01 What makes it unique
The Cherokee Grey Wolf 23MK is one of the most popular couples' layouts in Forest River's volume value-mid line — a rear-living coach with a genuinely private front bedroom. Forest River's floorplan description puts a private master suite with a queen-size bed and a full bathroom at the front, a U-shaped dinette in the slide-out that both seats and sleeps, a rear sofa facing the TV, and a kitchen with a full-size pantry in between. An outside kitchen handles cooking out of doors. It is a clever use of 29 feet for two travelers who want a real bedroom without a huge trailer.
Like the rest of the line it is built on a wood-frame body with aluminum sidewall construction and rides on the Cherokee Stable Step, with the Black Label trim adding Thermo-Foil Arctic insulation, gel-coat sidewalls and frameless tinted windows. A 13,500-BTU air conditioner is standard and a solar package is available. A 52-gallon fresh tank supports time away from hookups.
At 5,750 pounds dry against a 7,801-pound GVWR it leaves roughly 2,050 pounds of payload, comfortable for two, and tows well behind a half-ton truck. RVUSA does not publish the refrigerator's cubic footage, so it is flagged. For couples who want a rear living room, a private bedroom and an outside kitchen in an affordable name-brand trailer, the 23MK is a Grey Wolf favorite.
02 Full specifications
Dimensions
- Exterior length
- 28' 10"
- Exterior width
- 8' 0"
- Exterior height
- 10' 8"
- Slide-outs
- 1
Weights
- Dry / unit base weight
- 5,750 lbs
- GVWR (max loaded)
- 7,801 lbs
- Net cargo / payload
- 2,051 lbs
- Hitch / tongue weight
- 801 lbs
Capacities
- Fresh water
- 52 gal
- Grey water
- 38 gal
- Black water
- 38 gal
- Refrigerator
- 12V*
Construction
- Frame
- Wood-frame body
- Walls
- Aluminum sidewall
- Roof
- Walk-on · one-piece
- Insulation
- Thermo-Foil Arctic*
Running gear
- Axles
- Per plan (see above)
- Hitch
- Bumper Pull
- Entry
- Cherokee Stable Step
- Solar
- Solar prep / pkg
Galley & bath
- Cooktop
- 3-burner range
- Refrigerator
- 12V (size not published*)
- A/C
- 13,500 BTU
- Water heater
- Gas-electric / tankless
Sleeping & layout
- Sleeps
- 4
- Primary bed
- Front queen
- Layout
- Front private master suite (queen), rear living with sofa, U-dinette on the slide, pass-through bath, outside kitchen, 1 slide
- Awnings
- 1
Verified specs, drawn to scale
Original graphics built from this floorplan’s own verified figures.
Loaded weight budget
Size, drawn to scale
Holding tanks
These graphics are generated from the same verified record that builds the table above, and are published under this site’s own licence — nothing here is traced from, or derived from, a manufacturer drawing or photo. Where a figure is not published for this plan, the graphic that would need it is omitted rather than estimated. The full record is in the published dataset.
What it takes to tow this
Built from this floorplan’s verified weights. We publish the trailer side only.
We do not publish tow ratings for specific trucks. A single model can vary by thousands of pounds depending on engine, axle ratio, cab, drivetrain and package — the only authoritative figure is the one on your own door jamb. Loaded tongue percentages are industry convention for travel trailers (10–15% of loaded weight), not a measurement of this unit. Hitch classes are not used here as a rating: SAE J684 covers trailers to 10,000 lb GVWR and does not define Class V, and capacity boundaries differ between manufacturers — read the rating stamped on your hitch. On this plan the convention band’s low end fell below the published dry figure, so the range starts at the published dry weight instead — loaded is never lighter than dry.
03 Cherokee Grey Wolf floorplan family
The Cherokee Grey Wolf is Forest River's highest-volume value-mid travel trailer — the company calls it the number-one-selling RV in its lineup. It spans roughly twenty travel-trailer floorplans for 2026 plus toy-hauler and fish-house variants. The 23MK on this page is highlighted; each other profiled plan links to its own page. The highest-demand layouts are detailed here and the rest are catalogued on the line hub.
