and cannot be separated. Moisture that forms on the interior walls has nowhere to go and will end up inside the shelter with you. Every tent deals with condensation, but a double-wall design puts that moisture on the outside of the inner body, where it can run down the fly and away from your sleeping area. Here it simply drips inward. The three vents help, but they do not eliminate the problem.

Water resistance is the third open question, and it is worth verifying in real rain rather than trusting the hydrostatic head number on its own.

There are no interior pockets, so small items need their own organization. The single-wall build also means this is strictly a three-season shelter. It comes in one configuration, the two-person version, in blue and white.

Buying Advice

At $150 retail, and especially at the discounted prices this tent frequently sells for, the value proposition is decent for what you get: taped seams, aluminum stakes, adjustable stakeout points, YKK zippers and a straightforward pitch. If you are a solo backpacker who wants a light pyramid shelter and already carries trekking poles, this is a reasonable candidate to put on your shortlist.

Be clear about your priorities first. If you need genuine two-person space, or if you camp in humid, still conditions where condensation is a given, a double-wall tent will serve you better. If you are one person with gear, you already carry trekking poles, and you accept that moisture management is part of the routine, the Trail TP Tent II can work well for the money.

Conclusion

The ALPS Mountaineering Trail TP Tent II is an easy-to-pitch, fairly priced pyramid shelter that is honest about being simple. Its strongest qualities are the setup process, the pole-locking floor cutout and the materials list at this price. Its limitations are equally clear: the interior is tighter than the two-person rating suggests, the real carried weight includes your trekking pole, and the single-wall construction makes condensation something you manage rather than avoid. Buy it for solo trips with a full pack, not for two adults who want room to spread out.