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Travel Trailer · Half-Ton Towable · Factory-Source Profile

2026 Forest River Puma Camping Edition250RBCE

a 28-foot travel trailer that leaves the factory at 5,623 lbs dry and is rated to carry 1,500 lbs of cargo.

Tow-Critical Data — as built, MY2026

5,623lb
Dry Weight
7,123lb
GVWR
715lb
Tongue Weight
28ft
Length
1,500 lb cargo Travel Trailer · Camping Edition Travel Trailers Built by · Forest River Model year · 2026

01 What makes it unique

The Puma Camping Edition 250RBCE leaves Forest River's factory at 5,623 lbs dry, with a published GVWR of 7,123 lbs and 1,500 lbs of cargo capacity between the two. Cargo capacity is 21% 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 43-gallon fresh tank spends 357 lbs of that 1,500 lbs before anything else is loaded.

Dry tongue weight is 715 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 43 gallons fresh, 70 grey and 35 black, 105 gallons of waste capacity against 43 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 Puma Camping Edition roster this is the 16th of 22 floorplans by dry weight, in a line that runs from 2,614 lbs to 7,018 lbs. It sits in the heavier 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 5,623 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 6,373 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 7,123 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. 250RBCE is a Puma Camping Edition designation and this site does not decode it into a layout claim.

02 Full specifications

Dimensions

Exterior length
28' 11"
Exterior height
10' 11"
Exterior width
96"

Weights

Dry / unit base weight (UVW)
5,623 lbs
GVWR (max loaded)
7,123 lbs
Net cargo / payload (CCC)
1,500 lbs
Dry tongue (hitch) weight
715 lbs

Capacities

Fresh water
43 gal
Grey water
70 gal
Black water
35 gal

Running gear

Hitch type
Bumper pull (weight-distribution recommended)
Axles
Not published by Forest River
Tires
Not published by Forest River

Sleeping & layout

Sleeps
Not published by Forest River
Awnings
15'

Drawn to scale

Weight budget

Loaded weight budget for the 250RBCEHorizontal bar. Dry weight 5,623 pounds, then cargo capacity 1,500 pounds, against a GVWR of 7,123 pounds. Dry tongue weight 715 pounds on the same scale.GVWR 7,123 lbsDry 5,623 lbsCargo capacity 1,500 lbsDry tongue weight 715 lbs — same scale

Size, with end view

Scale outline of the 250RBCEScale outline of the 250RBCE. Overall length 28' 11", overall height 10' 11", overall width 8' 0".end view8' 0"28' 11" overall length10' 11"

Holding tanks

Holding tank capacities for the 250RBCEHolding tank capacities: fresh 43 gallons, grey 70 gallons, black 35 gallons.Fresh43 galGrey70 galBlack35 gal

Axles, wheels and nose shape are schematic; not a floorplan. Data: dataset.

Towing it

Tow rating needed7,123 lb
Published dry tongue weight715 lb
Loaded tongue weight, rule of thumb715–1,068 lb
Receiver hitch rating needed7,123 lb towed / 1,068 lb tongue
Payload check. Budget loaded, not dry: subtract the loaded range, every passenger, the bed and cab load and a weight-distributing hitch from the payload on your tow vehicle’s door-pillar placard (49 CFR 571.110 S4.3).

Loaded range: 10–15% of GVWR on the tongue, a rule of thumb, not a measurement of this unit. No truck ratings or hitch classes (why; NHTSA, DOT HS 809 433). The range starts at the published dry figure, because loaded is never lighter than dry.

03 The Puma Camping Edition floorplan family

Camping Edition is where Puma starts, and the range is wide enough that the badge on the side tells you very little on its own. The lightest plans here are single-axle trailers under 2,700 lbs dry that a mid-size SUV can pull; the heaviest are past 7,000 lbs dry and want a full-size truck. Cargo capacity runs 671 to 1,592 lbs and does not track length in the way buyers expect, so the plan that fits the family may not be the plan that carries their gear. Forest River publishes a GVWR for every plan in this class, which is the number to tow against.

