The Best 2025 Side-by-Sides for Camping

Sometimes you need to haul your posterior into the woods not to rip it up, but just to commune with the woods…and anywhere from one to five friends. The kind of ute you point at a distant camping spot should prioritize three features: comfort, storage space, and flexibility. A healthy aftermarket doesn’t hurt either, so long as the fundamentals are there.

Here are our five choices for the best ways to get to a campfire.

The new kid in town combines some of Kawasaki’s finest specialties. The quiet, silky smooth 999cc inline four-cylinder makes a plentiful 92 hp or a substantial 116 hp. The double wishbone suspension feasts on flowing trails, creating a rig that’s happy to be hustled when you’re trying to beat sundown. The interior’s laid out clearly and simply, with build quality we expect from the brand. The tidy footprint hides a 12.9-gallon fuel tank, the largest among our selection, plus a cargo bed that can carry 1000 pounds and a tow hitch that will pull 2500. Furthermore, Kawi improved the Crew model compared to the two-door with upgrades like increased HVAC airflow, more roof insulation, and an IR-cut windshield that reduces UV and infrared rays.

As of writing, product planners haven’t launched a Crew version of our favorite two-door, the 92 hp Ridge Limited with the superior suspension tuning and the fantastic Garmin Tread infotainment system. For now, the configuration menu makes the base Ridge Crew the only six-seater, and frankly, we prefer its contoured benches to the bucket seats in the five-seater Ridge XR Crew. You have to step up to the XR Crew Limited to get Garmin Tread built in, the extra money also getting larger tires, five bucket seats, and the more powerful engine.

The 2025 Kawasaki Ridge Crew HVAC starts at $30,999.

The Polaris General stakes out lonely ground between its work-focused Ranger and sport-centric RZR siblings. This is a dedicated four-seater with a bed that maxes out at 600 pounds, whereas other rigs can carry up to 1000 pounds in their cargo areas, and towing tops out at 1500 pounds. On the other hand, even the least expensive General XP 1000 Sport makes 100 hp, sits on 30-inch tires—tied with the Yamaha Wolverine for the largest base-trim rubber among our choices—and is the only one to come standard with a 4500-pound winch on all trims. Best of all, it can be optioned with Polaris’ superb Ride Command infotainment system that unlocks more than 1 million miles of trails; the Minnesota company doesn’t restrict the media system to the most expensive trim.

The 2025 Polaris General XP 4 1000 starts at $26,999.

The four-seat Yamaha is just as sporty as the Polaris above with a touch more utility. Updates for 2025 bring an extended chassis that creates two trims, a Wolverine Compact and this longer beast that we recommend for camping. Among the improved features, every Wolverine comes with a more responsive four-wheel-drive system, Yamaha’s new Adventure Pro 7-inch infotainment system, and an available rearview camera that operates automatically when the transmission’s put into reverse. The additional space between the axles provides more legroom for back-seaters, and a new tilting cargo bed holds up to 600 pounds, pairing with a 2000-pound tow rating. There’s plenty of storage as well, including a wet bin in the dash, and every full-size Wolverine comes with an MTX audio system. Viewed from the spec sheet, this is the overkill option—if you believe there’s such a thing as overkill.

The 2025 Yamaha Wolverine RMAX4 1000 starts at $27,999.

You won’t regret your choice of the Honda Pioneer 1000-5 or the 1000-6 Deluxe Crew. The five-seater’s convertible rear quarters get you either room for a quintet or a miniature pickup vibe when you’re just a duo. However, we can’t resist the heaps of space in the six-seater, and that long wheelbase that smooths out the trail. This one is the “blank canvas” option, requiring a trip to the accessories store to get luxuries more substantial than half doors and side nets. That said, even the bare canvas is a jack-of-all-trades rig that will be happy to spend its work week getting mucked up on the jobsite, then apply its 1000-pound cargo capacity and 2500-pound tow rating to camping gear. With a skilled off-roader in the driver seat, it’ll conquer some nasty terrain too.

The 2025 Honda Pioneer 1000-6 Deluxe Crew starts at $22,199.

Introducing a Can-Am Defender is like introducing maple syrup or Niagara Falls—a perennially popular fixture that barely changes because it’s so rewarding just the way it is. If the Honda Pioneer is a blank canvas, this one is the Build-A-Bear. The options among base rigs include three engines, seating from two people to six, two axles or three, and trims devoted to work, trails, mud, and luxury. We like the Max for its six seats, we like the HD10 engine for its 82 hp and 69 lb.-ft. of torque. After that, you could save yourself the trouble of outfitting by going with a fully cabbed Defender Max Limited, or create your own flavor with the help of an accessories catalog big enough to give analysis paralysis a case of executive dysfunction. The Defender’s interior is a little more Dollar General than we’d like, but it’s comfortable, offers a rabbit warren of cubbies, and touches like the underseat hooks will come in handy while off the grid. It hauls up to 1000 pounds in its bed and tows 2500, and updates for 2025 improve the sealing on cabbed models and add front door locks.

The Defender isn’t fancy, but it loves having a job to do, even if that’s just finding a great little secret spot to cook up some s’mores.

The 2025 Can-Am Defender Max DPS HD10 starts at $21,399.

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