| Floorplan | Nominal | Sleeps | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19SM | 24 ft | 8 | Double-queen family, two queens + bunk, rear queen slide |
| 20RDSE | 25 ft | 4 | Compact rear-dinette couples, front queen |
| 22CE | 26 ft | 4 | Rear-kitchen + rear-bath couples, front king |
| 22MKSE | 27 ft | 8 | Compact bunkhouse, front king + rear double bunks |
| 23DBH | 29 ft | 8 | Compact bunkhouse, front master, dual entry |
| 23MK | 29 ft | 4 | Rear-living couples, outside kitchen |
| 23MS | 29 ft | 8 | Compact bunkhouse, front king + rear bunks, outside kitchen |
| 26DJSE | 29 ft | 7 | Lightweight bunkhouse, walk-around king, mid kitchen |
| 26LP | 29 ft | 6 | Lightweight bunkhouse, front queen + double bunks, big payload |
| 26SS | 31 ft | 4 | Rear-kitchen couples, king master, walk-thru bath |
| 27GH | 31 ft | 4 | Front-kitchen couples, private rear king, outside kitchen |
| 26DBH | 32 ft | 6 | Double-bunk family, dual entry, outside kitchen |
| 26LK | 32 ft | 6 | Rear-bath couples, front king, fireplace lounge |
| 26BRB | 33 ft | 9 | King + bunks family, large slide, dual entry |
| 26KF | 33 ft | 9 | Front-kitchen bunkhouse, king + bunks, dual entry |
| 27LH | 34 ft | 3 | King-bed rear-living couples, residential sofa |
| 29QB | 37 ft | 7 | Two-bedroom coach, front + rear queen, dual entry |
| 29TE | 37 ft | 8 | Big bunkhouse, full outside kitchen, dual entry |
| 29NM | 38 ft | 9 | Two-room family coach, king bedroom + rear bunkhouse |
Every Cherokee Grey Wolf travel trailer is built on a wood-frame body with aluminum sidewall construction and rides on the Cherokee Stable Step; the Black Label trim adds Thermo-Foil Arctic insulation, gel-coat sidewalls and frameless tinted windows. Lengths, weights and equipment change with options and model year — always confirm against the unit's own weight sticker. Wolf Pup and Wolf Den lightweight spin-offs and the Arctic Wolf fifth wheels are documented separately.
04 What owners & reviewers report
A private bedroom, not a fold-away bed
Forest River describes a private master suite with a queen-size bed and a full bathroom at the front, which leaves the whole rear free as a living room with a sofa and a U-shaped dinette in the slide-out.
Outside kitchen for two
The exterior kitchen keeps cooking outdoors — a popular feature even for a couples' trailer.
Comfortable half-ton tow
At 5,750 lb dry with ~2,050 lb of payload it tows easily behind a half-ton and carries plenty for two.
Refrigerator size not published
RVUSA's structured record confirms a refrigerator but not its cubic footage; it is shown unverified and excluded from the completeness figure.
05 How it compares
The lighter, cheaper compact couples' camper — less space and no outside kitchen.
The value-twin rear-living couples' plan — a laminate I-beam build with a king bed and fireplace at a similar price.
The 34-foot king-bed rear-living coach — more space and a residential sofa, longer and heavier.
06 Loading it for a trip
This floorplan carries its water comfortably. A full 52-gallon fresh tank is roughly 21% of the 2,051-pound cargo capacity, leaving the 23MK with a usable gear budget even when you tow full.
| Weight budget | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo capacity as published (CCC) | 2,051 lb | Everything you add: gear, water, propane, batteries, food, people’s belongings. |
| Fresh tank filled (52 gal × 8.34 lb) | −434 lb | Water is the heaviest thing most owners add, and it is added first. |
| Cargo budget left with a full fresh tank | 1,617 lb | 21% of this plan’s capacity is spent before a single bag is loaded. |
| Per sleeping position, water aboard | 404 lb | A rough share of what is left across the 4 berths this plan sleeps. |
The published dry tongue weight of 801 pounds is 14% of the 5,750-pound dry weight, which sits inside the 10–15% band usually quoted for stable towing. It is still a dry figure: loading the front pass-through and the fresh tank both push it up.
Nothing above changes the ceiling. Loaded to its 7,801-pound GVWR the 23MK is towing 2,051 pounds more than its 5,750-pound dry figure, and that is the number your vehicle has to be rated for — not the brochure weight.
Tank balance is generous here: 52 gallons of fresh against 38 grey and 38 black, so waste capacity keeps pace with supply and the fresh tank is the constraint that ends a dry stay.
07 Where this floorplan sits
Ranked by GVWR, the 23MK sits 11 of 19 in the Cherokee Grey Wolf line: 7,801 pounds against a line that runs from 7,575 to 8,083 pounds. That position is the useful thing to know, because the plans immediately either side of it are the real alternatives.
Either side of it in the same line: Cherokee Grey Wolf 26SS is 37 pounds lighter at 7,764 lb GVWR; and Cherokee Grey Wolf 27GH is 13 pounds heavier at 7,814 lb GVWR.
| Comparable travel trailers | GVWR (lb) | Dry (lb) | Sleeps | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23MK | 7,801 | 5,750 | 4 | 28 ft 10 in |
| Avenger 26DBS | 7,805 | 6,413 | 8 | 31 ft 7 in |
| Cascade 26KFC | 7,805 | 6,463 | — | 32 ft 9 in |
| Westbrook 27CC | 7,805 | 6,413 | — | 31 ft 7 in |
| Campsite Ultra 21DF | 7,795 | 5,688 | — | 25 ft 10 in |
| Salem & Wildwood 28VBXL | 7,790 | 6,208 | 10 | 33 ft 7 in |
| Airelume 255 | 7,785 | 5,813 | — | 29 ft 11 in |
Against the 23MK: the Avenger 26DBS is 4 lb heavier and 3 ft longer and sleeps 4 more; the Cascade 26KFC is 4 lb heavier and 4 ft longer; the Westbrook 27CC is 4 lb heavier and 3 ft longer. Those are differences in the published numbers only — what they cost, how they are built and how they live are separate questions each of those pages answers on its own terms.