FloorplanNominalSleepsNotable
120RKCE16' 0"2,6143,860Camping Edition Travel Trailers
121RKCE16' 0"2,6643,840Camping Edition Travel Trailers
122BHCE16' 0"2,6643,865Catalogued only · published figures disagree
123RDCE16' 0"2,6843,865Catalogued only · published figures disagree
12FBCE18' 6"2,8693,855Camping Edition Travel Trailers
16QBCE20' 10"3,0043,885Catalogued only · published figures disagree
141THCE16' 3"3,0894,589Camping Edition Travel Trailers
16BHCE20' 0"3,1643,835Camping Edition Travel Trailers
16DSCE22' 0"3,6295,130Camping Edition Travel Trailers
18BHCE23' 1"4,1595,615Camping Edition Travel Trailers
20RLCE24' 8"4,1885,688Camping Edition Travel Trailers
20BHCE25' 0"4,2235,723Camping Edition Travel Trailers
210RKCE25' 10"4,3585,858Camping Edition Travel Trailers
211FKCE26' 7"4,9886,488Camping Edition Travel Trailers
23BHCE29' 8"5,1536,653Camping Edition Travel Trailers
250RBCE28' 11"5,6237,123Camping Edition Travel Trailers
284BHCE - DSO30' 9"5,9337,433Dealer stock only
283BHCE30' 9"6,0087,600Camping Edition Travel Trailers
263BHCE32' 0"6,1037,603Camping Edition Travel Trailers
304BHCE33' 5"6,5238,023Camping Edition Travel Trailers
303BHCE33' 4"6,5488,048Camping Edition Travel Trailers
305BHCE33' 5"7,0188,518Camping Edition Travel Trailers

Camping Edition is the entry class of the Puma family and the widest spread in it: the factory publishes twenty-two floorplans under a single grouping, from a 2,614 lb single-axle at sixteen feet up to a 7,018 lb twin-axle at thirty-three feet. Eighteen are profiled here. Three — 122BHCE, 123RDCE and 16QBCE — publish an unloaded weight and a cargo capacity that add up to one pound less than their own published GVWR, so they are catalogued with the conflict shown and are not profiled. One more, 284BHCE, is dealer-stock-only and the factory publishes no detail page for it at all.

04 Notes on this floorplan

What Forest River does not publish for this line

Sleeping capacity, axle count, tire size and MSRP are absent from Forest River's specification channel for Puma Camping Edition, so they are absent here. They are not estimated from the segment, not carried over from a sibling floorplan, and not taken from a dealer listing quoting itself. A tire size in particular is a safety-relevant number that differs between two codes a digit apart, and this site does not guess one.

Weigh it before you tow it

Every figure on this page is a factory publication for a standard build. Forest River's own footnote on unloaded weight calls it an estimated average based on a standard build with optional equipment, and options, dealer-installed accessories and the previous owner's additions all move it. The only weight that governs your towing decision is the one under your own trailer on a scale, loaded the way you actually travel.

05 How it compares

Lighter
Puma Camping Edition 23BHCE

5,153 lbs dry against this plan's 5,623 lbs, a difference of 470 lbs. Same line, same factory channel, same model year - so the gap is a real one rather than a difference in how two brands measure.

Heavier
Puma Camping Edition 283BHCE

6,008 lbs dry, 385 lbs more than this plan, and 1,592 lbs of cargo capacity against this one's 1,500 lbs. Stepping up a floorplan usually buys length before it buys payload.

Most cargo in the line
Puma Camping Edition 283BHCE

1,592 lbs of cargo capacity, the highest of the 18 Puma Camping Edition floorplans profiled here. If payload rather than length is the binding constraint, that is the plan to compare against.

06 Loading it for a trip

A full 43-gallon fresh tank is about 359 lb of water (water counts as cargo: 49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.2), 24% of the 250RBCE’s 1,500 lb cargo capacity, leaving 1,141 lb. Across 18 Puma Camping Edition floorplans the water share runs 19% to 42%, and 3 give up more than this one. Nearest on that share: Puma Camping Edition 20BHCE at 24% and Puma Camping Edition 121RKCE at 24%. Your own unit’s figure is on the label inside its entry door (49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.3).

