3 Best Screen Rooms for RVing: A Complete Buyer’s Guide

Screen rooms are a great tool that can protect from bugs, shade from the sun, and offer a little added privacy while in the great outdoors.

They aren’t without their drawbacks, as some full-time RVers find them to be more trouble than they’re worth, but some love the added benefits.

Below, we’ll review our top picks for the best screen rooms for RVing. Each item on our list is a frequent pick by RVers and offers a great combination of good construction, features, and great reviews.

After that, we’ll also talk about the pros and cons of RV screen room enclosures so you know what you’re getting yourself into before investing in one. 

3 Best Screen Rooms for RVing

Below are our top three picks for the best screen tents for RVing.

To decide the best of the best, we considered:

• Online ratings and reviews specifically from RVers
• Product features
• Construction and materials
• And brand reputation

Here are the three best screen room options for RVing: 

1. Coleman Back Home Screened Canopy

This Coleman is a great choice for those looking for something with a full covering that is also highly affordable. 

Coming in at just under $300, the Coleman back home screened canopy is lightweight while being sturdy and well-constructed with easy access and a circular design that makes it great as a freestanding screen house for small groups.

If you’re looking for something that does the job but don’t want to spend too much, particularly if you don’t need a huge awning area, this is a great option.

Check out the Coleman back home screened canopy on Amazon.

2. CLAM ice shelters

The CLAM screen tent line is known for being some of the sturdiest canopy screen rooms around, making them great all-weather options for full-time RVers.

They’re made of extremely durable materials and designed to withstand even the worst weather, with a variety of different sizes and shapes depending on your preference. The one con is that they run a bit expensive for their size (and they offer less sunlight in by design), though you pay for the quality you get.

Check out CLAM ice shelters on clamoutdoors.com.

3. Carefree Vacation’r

Carefree of Colorado is a trusted brand used by RV owners across the country. Their Vacation’r screen room is one of their most popular models, a deluxe RV awning enclosure with lots of great features including privacy panels, ample space, and water-resistant roof. 

It offers tons of space, seals fully to keep out bugs entirely, and has several options for securing the room such as a roller that drills into the side of the RV to a hanging system.

Check out the Carefree Vacation’r on Amazon.com.

Check out the Carefree Vacation’r on Carefreeofcolorado.com.

Pros and Cons of Owning a Screen Room for Your RV

Now that we’ve covered some great options, let’s talk about the pros and cons of screen rooms specifically for RVers.

If this is your first time using a screen room, it’s important to know what they are as some cons may turn you off to the idea of buying one. 

With that said, check out the pros and cons to make a decision for yourself:

Pro: Privacy

This is a lesser known benefit, but we’ve placed it at the top of the list as we’ve found that many RVers love the fact that it gives a little added privacy more than anything else. 

When you want to get some fresh air and sunlight, it can be a pain even if you do have an awning for shade.

Some campgrounds are just way too packaged, to the point where sitting outside feels less like a peaceful, relaxing activity and more like a group gathering. 

An awning screen room provides lots of shade as well as walls on each side (or all four in the case of a freestanding one), giving that added bit of privacy.

Pro: Bug protection

Flies, mosquitos, you name it, a screen room is great for keeping them out.

It’s not perfect and won’t suddenly mean you have zero bug issues, but it is a nice additional protective measure that makes things a little less annoying.

Pro: Easy (and potentially portable) shade

The most obvious benefit of a screen room is that of it being a sunshade. 

Even better, in the case of a freestanding screen room, you can move it around to get the shade exactly where you want it.

For example, if your camp has a picnic table that is a bit too far away from your awning screen room, a freestanding one can be placed right on top of it. 

Con: Can lose it (or damage your RV) in severe weather

In the event of a thunderstorm or high winds rolling into your campground, an awning screen room can be completely ripped off of your RV in a matter of seconds.

There are precautions you can take, but many awning screen rooms don’t allow you to anchor them to the ground. And, even so, in really bad weather it can happen even when anchored. 

Con: Difficult to pack up

Closely related to the last con, many screen rooms take a while to pack up. 

They may be easy to set up, but the process of packing up for the day and retiring becomes a bit more of a hassle than it was before.

One solution to this problem is to get a freestanding screen room, which is not only less of a worry and can be kept out overnight or if you need to move your RV, but they’re also easier to pack up.

Awning Screen Room vs. Freestanding Screen Room

Now that we’ve covered the pros and cons, let’s talk about one last thing: awning vs. freestanding screen rooms.

This is an important topic as a free standing screen room solves one of the major cons of the more commonly seen awning screen room. 

Awning screen rooms can be super convenient. They extend right from the side of your camper or RV, though they often take longer to set up than freestanding canopies. They’re also generally more expensive, take longer to set up and take down, and can’t typically be anchored.

Most are manual RV awnings that you put up by hand. Alternatively, you could get a retractable awning that opens up automatically. Those are generally more of a pain to set up, however, and even more liable to getting blown off in strong weather than regular awnings.

Freestanding screen rooms are less convenient in some ways as they’re not connected to your RV, but they’re more affordable and faster to set up.

They’re also safer in the event of harsh weather as they can be anchored and aren’t connected to your RV.

​Which is the best RV screen room for you ultimately depends on what you’re looking for most. If setup and convenience is a pain point for you, a freestanding canopy room is a perfect option. If you’re going for style or convenience, you might prefer an awning-style screen room. 

Gear Up for Summer

Screen rooms are a great way to get a little extra shade and privacy while protecting yourself from bugs.

You need to be careful about how you secure yours as strong winds can rip an awning screen from your RV. 

However, if you know what you’re doing or simply use a freestanding awning room, you can make them work just fine and take advantage of all the benefits.