About CampingYurts.com

CampingYurts.com is a family business started by myself, Richard Waters and my wife Alicia.
The inspiration for making camping yurts came out of our love of camping. We used to camp in a sweaty little Nylon tent and soon got tired of crawling around on hand and knee. We also needed more space for our rapidly growing family.
We considered large modern tents, but wanted something a little more natural, traditional and unique. Both my wife and I are tall so we also had to have plenty of headroom!

Camping Yurts History – Part 1

Camping Yurts History – Part 2

Back in the 90’s I had attended a Traditional Woodland Crafts Workshop in England and although yurt making was not the course I attended, I immediately fell in love with them and vowed to one day make one. Fast forward to 2009 and we set about making one from some plans I had brought from England.

The first yurt was pretty basic. We tried steam bending 4 strips of 1/4″ cedar to make the ring. It ended up with just 3 layers as one broke while trying to bend it.

Our camping yurt created quite a stir at campgrounds. Crowds would tend to gather to watch us set it up and everyone wanted to have a look inside when was up. It was out of this interest that CampingYurts.com was born.
I do all the manufacturing and woodwork, while Alicia does all the sewing and canvas work.

Much has changed since we built the first yurt and many improvements and design changes have resulted in hand crafted yurts we now sell. The roof ring has seen the greatest improvement. Being integral to the yurt’s beauty, structure and strength, many hours have gone into developing this lightweight ring.

Yurts or Gers as they are known are already very popular here in Oregon with many State Parks having permanent yurts set up for year round accommodation. Many campers in Oregon are very familiar with Yurts, but not with portable camping yurts.