07 Where this floorplan sits

Closest sibling: the Puma Camping Edition 23BHCE, nearest on the published figures. It differs on 4 of the 8 fields both publish (this plan first): length 28 ft 11 in vs 29 ft 8 in; dry weight 5,623 lb vs 5,153 lb; GVWR 7,123 lb vs 6,653 lb; dry hitch weight 715 lb vs 665 lb. They match on cargo capacity, fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Puma Camping Edition plansThis planPosition, low to highRange
GVWR (lb)7,12313 of 183,835–8,518
Dry weight (lb)5,62313 of 182,614–7,018
Cargo capacity (lb)1,5006–16 of 18671–1,592
Dry hitch weight (lb)71513 of 18335–860
Length28 ft 11 in12 of 1816 ft 0 in–33 ft 5 in
Fresh tank (gal)438–18 of 1834–43
Grey tank (gal)7016–18 of 1830–70
Black tank (gal)357–18 of 1830–35

Either side of it by GVWR: Puma Camping Edition 23BHCE is 470 lb lighter (6,653 lb GVWR); Puma Camping Edition 283BHCE is 477 lb heavier (7,600 lb GVWR).

Nearest Puma Camping Edition siblingsLengthSleepsDry (lb)GVWR (lb)CCC (lb)Hitch (lb)Fresh (gal)
Puma Camping Edition 250RBCE28 ft 11 in—5,6237,1231,50071543
Puma Camping Edition 23BHCE29 ft 8 in—5,1536,6531,50066543
Puma Camping Edition 283BHCE30 ft 9 in—6,0087,6001,59273043
Puma Camping Edition 211FKCE26 ft 7 in—4,9886,4881,50072043
Puma Camping Edition 303BHCE33 ft 4 in—6,5488,0481,50068043
Puma Camping Edition 263BHCE32 ft 0 in—6,1037,6031,50085043

All 18 Puma Camping Edition floorplans: Puma Camping Edition line hub.

Other lines, nearest by GVWRGVWR (lb)Dry (lb)SleepsLength
250RBCE7,1235,623—28 ft 11 in
Forest River No Boundaries NB20.77,1235,623429 ft 0 in
Jay Flight 240RBS7,1505,760227 ft 4 in
Aurora Light 23MKS7,1545,654328 ft 2 in
IBEX 20FKDS7,1785,678—27 ft 7 in
Passport 2450RK7,1795,644628 ft 8 in
Bullet 2240RK7,2004,740526 ft 9 in

Against the 250RBCE: the Jay Flight 240RBS is 27 lb heavier and 2 ft shorter; the Aurora Light 23MKS is 31 lb heavier.

08 Common questions about the 250RBCE

How much does the 250RBCE weigh?

5,623 lb dry; 7,123 lb GVWR, the most it may weigh loaded.

How much can the 250RBCE carry?

1,500 lb, 21% of its GVWR (median across 958 travel trailers here: 23%). A full fresh tank uses 359 lb of it.

What is the tongue weight of the 250RBCE?

715 lb dry, 13% of the dry weight (median across 1,156 travel trailers here: 12%).

What size tow vehicle does the 250RBCE need?

A tow rating of at least 7,123 lb, plus payload for the loaded tongue weight, passengers and cargo.

What are the tank capacities on the 250RBCE?

Fresh 43, grey 70, black 35 gallons. Off hookups, fresh water runs out first.

How long is the 250RBCE?

28' 11" overall, tongue or pin box included.

From the figures above.

09 What this page publishes, and what it does not

11 of the 18 fields this catalogue tracks are published for the 250RBCE. Not published: interior height, sleeps, slide count, axle count, tire specification, refrigerator, air conditioning.

Sourcing rules: methodology.

11 NHTSA safety record

NHTSA holds 21 recall campaigns and 39 owner complaints against the Puma line. They are counted separately: a recall is a confirmed defect with a remedy, a complaint one owner’s unverified account.

What to look at on a used one. Across the 39 complaints filed on this line the most-reported components are tires (28%), structure (21%) and equipment (15%).

Recall coverage here is not complete, and complaints are owners’ unverified reports (how this record is built). Check a specific VIN at NHTSA before you buy. Full tables are on the Puma line page.