01 What makes it unique
The 260MK makes the rare honest choice of rating a 31-footer for two: the factory sleep figure is “up to 2,” and the floor plan spends the space accordingly — a front bedroom, a mid kitchen and two opposing slides opening the main room into a genuine living area, under a 20-foot awning with the standard fireplace inside.
The build is the shared laminated package: CoreShield 2-inch vacuum-bonded walls and floor with Azdel composite on both faces, Norco Z-frame with integrated A-frame, TrussXL truss under the limited-lifetime PVC roof, ThermaShield zero-to-one-hundred package, the 13,500-BTU Quiet Series ducted air conditioner, 60,000-BTU tankless water heater, 11-cubic-foot Invision 12-volt refrigerator, 200 watts of PowerUp solar, TPMS and a power tongue jack, with two 30-pound LP bottles. The printed 7,600-pound GVWR equals 6,040 dry plus 1,560 cargo exactly.
Dual opposing slides usually cost tongue weight; here the balance lands at 620 pounds — the lightest tongue in the profiled set despite two slides. The 55/61/30.5 tank group covers hookup travel easily. Couples who want the desk-and-office execution of the same idea — and dual awnings — should read the 270CK; a note in its record: RVUSA lists one entry door on this plan while a dealer roster labels it two, so door count is left unasserted here.
02 Full specifications
Dimensions
- Exterior length
- 31' 4"
- Exterior width
- 8' 0"
- Exterior height
- 9' 10"
- Interior height
- 6' 6"
Weights
- Dry / unit base weight
- 6,040 lbs
- GVWR (max loaded)
- 7,600 lbs
- Net cargo / payload (CCC)
- 1,560 lbs
- Dry tongue weight
- 620 lbs
Capacities
- Fresh water
- 55 gal
- Grey water
- 61 gal
- Black water
- 30.5 gal
- Refrigerator
- 11 cu ft 12V Invision
Construction
- Sidewalls & floor
- CoreShield 2″ vacuum-bonded · Azdel both faces
- Frame
- Norco Z-frame · integrated A-frame
- Roof
- TrussXL 4,500-lb truss · PVC (limited lifetime)
- Insulation
- ThermaShield 0–100° package
Running gear
- Axles (factory)
- 2 x 3,500
- Hitch
- Bumper Pull · dry tongue 620 lb
- Tires
- Not published
- LP
- Two 30-lb bottles
Galley & systems
- Refrigerator
- 11 cu ft 12V Invision
- A/C
- 13,500 BTU Quiet Series (2nd A/C select plans)
- Water heater
- 60,000 BTU tankless
- Furnace
- Not reliably published *
Sleeping & layout
- Sleeps
- Up to 2 (factory)
- Primary bed
- Queen bed (60x80)
- Layout
- Dual-slide couples plan — front bedroom, mid kitchen, two opposing slides opening the main room, 20-foot awning
- Awnings & entries
- 1 · 20′ · 1 entry (RVUSA)
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.
03 North Trail floorplan family
Heartland's North Trail line — the laminated half-ton tier of the Jayco-era relaunch: nine 2026 floorplans built on CoreShield 2-inch vacuum-bonded sidewalls and floors with Azdel composite on both faces, a Norco Z-frame with an integrated A-frame, the ThermaShield zero-to-one-hundred-degree package, a 60,000-BTU tankless water heater, an 11-cubic-foot 12-volt refrigerator, 200 watts of rooftop solar and a 55-gallon fresh tank standard line-wide. Six plans are profiled in depth; the full roster lives on the North Trail hub with verified weights.
| Floorplan | Nominal | Sleeps | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14UL | 19 ft | 3 | Ultra-light single-axle compact (no Z-frame integrated A-frame) — catalogued on the hub |
| 190MB | 23 ft | 4 | Entry Murphy-bed slide — catalogued on the hub |
| 210MB | 25 ft | 4 | Murphy-bed laminated compact — second-most-listed plan |
| 220MB | 27 ft | 4 | Murphy plan with bike door and outdoor griddle — catalogued on the hub |
| 240RK | 29 ft | 4 | Rear-kitchen dual-entry — the most-listed North Trail |
| 250CK | 30 ft | 4 | Center-kitchen rear-bath — the balanced couples pick |
| 260MK | 31 ft | 2 | Dual-slide couples plan — factory-rated for two |
| 260DB | 33 ft | 8 | Double-bunk family plan with kayak door |
| 270CK | 33 ft | 4 | Line flagship — dual slides, desk workspace, dual awnings |
Every North Trail is a CoreShield vacuum-bonded laminate on the Norco Z-frame (the 14UL compact skips the integrated A-frame). This is a published-GVWR-clean line: on every profiled plan the factory page prints a GVWR and dry weight plus cargo capacity sums to it exactly. Non-Murphy plans carry a 72-by-80 residential king; Murphy plans a 60-by-76 queen. One factory field is unreliable: the spec table repeats the air-conditioner rating in the furnace slot on every plan, so the furnace rating is left unpublished here (logged). RVUSA MSRPs run about $750 below current factory Base MSRP, and the 250CK black tank is a logged factory-versus-brochure conflict (30.5 vs 38 gallons; factory favored). Always confirm against the unit's weight sticker before towing.
