2026 Forest River Cascade26LPC

The Cascade 26LPC leaves Forest River's factory at 4,558 lbs dry, with a published GVWR of 7,560 lbs and 3,002 lbs of cargo capacity between the two. Cargo capacity is 40% of the loaded rating, and Forest River's own definition is worth reading before you plan against it: cargo capacity is what remains for fresh water, gear, food, batteries and every dealer-installed accessory. Fresh water alone is 8.3 lb per gallon, so filling this trailer's 52-gallon fresh tank spends 432 lbs of that 3,002 lbs before anything else is loaded.

Dry tongue weight is 560 lbs, or 12% of the dry weight. Ten to fifteen percent is the conventional band for a bumper-pull trailer, and this plan sits inside it as published. Tongue weight is not fixed: it moves with how the trailer is loaded, and weight added ahead of the axles raises it. A weight-distribution hitch is the normal fitment at this tongue load, and the tow vehicle's tongue-weight limit is a separate number from its trailer-weight limit.

Tank capacities are 52 gallons fresh, 38 grey and 28 black, 66 gallons of waste capacity against 52 gallons of supply. The ratio is what governs how long the trailer can sit off hookups: waste capacity exceeds fresh, so the fresh tank is the binding constraint and refilling extends the stay. Forest River publishes these three figures per floorplan, and they are the factory's numbers rather than a segment average.

Against the rest of the Cascade roster this is the 5th of 20 floorplans by dry weight, in a line that runs from 2,604 lbs to 11,327 lbs. It sits in the lighter third of the line. Comparing floorplans inside one line is more reliable than comparing across brands, because every figure here comes from the same factory channel on the same day.

A useful way to read the pair of weights is to stop planning against the dry figure. Nobody tows a trailer at 4,558 lbs: that is the weight before water, batteries, propane, bedding, food, tools and anything the dealer bolted on. Load half the published cargo capacity, which is modest for a family trip, and this plan is already near 6,059 lbs on the road. Compare that number against the tow vehicle, not the dry weight, and leave margin on top of it - the published GVWR of 7,560 lbs is a limit rather than a target.

Every number above was captured twice from Forest River and checked against itself before it was published. The line listing and the individual floorplan page are two separate factory renderings of the same trailer, and this plan's 4 shared figures agree exactly on both. Dry weight plus cargo capacity also equals the published GVWR exactly, which is the arithmetic check this site runs on every profiled floorplan. Where a figure is missing from this page it is because Forest River does not publish it in this channel, not because it was hard to find - and the row says so rather than being quietly dropped.

Forest River publishes no floorplan description for this plan in the channel this page is built from - only the numeric specification block. Rather than describe a layout from the floorplan code, which would be a guess dressed as a fact, this page carries what the factory publishes and says where it stops. 26LPC is a Cascade designation and this site does not decode it into a layout claim.

Cascade covers a wider span than any other Forest River travel-trailer line this site has catalogued: thirty-three published floorplans in five factory groupings - single axle, tandem axle, tandem-axle toy hauler, fish house and destination - running from 2,604 lb dry at 17 feet 3 inches to 11,327 lb at 42 feet 8 inches. Dry tongue weight runs 320 to 1,342 lb over that span. The grouping a plan belongs to predicts its class far better than its floorplan number does, so both are in the table below.

A full 52-gallon fresh tank is about 434 lb of water (water counts as cargo: 49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.2), 14% of the 26LPC’s 3,002 lb cargo capacity, leaving 2,568 lb. Across 16 Cascade floorplans the water share runs 8% to 32%, and 11 give up more than this one. Nearest on that share: Cascade 29TEC at 14% and Cascade 39DLC at 17%. Your own unit’s figure is on the label inside its entry door (49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.3).

Closest sibling: the Cascade 23MSC, nearest on the published figures. It differs on 5 of the 8 fields both publish (this plan first): dry weight 4,558 lb vs 5,948 lb; GVWR 7,560 lb vs 7,775 lb; cargo capacity 3,002 lb vs 1,827 lb; dry hitch weight 560 lb vs 775 lb; black tank 28 gal vs 38 gal. They match on length, fresh tank and grey tank.

Either side of it by GVWR: Cascade 17THHC is 1,858 lb lighter (5,702 lb GVWR); Cascade 26SSC is 165 lb heavier (7,725 lb GVWR).

All 16 Cascade floorplans: Cascade line hub.

Against the 26LPC: the Cherokee Grey Wolf 21AB is 4 ft shorter; the Aurora Light 26BHS is 6 lb heavier and 1 ft longer; the Campsite Reserve 20AJ is 10 lb lighter and 5 ft shorter.

11 of the 18 fields this catalogue tracks are published for the 26LPC. Not published: interior height, sleeps, slide count, axle count, tire specification, refrigerator, air conditioning.

Sourcing rules: methodology.