# My Review Of The Heartland North Trail 28bhs



## campntn

Ok, so I towed the 08 Heartland North Trail 28BHS. Although it's not perfect, few things are, for the money this appears to be a fantastic trailer. This is a long review, I know. Get a cup of coffee. LOL. But it actually helps me and maybe you to see what YOUR family would want in a next unit.








Key points:
Storage: There is ample storage for all that we have in our Outback. It would have to be rearranged, but we are not used to having that much room. There will be a lot of leftover space. The outside storage up front is absolutely huge, lined an laminated all around and has lites on both ends inside. Inside of the camper, there is storage everywhere which is typical. (due to layout, we would miss the storage under the bottom bunk of the kids, but there is plenty of room elsewhere)
Fit and finish; Wow..it's just nice. It is very different than the Outback in HOW it is fit and finished. Nice etched cabinet door inserts add a nice feel inside all around. Then, when you raise up the dinette storage, it has just a piece of chipboard under the seat. NOW...that chipboard is absolutely 100% more solid than that flimsy piece of panelling under our dinette seat. It's just not as pretty as the Outback under seat support. Small things like that. The countertops are beautiful and MORE than enough for our family. They are all, including the bathroom sink, radiused nicely that added 2 inches of countertop. All of the doors fit flush, close easily, latch tightly, edges all plumb. There are some rough edges under the bottom bunk of the kids double bunk that caught our attention. But those would be hidden by bedding. As I said, it's not perfect. The dinette table seemed more sturdy than ours now. It has two "clips" instead of a rail, that it clips into. It also was marbleized.
Windows: The layout allows you to have an upright window at the sink. That was an unusual addon. The salesman hadn't even noticed that. There are no top cabinets over the sink. There is fascia there like a home. The window runs up to that fascia which made it unusal to be able to stand upright at the sink and look out. This is due to the convection microwave oven that eliminated the need to put the stove on the bottom and the microwave up top. They slid the cabinets over and left the kitchen sink open. Nice. The window beside the dinette was huge. It pretty much spanned the entire area. The dinette size was normal. 
BIG BED: Oh MY GOSH>>>I could actually lay down, with pillows and stretch out on a bed in a camper! (fivers have kingbeds I know, but we're not there yet.







) The bed is 78 inches long. It was fantastic. No, it's not comfortable Posturepedic mattress, most in campers are not. But usually a topper fixes that. We both layed on it and personally, I heard angels sing when my feet were at the end. 
Bar: That is a very nice idea. We had 6 people in there, inlcuding the salesman, and it was nice to be able to spread people out and use the bar if we wanted. (In our case, it'll be nice place to sit our parrot at nite. ) It was nice to see that underneath the bar is open, so you can put some shoes in there. Not all of ours, but some.
NO carpet. My wife was very happy about having the linoleum that looks like tile.
Convection microwave; I only know what the salesman says. Theoretically, it sounds good. I hear they cook very well. I know it sure made a big difference in space AND the stovetop burners are 9K BTU. WOW...we don't even cook a lot in there. They are huge. He said they are so huge that they are working with a factory to make a stovetop cover big enough to cover em, so far they're all too short to cover the burners. The burners are electric ignition. push a button and pow, you got stove.
Thinking ahead: pantry doubles as pantry and a closet due to having removeable shelves and a rod in the top. 
Wide Track Axles: The axles are 24 inches apart. 
Listen guys. This was a towing dream. Ok, I had NO anti-swaybar on, NO weight distribution hitch just hooked to the ball. I went 60-65 down the interstate and was passed by 18 wheelers. I had expected to have to counter the sway with that 31 footer.
 *NO SWAY AT ALL> I mean absolutely None!* 
And this part was odd too: we went in a couple of units after we had been in the North Trail on the lot. Just walked in. The noise of the miniblinds clinging caught our attention. This was from the rocking we 6 made as we walked in an unstabilized trailer on the lot. I then reailzed the North Trail hadn't been stabilized either cause I looked at the scissor jacks. The wide axles had provided stability as it just sat on the lot. Now, that has to make for a better "foundation" on the unit over a period of years. In reality, we're towing STRAIGHT far far more than we are backing in. 
Roof: Although I didn't get up there, I can only tell you that this is the only light weight unit that has a fully laminated, then rubberized, then crowned roof to help prevent debris collection up top. 
Customer service. I'm sure it's not perfect, but I have spoken with the factory and everyone there wants to hear feedback. They are very customer oriented, it appears. Both of the customer service people PROMPTLY called me back. The video on the site is 15 minutes long and goes thru everything in/on that unit.