04 What owners & reviewers report
Rated for two, drawn for two
No convertible-bunk arithmetic — the factory prints “up to 2” and gives the length to the living room instead.
The lightest profiled tongue
620 pounds on the ball under a 31-foot dual-slide body — unusually friendly for the format.
Door count unasserted
RVUSA records one entry; a dealer roster labels the plan “two entry.” Neither is asserted here — check the physical unit.
05 How it compares
The flagship — the same dual-slide couples idea with a front private suite, desk and dual awnings for $5,250 more.
The single-slide version — $2,250 less and 115 pounds lighter, with one slide and the 19-foot awning.
The laminated couples field — the 260MK counter is standard solar, TPMS and the two-person honesty of the layout.
06 Loading it for a trip
This floorplan carries its water comfortably. A full 55-gallon fresh tank is roughly 29% of the 1,560-pound cargo capacity, leaving the North Trail 260MK with a usable gear budget even when you tow full.
| Weight budget | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo capacity as published (CCC) | 1,560 lb | Everything you add: gear, water, propane, batteries, food, people’s belongings. |
| Fresh tank filled (55 gal × 8.34 lb) | −459 lb | Water is the heaviest thing most owners add, and it is added first. |
| Cargo budget left with a full fresh tank | 1,101 lb | 29% of this plan’s capacity is spent before a single bag is loaded. |
| Per sleeping position, water aboard | 551 lb | A rough share of what is left across the 2 berths this plan sleeps. |
The published dry tongue weight of 620 pounds is 10% of the 6,040-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 7,600-pound GVWR the North Trail 260MK is towing 1,560 pounds more than its 6,040-pound dry figure, and that is the number your vehicle has to be rated for — not the brochure weight.
Tank balance is generous here: 55 gallons of fresh against 61 grey and 30 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 North Trail 260MK sits 4 of 6 in the North Trail line: 7,600 pounds against a line that runs from 6,500 to 8,850 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: North Trail 250CK is 100 pounds lighter at 7,500 lb GVWR; and North Trail 260DB is 600 pounds heavier at 8,200 lb GVWR.
| Comparable travel trailers | GVWR (lb) | Dry (lb) | Sleeps | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Trail 260MK | 7,600 | 6,040 | 2 | 31 ft 4 in |
| Coachmen Apex Ultra-Lite 242BARV | 7,600 | 5,772 | 4 | 28 ft 10 in |
| Campsite Ultra 19KB | 7,600 | 5,158 | — | 22 ft 4 in |
| Classic Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian LE 28RB | 7,600 | 6,800 | 4 | 28 ft 2 in |
| Flying Cloud 27FB | 7,600 | 5,950 | 5 | 28 ft 2 in |
| Coachmen Freedom Express Ultra Lite 22MLS | 7,600 | 5,602 | 4 | 26 ft 10 in |
| Globetrotter 27FB | 7,600 | 6,258 | 6 | 28 ft 2 in |
Against the North Trail 260MK: the Coachmen Apex Ultra-Lite 242BARV is 2 ft shorter and sleeps 2 more; the Campsite Ultra 19KB is 9 ft shorter; the Classic Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian LE 28RB is 3 ft shorter and sleeps 2 more. 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 North Trail floorplans profiled here run 5,100 to 6,965 pounds dry and 25 to 33 feet of exterior length across 6 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 North Trail line hub.
08 Common questions about the North Trail 260MK
How much does the North Trail 260MK weigh?
It leaves the factory at 6,040 pounds dry, and its manufacturer-set loaded ceiling (GVWR) is 7,600 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 North Trail 260MK carry?
Cargo carrying capacity is 1,560 pounds. That is the whole budget: water, propane, batteries, gear and everything you bring. Filling the 55-gallon fresh tank uses about 459 pounds of that.
What is the tongue weight of the North Trail 260MK?
The published dry tongue weight is 620 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 North Trail 260MK need?
Your vehicle needs a tow rating of at least 7,600 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 North Trail 260MK sleep?
It is rated to sleep 2. 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 North Trail 260MK?
Fresh 55 gallons, grey 61 gallons, black 30 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 North Trail 260MK?
Exterior length is 31' 4". 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 North Trail 260MK. 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: slide count, tire specification, awning. 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 (95%) 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.
How every figure here was sourced and checked is set out on the methodology page.
11 NHTSA safety record
This floorplan belongs to the North Trail line, and NHTSA holds 14 recall campaigns and 7 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.
Too few reports to show a pattern. 7 complaints have been filed on this line — not enough to say what fails most often. They cover equipment, structure, seats, suspension and tires.
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 North Trail line page.