Honest review of the 2025 Forest River Salem 32 Veranda

Today’s RV review is of the new-for-2025 Salem 32 Veranda. In some ways you could define this as a very traditional stick-and-tin camper but it’s also completely different than anything I’ve seen before. This RV breaks so many molds in how it’s configured but it’s also potentially the most stylish RV I have ever seen. What’s going on here?

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Salem and their sister brand, Wildwood, are fairly price-focused members of the Forest River family. In the past they’ve offered solid and usable models - you can find a bunch of reviews of Wildwood RVs here to see what’s been going on with them. Note that there is always an identical Salem-branded product for each Wildwood.

But this is such a departure on so many levels. In fact, it’s so unique I think people might walk into an RV dealership that carries these and be blown away by the incredible interior on this rig and the back patio.

Yep, it’s got a back patio. And not just any patio, but one that extends out and incorporates a flat-top griddle, small refrigerator and plumbed sink.

Start at the road with the Salem 32 Veranda

From the road up this is pretty much a standard camper with off-brand tires and a simple leaf spring suspension. Long-time readers will know this is about my least favorite configuration but I have a thought.

I can easily see this trailer finding a home and just staying there. This would be a fantastic seasonal camper that you take to a lakeside spot or into the mountains or in other places where the camper will pretty much stay put.

If you’re only going to tow it to the seasonal site and then tow it back to storage it doesn’t have to be a fancy suspension system. I like the torsion axles or, even better, coil spring systems in some trailers but I judge that by the fact that I assume you’re towing it all over the place and that a better suspension transmits less harshness to the camper itself, thereby helping it last longer.

After riding in a number of trailer examples on a test track for this video, I’m even more convinced that this is true.

Something else I noticed while looking under the trailer is that Salem has plumbed all the holding tanks into one connection point. This is a great way to do things.

I also noticed that there are six stabilizer jacks under this trailer - four in the traditional spots and then an additional pair under that back patio. Makes sense.

This trailer is available in two configurations, one with an aluminum skin and one with a fiberglass skin. While the construction is basically the same, the fiberglass-skinned models offer a few more features but weigh more as the wood substrate under the fiberglass adds heft.

Let’s look at that back deck already

Okay, okay let’s look at the back deck on this. It’s a really clever system where the deck has an roof over most of it. There’s also a large flat-top griddle, a small bar-sized fridge and a plumbed sink.

In transit the entire deck is the same length as the roof over it but, get to where you’re going and you can extend the floor of the deck by another about three feet. Now you’ve got a very large party deck with what amounts to a full kitchen.

This is an absolutely epic place for anybody who loves tailgating or just entertaining. Back this up to a place with a view and now you’ve got that as well. There’s even ribbon lighting and JBL speakers out here.

The deck also has its own entry via a gate or you can get to it through a large sliding glass door on the rear of the trailer.

That sliding glass door blurs the separation of indoors and outdoors and adds to the party atmosphere of this camper.

Another nifty thing - there’s actually a mister built into the back deck for those hot summer days.

What’s inside the Salem 32 Veranda

Just inside the glass door is a large u-shaped couch that can also become a very large comfy lounge or sleeping surface.

Across from that is a very large TV and electric fireplace. Someone at Salem knew what they were doing when they built a camper for entertaining.

Dining in this is at a large bar and there are absolutely enormous windows on the camp side near the bar.

On the road side is the kitchen with a sizable pantry, 12 volt fridge and your sink. Counter space is pretty tight unless you include the large bar/dining surface which would be a legit thing to do quite frankly. It’s big enough and, unless the weather is terrible, your guests might just be out on the veranda.

Something that Salem did that some aren’t sure about is the metal swing-up cover over the microwave. Basically this is just a simple metal cover with struts that hides the microwave when it’s not being used but swings up to reveal that appliance. It’s really a fancy touch that I appreciate - it’s not logical but it’s stylish.

Something I’m not a fan of are furnace registers in the floor of the rig. These collect dust all year long and then offer up that very special aroma the first few times you turn the furnace on.

Bathroom in the Salem 32 Veranda

The bathroom in this trailer is certainly sufficient to accomplish whatever you came in there to do. I had no issues standing up in the shower with decent space around me. There’s a nice sink and mirror. I do like the flexible shower door which is also curved at the top to offer more space in the shower.

The one bummer is that, while the toilet has enough space around it to be usable, it’s made of plastic so you better crank the tunes or it’ll be singing its own song when someone goes to sit on it.

Bedroom in the Salem 32 Veranda

Some of these Salem and Wildwood products are incorporating what the company calls a Versa Lift bed. Essentially this is a bed with a power lift for the head of the bed. This is nifty on a number of levels.

The bed itself is 66” X 78” which, in Salem’s book, makes it a king sized bed. Okay.

But when the head of the bed is lifted that really opens up the floor space in here so you could come in here and change clothes into your game day outfit. There’s plenty of floor space with the bed up.

Another interesting thing is that there are steps up to the bed on the camp side. This is great if you have a pet that is allowed up on the bed or even a small human. Or, heck, a human who might otherwise have issues getting into the bed.

On the other side there are two cabinets and there’s also space behind these cabinets for your noisy toys - you know the ones that you’re not supposed to look at right before bed that we all look at right before bed. Yeah, those toys.

There’s also additional storage in a closet on the back of the bedroom which is also plumbed for a washer and dryer if you don’t need the closet space.

Conclusions about the Salem 32 Veranda

Let’s face it, a most RVs are meant to go camping somewhere. The idea of that, to my mind, is you go with your family and spend some time enjoying a place. And this trailer can do that as well, of course.

But this could also be a central location of one epic celebration. If you love tailgating or sports or entertaining I have never seen a trailer more suitably configured for that kind of use case.

While I’m not usually someone who comments on the style of RVs in terms of decor, unless it’s something truly unusual, this deserves a comment. The interior of this rig is absolutely beautiful but not so trendy that it’ll look terrible in three years.

I love the lighting, the curved shape of some of the wall structures, the textures and the colors used. The textured blackout shades are beautiful, to me, with their woven design and feel much more warm than the typical black or white shades.

Whoever does interiors at Salem and Wildwood has absolutely knocked it out of the park.

And this unusual floor plan is going to make some people very, very happy with the absolute spot-on focus on being a great tailgating RV or perfect destination trailer.

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