Those are the nearest travel trailers from other lines by weight — one per line, picked by proximity on that figure and nothing else. They are listed so the same tow vehicle can be checked against real alternatives, not because they are equivalent inside; layout, build and price diverge sharply across that group.
For scale, the Cherokee Grey Wolf floorplans profiled here run 4,508 to 7,356 pounds dry and 24 to 38 feet of exterior length across 19 plans. Where a floorplan falls in that spread usually says more about which vehicle can tow it, and which site it fits, than the layout name does.
Every profiled floorplan in this line, with the full weight table, is on the Cherokee Grey Wolf line hub.
08 Common questions about the 23MK
How much does the 23MK weigh?
It leaves the factory at 5,750 pounds dry, and its manufacturer-set loaded ceiling (GVWR) is 7,801 pounds. Real towing weight lands between the two and depends entirely on what you load. Use the GVWR when matching a tow vehicle; the dry figure is only useful for comparing floorplans against each other.
How much can the 23MK carry?
Cargo carrying capacity is 2,051 pounds. That is the whole budget: water, propane, batteries, gear and everything you bring. Filling the 52-gallon fresh tank uses about 434 pounds of that.
What is the tongue weight of the 23MK?
The published dry tongue weight is 801 pounds. It is measured empty; loaded, it runs higher, and it comes out of your tow vehicle’s payload rather than its tow rating.
What size tow vehicle does the 23MK need?
Your vehicle needs a tow rating of at least 7,801 pounds — this floorplan’s GVWR — and enough payload left over for the hitch load, passengers and anything in the bed. This site does not publish tow ratings for specific vehicles, because one truck model varies by thousands of pounds across engine, axle ratio, cab and package. The figure that governs is the payload sticker on your own door jamb.
How many people does the 23MK sleep?
It is rated to sleep 4. Rated sleeping positions include convertible furniture, so count the beds against how you actually travel rather than against the number.
What are the tank capacities on the 23MK?
Fresh 52 gallons, grey 38 gallons, black 38 gallons. Tank sizes set how long the floorplan can sit away from hookups, and the smallest of the three is what ends the stay.
How long is the 23MK?
Exterior length is 28' 10". Measure against your site length and your storage before committing — the exterior figure is the one that has to fit, and it includes the tongue or pin box.
Every figure in these answers is read from this page’s verified specification table. Where the manufacturer publishes nothing, the question is not answered rather than estimated.
09 What this page publishes, and what it does not
This catalog tracks 18 specification fields per floorplan. Named sources publish 15 of them for the 23MK. The rest are not shown, because the alternative is reading a figure across from a sibling floorplan or from what the segment usually does — and a number nobody published is worth less than an admitted gap.
Not published for this floorplan: interior height, axle count, tire specification. If you find one of these in a manufacturer document for this plan, it belongs on this page.
The completeness figure at the foot of this page (90%) measures the same thing on the full field set: it is a measurement of how much this floorplan’s manufacturer publishes, not of how much research went into the page.
Values on this page carrying an asterisk were derived by arithmetic from published figures, or come from a single source, rather than being printed directly by the manufacturer. The flag travels with the number into the downloadable spec sheet.
How every figure here was sourced and checked is set out on the methodology page.
11 NHTSA safety record
This floorplan belongs to the Cherokee Grey Wolf line, and NHTSA holds 3 recall campaigns and 10 owner complaints against that line. They are separate records and are not added together — a recall is a manufacturer-confirmed defect with a remedy; a complaint is one owner’s account, which NHTSA does not verify.
What to look at on a used one. Across the 10 complaints filed on this line the most-reported components are structure (30%), electrical system (10%) and electronic stability control (esc) (10%). That is where owners of this family have had trouble, so it is where an inspection is worth the time.
Recall coverage is not complete — our harvest of NHTSA’s recall API ran 1,556 queries, of which 0 failed and 242 returned an explicit zero. A line can still be under-reported where NHTSA files a roster under a parent name, or where a match rests on the wording of the recall rather than its model field. Complaints come from the complete bulk file but are unverified and self-selected: a high count tracks how many units a line sold at least as much as how well it was built. Check a specific VIN at NHTSA before you buy. Full tables are on the Cherokee Grey Wolf line page.