The camping table might not feel like an essential gear for camping. You can shelter, sleep, and even cook without one. Of course, once you spend time in the wild without access to a camp table, that feeling can quickly change. Do without it and you lose the best place to do any kind of food prep. It also comes in extremely handy when you need to fix some gear, find a stable surface for your nighttime libations, or just play a game of superhero cards to pass the time away. Suffice to say, it saves you from sitting on the dirt and laying out your gear all over the same ground.
The kind of camping table you can bring will depend on the kind of camping you’re doing. If you’re spending a good amount of time hiking to the campsite, then a compact, low-height folding table is your likely best option. If you’re car camping or parking nearby, however, then you’ll have a lot more leeway in opting for a bigger and more functional, albeit still portable, camp table.
These are the best camping tables to bring to your next outdoor adventure.
Coleman Outdoor Folding Table
Most cheap camping tables are made by brands you’ve probably never heard of before. This one, though, gets the popular Coleman branding and it’s surprisingly capable. It weighs just 10 pounds and collapses into a small bag, allowing you to take it even when going on foot, all while giving you a very stable surface once you put the whole thing together. Not only is it great for food prep, it’s also a great place to gather around for meals, drinks, and games (it can accommodate four people, one on each side), since the height is ideal for use with most camping chairs. A slatted aluminum top and steel frame ensures durable function throughout your stay at camp.
- Ultra-compact aluminum folding table ideal for camping and outdoor cookouts
GCI Compact Camp Table 25
This all-aluminum camping table isn’t the biggest or sturdiest, but it will serve you well for your car camping adventures. It has a tabletop that measures 25 x 24.8 inches, just enough for two people eat, drink, or play a round of chess, all while coming in at over 28 inches tall, so you can use it with standard camp chairs very comfortably. Oh yeah, the outfit recommends it as a dining table for four, although it’s a little too crowded to fit that many people in there. We’d say three at most. Rated to handle up to 60 pounds, the table is sturdy enough for basic food prep work. You can also use it with a stove, although only with light cooking portions, as we have a feeling it won’t handle a heavy pot well (a little wobble and it’s not going to be fun). We’ve used it with a portable grill and it held up well enough. This packs pretty big, though, so it’s strictly for taking if you can have a vehicle nearby.
- ULTIMATE OUTDOOR DINING. With a unique one-piece design, the folding Compact Camp Table 25 holds up...
Camp Time Roll-a-Table Standard
This camping table literally rolls up into a compact pile measuring 32 x 5.5 inches (length x diameter), allowing you to easily strap it down to your pack or even carry it in one hand. It has a tabletop made from wood slats, giving it a very solid feel, with poly-vinyl coating allowing you to simply wipe it down for cleaning. The aluminum legs, by the way, screw down into the tabletop, which gives it a reasonably sturdy build once assembled, although the lack of support beams does cause it to be wobbly when you put too much weight on it (just stick to reasonable loads on the tabletop). With that said, the lack of support bracing does allow you to slide your legs under the table when seated, which is very comfortable.
REI Co-op Camp Prep Table
We love the wide profile of this camping table, which gives you plenty of room for food prep and cooking. That’s right, you can easily fit your stove on that aluminum slat top, although we prefer to elevate ours, just to avoid any nasty brushes with heat. As the name says, this is designed for food prep, so it’s very sturdy, allowing you to go wild hacking big chunks of meat and hard vegetables to your heart’s content without worrying about the table wobbling or giving out. In fact, this is easily the most stable among all the camp tables we have in the list, with only the Nemo Moonlander coming close. More impressively, they achieved that stability without using cross-bracing, allowing you to slide your legs when you sit on chairs around the table.
All four legs of the table are adjustable and lockable using lever locks from 22 to 31 inches, allowing you set it up high for food prep and lower it a bit when lounging on your low-height camp chairs at night. Do note, this is strictly for car camping, as it still folds pretty big (half the tabletop size) and weighs quite a bit at just under 20 pounds, courtesy of its all-metal construction.
Big Agnes Soul Kitchen Table
When rolled up, this camping table measures just 28 x 5 inches (length x diameter), making it as convenient to strap down on your pack as your favorite tent or sleeping pad. It’s supposed to weigh just four pounds, too, so it will barely add any heft to your stash, although it does feel a little heavier than that (not by much). At 24 inches tall when deployed, it’s tall enough to let you use the table while standing, although it’s still best to use it with a low chair or a stool, while the table surface measures 27.5 x 24 inches (width x depth), giving you ample room to get work done or just lounge around with a friend or two. The table uses a hubless frame that seems to do a great job of keeping it stable even with some extra weight on top. If you’re car camping, by the way, this will make for an ideal side table, in case you have a bigger one for all your cooking needs at camp.
- Lighter, Stronger, & Easier To Use - With their unbeatable strength-to-weight ratio, the 2lb...
Helinox Table One Hard Top
This thing may look flimsy, but it’s a surprisingly functional camping table. No, you won’t load it with an unreasonable amount of stuff and expect it to hold up, but for basic food prep, equipment sorting, and a few drinks at the end of the day, this table will serve you well around the camp. The big selling point here is the portability, as it packs really small and really light. It’s easy to set up, too, so you should be able to get a camp table ready in a jiffy. Do note, this thing is really low at just 14 inches tall, so it’s tough to use unless you’re on the ground or sitting on a very low chair. We do appreciate the thoughtful details like the dual cup holders, grab handles, and zippered storage bag. Just make sure not to even attempt cooking on this thing because it has a fabric material that just won’t play well with that kind of heat.
Nemo Moonlander Table
It may be small, but what it gives up in size, this camping table makes up for in function. For one, we’re in awe at how stable it is, giving the much bigger and heavier REI Co-op Camp Prep Table a run for its money. With the legs unfolded, it gives you a 16-inch height, which isn’t much, but decent enough to work on when you’re seated. It will also make an excellent side table if you’re sitting on taller camping chairs. If you’re sitting on a blanket picnic-style, you can fold the legs of the table and set the top down on its own, as it’s got a built-in mini-legs at the base that raises it just four inches off the surface. The tabletop is made from heat-stable nylon, by the way, allowing you to set your stove down on top without worries of burning the whole thing down. It cleans easily, too, making it incredibly hassle-free to take for camping.
- Smooth, impervious, and durable tabletop surface is made of heat stabilized nylon to endure the...