2026 Forest River Cascade27LHC

The Cascade 27LHC leaves Forest River's factory at 6,038 lbs dry, with a published GVWR of 7,775 lbs and 1,737 lbs of cargo capacity between the two. Cargo capacity is 22% 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 1,737 lbs before anything else is loaded.

Dry tongue weight is 775 lbs, or 13% 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 38 black, 76 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 9th of 20 floorplans by dry weight, in a line that runs from 2,604 lbs to 11,327 lbs. It sits in the middle of the line by weight. 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 6,038 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 6,906 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 7,775 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. 27LHC 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), 25% of the 27LHC’s 1,737 lb cargo capacity, leaving 1,303 lb. Across 16 Cascade floorplans the water share runs 8% to 32%, and 3 give up more than this one. Nearest on that share: Cascade 23MSC at 24% and Cascade 17LPC at 28%. 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 3 of the 8 fields both publish (this plan first): length 33 ft 2 in vs 29 ft 2 in; dry weight 6,038 lb vs 5,948 lb; cargo capacity 1,737 lb vs 1,827 lb. They match on GVWR, dry hitch weight, fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Either side of it by GVWR: Cascade 23MSC matches it at 7,775 lb GVWR; Cascade 26KFC is 30 lb heavier (7,805 lb GVWR).

All 16 Cascade floorplans: Cascade line hub.

Against the 27LHC: the Avenger 25MKO is 4 ft shorter; the Aurora Light 23BHS is 7 lb lighter and 5 ft shorter; the Airelume 255 is 10 lb heavier and 3 ft shorter.

11 of the 18 fields this catalogue tracks are published for the 27LHC. Not published: interior height, sleeps, slide count, axle count, tire specification, refrigerator, air conditioning.

Sourcing rules: methodology.