Forest River CherokeeArctic Wolf

Arctic Wolf is Forest River's value-mid full-size fifth wheel — a high-volume, value-oriented coach pitched as the value entry to full-size fifth-wheel ownership. It sits a step below the company's own mid-profile sibling Wildcat, making it the bottom rung of a six-rung Forest River full-size fifth-wheel ladder that climbs through Wildcat (mid-profile affordable-luxury), Sandpiper (premium-mainstream), Sabre (affordable-luxury) and Cedar Creek (full-size luxury) to Riverstone (top luxury). Where a Sandpiper steps up in construction and price, Arctic Wolf delivers full-size layouts and a generous standard systems package at a value price — commonly in the $40,000s to mid-$60,000s on the street depending on plan. Its 38LEAH.G floorplan won RV News' 2026 RV of the Year in the mid-price fifth-wheel class.

The pitch is full-size space and standard equipment at a value price. Every Arctic Wolf is built on a 2-inch full-cage aluminum frame with high-density block-foam insulation, a high-gloss fiberglass skin and laminated exterior walls under the Elemental Protection Package, with a 5/8-inch tongue-and-groove plywood floor, an engineered-wood SuperTruss roof structure with 3/8-inch decking under a PVC roof membrane carrying a lifetime warranty, and a ToughBend rigid skirt metal design. The underbelly is enclosed and heated with 12-volt tank heat pads. Running gear is a tandem-axle setup — a 7,000-pound group on the lighter plans and an 8,000-pound group on the heavier plans — with automatic leveling. The numeric per-axle GAWR is not separately published by Forest River for Arctic Wolf, so it is not asserted here.

The systems and interior package reads strong for the tier. A mandatory 100-watt Juice Pack solar package ships standard — expandable to 500 watts, with a Series 27 battery and a 30-amp charge controller — alongside a 50-amp service, a tankless on-demand water heater, a 35,000-BTU furnace, a 5,200-BTU electric fireplace, a 15,000-BTU central air conditioner with QuickCool, a 12-volt refrigerator (10 cubic feet on most plans, 16 cubic feet on the bed-slide suites), solid-surface counters, an 81-gallon Niagara fresh tank line-wide, an outside shower, leash-latch pet tech, a Clean Sweep no-heat-vent floor, MORryde steps and an outdoor kitchen with a refrigerator and a griddle on most plans. A second 15,000-BTU air conditioner is standard on the 289PANO, the 331BH and the bed-slide suites. For 2026 the line spans twelve retail floorplans plus one Dealer Stock Only; the six most distinct layouts are profiled in depth below — from the light, short 27SGS to the award-winning, longest 38LEAH.G — and the remaining plans are catalogued but not profiled. Arctic Wolf is marketed under the Cherokee umbrella.

Six of the most distinct 2026 floorplans are profiled in full with Forest River factory-verified specifications, spanning the breadth of the line: the light, short rear-living 27SGS, the only Arctic Wolf under a 10,000-pound GVWR; the new-for-2026 panoramic 289PANO; the most popular family 287BH with the line's lowest pin; the up-equipped 3250SUITE bed-slide suite; the two-bedroom, two-bath 331BH family flagship; and the award-winning, longest 38LEAH.G.

Seven further 2026 Arctic Wolf fifth wheels round out the catalog. Six are retail plans not profiled in depth here — the rear-bedroom 285OPT, the heavy 387ML, the bonus-room 3650SUITE, the 3750SUITE, the dishwasher-equipped 38DST and the front-living 3950SUITE — and one is listed by Forest River as Dealer Stock Only, built to dealer order rather than catalogued for general retail: the rear-covered-deck 3800DECK (itself the 2025 RV News RV of the Year). They are not profiled here, but their factory-published weights are listed for reference. All derive GVWR as UVW plus CCC, the same as the profiled line.

The Arctic Wolf line sorts cleanly by who is traveling and how the space is used. For couples, three rear-living plans anchor the line: the 27SGS is the lightest and shortest Arctic Wolf and the only one under a 10,000-pound GVWR — dual opposing slides, a front bedroom and panoramic rear windows, the easiest to tow; the new-for-2026 289PANO adds a panoramic rear living room with a second air conditioner standard; and the 3250SUITE steps up to a king bed slide, a bedroom fireplace, an island kitchen, theater seating and a 16-cubic-foot refrigerator. The 27SGS and 287BH are the most truck-friendly coaches in the line, the 287BH carrying the lowest pin of any Arctic Wolf at 1,325 pounds.

For families, two plans carry the volume. The 287BH is the line's most popular plan — a private front bedroom, a private rear bunkhouse, a U-shaped dinette and a deluxe outdoor kitchen, sleeping up to ten on a single slide and the lowest pin in the line. The 331BH is the two-bedroom, two-bath flagship: a private front queen bedroom, a rear bunkhouse suite with its own second bath and exterior entry, dual opposing slides and a second air conditioner standard, also sleeping up to ten. For the longest, most-equipped coach, the award-winning 38LEAH.G — RV News' 2026 RV of the Year for the mid-price class — adds a bath-and-a-half, a true laundry room with a standard washer and dryer (the only Arctic Wolf with the pair included), a dishwasher, a king bed slide and an L-shaped sectional with a desk: the full-timer flagship.

Across all of them the build is the same: the 2-inch full-cage aluminum frame, laminated Elemental Protection Package walls, automatic leveling, the tankless water heater, the 35,000-BTU furnace, the 15,000-BTU air conditioner, solid-surface counters, the 81-gallon Niagara fresh tank and the mandatory 100-watt solar package. The decision is layout, weight and pin, not equipment level — and against a Wildcat one tier above, the difference is the construction tier and price, with Arctic Wolf the value entry to Forest River full-size fifth-wheel ownership.