Things not like:
Fabric; This is a biggie. We will be ordering one in blue I believe. It was very 70's. My wife swears her aunt had this sofa in her living room in 1974. Retro can only be so cool. LOL. All we needed was the clear plastic sofa cover and some shag carpet to complete the harvest gold decor. The wall paper and all was fine, it was only the fabric and mainly on the couch. 
Freshwater holding tank placement prevents storage under one dinette.
Electric outlet in kitchen is in the outer bottom of the cabinet above the sink. I would rather have em on the wall.
Cubby holes on the top bedside table. We would rather have small drawers, no dealbreaker.
So, in conclusion, previously I had been looking at campers with the thoughts of arranging the 
_camper around my life_. 
I was hesitant to tow 31 feet, to spend more money and to loose the outside cook center. After walking in, stretching out on, opening and closing the cabinet doors, clicking the electric start on the 9k stovetop burner, standing upright to look out the kitchen window and finally experiencing pure bliss while I test towed it, I believe I would be remiss to not
_arrange MY life _
around the Heartland 2008 North trail 28BHS. My family agrees. I could be wrong, have been before, but this appears to be worth the trouble of upping my tow limit to 31 feet. LOL. 
*Although we have not firmed an agreement with that specific dealer, this is the one we want. (unless some unforseen issue arises)
Hope this didn't bore you guys/gals.
Mark
Click here to see the North Trail website.


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## Eagleeyes

sure looks nice, but DW is really sold on the white cabinets. She might also wonder about the separation of the master bed with only a curtain...although for the life of me, since we RARELY have guests, why that might make a difference.

Can't believe how light those trailers are listed!

They really do look interesting.

Bob


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## Scrib

The 30 gallon tanks are a bit lacking, for dry campers. It's a nice looking floorplan, though


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## GoVols

Sounds like you have found yourself a new camper, Mark. I'm with you on the walk-around bed. My only concern too would be the smaller holding tanks, especially the gray water; it would just mean more trips if you dry camp or don't have full hookups. Also noted smaller propane tanks, but larger ones could always be retrofitted.

I don't understand the distance between the axles; seems like that would be harder to back and harder on the rear set of tires.


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## campntn

The holding tanks are 9 gallons smaller for the black and gray. Yea, that is not what I would have wanted. BUT....we don't camp that often without hookups for the gray. And, the black, well, we've never filled that up.








Funny, I haven't confirmed this, but I feel like they are looking at a customer who does NOT dry camp. Don't know that, but I found it different that the microwave/stove combo completely eliminates the gas oven. Still have the gas stovetop, but the gas oven is gone. It's all convection. sure will be nice to cook without standing on our head to lite the stove. 
That, combined with the fact that the lp tanks are smaller, leads me to think that. And, at least in our case, it is true. One can tow a lighter camper.
As for the axles putting more weight on the rear tire, dunno. I don't think it's gonna be that big of a difference. Even if it does, the stability that the trailer offered in tow and on the lot without stabilizers has to be of benefit. 
Yes, it is harder to back, no doubt. But as I said, I'm only backing a small fraction of the time we are camping. It just felt so good towing down the road. Nice solid feel.
As I said, it is not a perfect camper; none are. Our needs and wants changed over two years. I certainly look forward to being able to stretch out at nite, have my own bedside table, closet, etc. 
Still evalauting cause I don't want to do this for many more years. The choices are so many more now than just two years ago.
Mark


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## Scrib

There's a blurb about Keystone's Passport in the latest Trailer Life, and I noticed that it has the spread-axle design, too. I wonder if this is the future for all trailers?


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