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Honest review of the 2025 Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK - our new trailer!

Tony Barthel

Today’s RV review is of the 2025 Forest River Rockwood 2506FK travel trailer. This is a couples’ camper with a front kitchen, mid bath and rear bedroom and has been completely refurbished for 2025. While there had been a model with a similar name in the past, there are some big differences in the way this newer model is configured.

For example, previous models had the bed going east-west and while it was a walk-around short queen, it made the layout of the bedroom interesting. The reason for the east-west queen was the there was an outdoor kitchen on the camp side of that floor plan. There was also a very long plastic drawer that came out the back of that trailer for exterior storage.

The bathroom had been along the side of the trailer with a hallway on the road side. This necessitated a corner shower.

The front of the previous version was pretty similar with one big difference.

Know that the Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK is the same product as the Flagstaff Micro Lite 25FKB. This article explains RV twins - why there are two trailers with different names that are the same product.

Starting at the road with the Rockwood 2506FK

One of the reasons we’ve now had four Rockwood Mini Lite trailers is for the reasons I suggest in anyones shopping experience for a new RV - starting from the road up.

In the case of all Mini Lites (and Flagstaff Micro Lites) the trailers ride on Goodyear Endurance tires with tire pressure monitoring systems installed. Standard. Recently Rockwood added balancing beads to the tires. Most travel trailer tires are not balanced from the factory but these balancing beads change that.

These also ride on torsion axle suspensions which help smooth out the bumps that seem to be getting worse on America’s highway system.

Combining good tires that are balanced through balancing beads with a good suspension translates into fewer issues with road irregularities being transmitted into the trailer itself which helps it last longer.

It also helps that Rockwood does their own wall lamination consisting of an outer layer of fiberglass, then a human-made substrate, then either insulation or aluminum, then another layer of human-made wall board. In the past the term Azdel was used extensively but there are now other companies that make that wall board material just as companies now can make generic facial tissues, but there is also Kleenex.

Rockwood then laminates these walls together using a vacuum process with is, in my opinion, the best way to create a wall laminate.

But something else they do that is not at all typical is to laminate the roof assemblies of the trailers as well. There they use aluminum ribs and insulation - most RV companies use wood which can rot.

Rockwood also uses a roof membrane that carries a lifetime guarantee. The sealants the company uses are also better than is typical in the RV space and require much less maintenance. There is no RV that is maintenance-free, but these better sealants don’t require as much diligence.

While we’re out here note that this trailer uses a through-frame rack-and-pinion slide, also my favorite.

The underbelly on this trailer is enclosed and there are 12 volt heating pads to keep tanks from freezing. There is also a radiant insulator to further keep out the cold.

One more thing and we can inside - all the locks on the outside are now keyed alike so the same key operates the baggage doors and entry doors. Nice.

Oh, and take note of the frameless windows, too. Less maintenance.

Our article on the different types of RV construction and why it matters.

Kitchen in the Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK

Probably the least changed aspect of this trailer from previous years is the kitchen, which is at the front of the trailer. The counter spans the width of the trailer with the exception of a pantry on the road side. There are two pop-up power towers in the kitchen counter and the kitchen sink is a single large sink. Nice.

The windshield makes so much sense here and really brightens up the kitchen. There are plenty of overhead cabinets which feature soft-close hinges and a good amount of drawer space which is added to by the larger drawers under the dinette.

Being a Rockwood this features the larger 21” oven that’s actually usable (we made a prime rib in one!) and a smaller microwave over that.

One new feature is a Magic Chef fridge whose door opens both ways and this makes sense with the fridge right at the entry door. Further, this fridge is really quiet in operation but seems to be remarkably efficient. I still want to do more calculations but my initial perception is that this thing just sips power.

The kitchen and main living space are shared, of course, and we chose a u-shaped dinette here. That features a free-standing table which I really like.

There’s also an electric fireplace here. Above that is a new version of the 12 volt TV that’s now a smart TV and also features an integrated JBL sound bar.

Bathroom in the Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK

For 2025 the bathroom in this trailer splits the unit in half which can be polarizing. Some prefer not having to walk through the bathroom but this was what appealed to us about this floor plan.

By making the bathroom the full width of the trailer there is plenty of space in there to dry off and change clothes. On the subject of drying off, the shower in this rig is really spacious to me and feels as pleasant to use as our home shower.

In typical Rockwood fashion there is a high-performance fan in here to keep those taco Tuesdays from being a shared experience.

There’s also an additional storage closet in here.

