A Tough Little Offroad Trailer That Looks Ready for Anything

Vanlife, trucklife, all-wheel-drive wagonlife, whatever, sometimes when you’re out there overlanding you need just a little more room. Not a ton of room, say, like a trailer the size of a two-bedroom apartment. Just a small living and sleeping space to free up the rest of your vehicle for gear and toy storage. A-Frame travel trailers look cool, but they’re like toting a studio apartment around with you. Many full-on 5th wheel trailers are larger than my house. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for a rugged little offroad trailer and this new Pika trailer has, ahem, piqued my interest.

The Pika, made by a company called Timberleaf, is a 12-foot long teardrop and since it weighs only 1,025 pounds, it’s small and towable for plenty of passenger vehicles—not just massive v-8 powered trucks. The Offroad Package Pika appears to come loaded for overlanding. It rides on Timbren Axleless suspension with a 4″ lift. It should roll over pretty much anything on 33″ BFG All-Terrain tires. There’s rock armor underneath, a Max Coupler articulating hitch, and electric brakes. It seems game and ready to bounce down any rutted fire road or rock-strewn two-track that draws your curiosity

Inside, the Pika comes with a double bed, which is certainly not huge, but at 54″ wide, should be big enough to accommodate two adults. Certainly makes a really nice setup for one person. The Pika has cargo netting on the walls to keep your stuff from jouncing out onto the floor, a handful of USB ports, plenty of LED lighting, an exhaust fan, and, for stargazing, a skylight.

The doors on either side of the bed slide completely open, which looks like a cool feature, allowing plenty of air to flow through the trailer, making it feel a bit like the Tardis—a whole lot bigger on the inside than it looks.

There’s no sink, but a slide out galley provides what looks like a decent amount of counter and cooking space, room for a cooler or a fridge, and access to the 100-amp-hour deep cycle battery that powers the little teardrop.

Just think: You could load the back of your truck or van with fishing gear, packrafts, food bins, pretty much anything you like, and still have a cozy, functional sleeping space that doesn’t require setting up like a tent, or clearing out all the gear you painstakingly packed in your rig just to make a spot to bed down.

The Pika starts at about $11,750, which isn’t cheap, but isn’t a bad price at all for a teardrop. Especially one that can handle some real-deal offroading. Trailers get very expensive very fast, but this little toughie comes built for overlanding at a decent price. We’d love to get our hands on one.