Bedroom in the Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK

The bedroom is at the back of this trailer with the walk-around short queen bed now being in “north-south” mode. There is no getting a longer mattress in here unless you want it to touch the wall.

The bedroom does have its own exterior entrance in addition to going through the bathroom.

Since it’s all the way at the back of the trailer the halo of cabinets around the bed are pretty deep. I noticed that storage totes that I couldn’t fit in the previous trailer are easily swallowed by the cabinets here. The doors on the upper cabinets are also soft-close like their counterparts up in the kitchen.

There are also 12 volt reading lights on both sides of the bed with USB A ports on them. A pop-up power tower occupies each side of the bed as well giving USB A, C and two 120vac household outlets. Each side of the bed also has a drawer and there are three more drawers under the bed, plus the bed lifts up on struts with space underneath.

Boondocking and travel access in the Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK

Something I’ve liked about Rockwood products for some time is the Shower Miser system which redirects water back into the water system while you’re waiting for the shower water to get hot. This can save a significant amount of water.

I also like that Rockwood has stuck with the six gallon gas-electric water heater. We’ve shared how much we like the Geyser Shower System and that simply doesn’t work with tankless systems because the Geyser uses so little water that it doesn’t signal enough demand to the water heater.

Rockwood includes an 1800 watt inverter to operate the power outlets in here and the trailer comes with one 200 watt solar panel with a second unit available as an option. However this floor plan is not available with the Power Package as many other Mini Lite models are just due to the way the floor plan works out.

What we changed

We did make some changes, although fewer changes than I think we’ve ever made to an RV. First of all, we added these taillight inserts on the back of the trailer that I think you can see from outer space. These replace the plastic molding and are really bright.

We also upgraded the mattress to our Ghost Bed mattress and are using our RV Superbag, of course.

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Most importantly we upgraded the solar and battery system. The one we worked with ABC Upfitters to install has 1200 watts of solar on the roof, a 460 amp-hour Mastervolt battery and a 3,000 watt Combimaster inverter. We can run the whole trailer using the on-board battery. We also installed a Mastervolt DC-DC charging system so our truck can provide up to 50 amps of 12 volt power - about the equivalent of another 1,000 watts of solar.

Other than this battery and solar system, this is the least we’ve changed a travel trailer which should demonstrate how pleased we are with this one.

Conclusions about the Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK

Of course since we bought this trailer, we really are smitten with it. There really a few things worth noting, though.

Something else that we think is nifty is the control panel. For those who just want buttons it operates that way. But if you choose to use the app to control things there are many more things you can do, including dimming the lighting in the main living space and in the bedroom as well as dimming the awning light. You can also set a sleep timer for these lights. There is also the ability to monitor tank levels and open the awning and such.

We also like the pass-through compartment but this one’s at the back rather than up front. There’s also a second compartment in the slide under the dinette. The pass-through is pretty big.

On the down side there are two connection points for the sewer system since there’s a kitchen gray tank and a bathroom gray tank. However what I did was put a Valterra sewer cap that has a garden hose fitting on it and I use the same garden hose I use to flush the black tank to empty the gray tank. However, these gate valves are under the slide so it’s a bit contortion-inducing to open them.

The other thing we’re not thrilled about is just where the valves are for winterizing this rig. Turning these valves is challenging through the small hole in the wall in the bedroom (the water heater is in the back of this trailer). I plan to make the hole larger or provide easier access to it. The second valve, to move from sucking in antifreeze to normal plumbing operation, requires you to remove two false panels under the bathroom sink. I’m going to change that access as well.

Something I really like about this trailer is the new owner’s manual, which is actually useful. I wrote this article about Rockwood’s new owner’s manual and it’s the best I’ve seen in the RV space.

I’ve also noticed that the furnace in this rig isn’t nearly as noisy as others I’ve experienced and it can blow a serious amount of heat around.

We also returned to using the Camco Eaz-Lift TR3 weight distributing hitch. While we loved the B&W Continuum hitch, it forced us to notch a piece of the frame and Rockwood was not happy about this. Thus far we’ve found the Eaz-Lift hitch to be just fine.

Lastly, to all those who bemoan RV quality I have found no head scratching quality issues on this trailer thus far after about 2,000 miles of towing. Cabinets fit well, doors close properly. Overall it’s been a very positive experience.

But maybe that’s why we have now had four Rockwood Mini Lites despite other RV companies asking us to partner with them. We’re pretty pleased with this new rig on so many levels.

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