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RV review: Forest River Wildwood Heritage Glen 26RBS

Tony Barthel

Today’s RV review is of the new-for-2023 Forest River Wildwood Heritage Glen 26RBS. This floor plan is a new offering for Wildwood and one that makes a lot of sense. Further, this incorporates some features that I think do set Wildwood (and their identical sister brand Salem) apart.

Wildwood/Salem

Wildwood and Salem are identical offerings from Forest River that are somewhat affordable travel trailers with features that I think really set them apart. One of the first features I really like are the tote storage that is a part of most Wildwood products.

Under the sofa on this model are three plastic totes. That sofa’s front flips down so you can access those totes. The thing I like about this is that you can use those to load or unload the trailer. If you’re camping with multiple people, particularly younger travelers, each individual could be assigned a tote and take responsibility for their own packing.

Hey, I can hear you laughing from here. It could happen in some camping universe. Until little Billy forgets to pack any underwear whatsoever.

But you could also assign different purposes to the totes which would make packing/unpacking easier. For example one could be bedding, one could be cold weather clothing or whatever.

There are three additional soft-sided totes under the bed in a space at the foot of that bed. Again, these would just make loading or unloading so much easier and I like that. This is how Peggy and I pack our own camper and it’s nifty that these totes were just included in the design of these Wildwood models.

Oh, and the bed in this particular model is a larger model at 66” X 78”.

Another thing I like is the company’s use of what they call an Access-I-Belly. Many new RVs have enclosed underbelly designs. The advantage of this style of construction is that you can enclose the holding tanks. Even better, you can heat the holding tanks.

But if there is an issue, such as a plumbing leak, you have quite the task to remove the underbelly cover on most trailers. With the type of enclosing method in Wildwood products you can simply remove a single panel and you’re good to go. Nice.

If you’re not a do it yourself type of camper know that, if you do uncover an issue that requires accessing the underbelly, you’re paying the hourly wage of someone to access this space so the Access-I-Belly idea could save you some money.

What I like

While the totes and Access-I-Belly are key features that I really like about these, there are other features too. For example there is a dimmer function on the main living lights. You don’t see that very often.

Another very unique feature in these is something the company calls a Versalounge. What this is is a couch-like seating structure that extends the entire length of the large road-side slide room.

There is a provision for a backrest at about the center of this which can be used to either make more seating at the dinette or make more seating in the large sofa. This flexible seating arrangement really makes the interior of this more accommodating.

Need a lot of seating at the table? Easy. Time to go sit on the couch? Also easy.

This particular model also features a pantry or closet right at the entrance. So many times if you’re camping in shoulder season you’re likely to bring larger jackets or cold weather clothes and this is a good place for those.

Lots of RVs also have little or no dedicated space for shoes but not here. This particular floor plan has space under the wedge-shaped cabinet that holds the fireplace and entertainment system for shoes. In addition, under the space where the cloth-sided totes go in the bedroom is a rather large space for shoes as well. Apparently the folks at Wildwood/Salem wear shoes. I’m not so sure that’s true of all RV designers.

I do also like the huge windows on the road side in the slide room.

In the bedroom, which is a separated by a door in this model, there are little cubbies on each side of the bed with both USB and household power outlets in them. We all know that there is some expert somewhere that tells us not to look at our little electronic gadgets right before we go to bed.

We also know that we all look at our little electronic gadgets right before we go to bed. This is a great space to store and charge those once we’ve read the latest articles here on StressLess Camping and commented on our various social media posts.

But this is also a great place if you happen to use a CPAP machine to help you sleep. I believe that a CPAP will fit nicely into these cubbies and there’s power right there for the device.

This trailer might also be good for some people who have certain mobility issues. You see the flexible seating arrangements are nice to be able to accommodate different situations.

But where this floor plan really shines is in the bathroom. I can easily see this being able to accommodate a walker or other mobility aid. The bathroom, which spans the entire width of the back of this trailer, is absolutely huge. There is a lot of floor space in here so you could easily get dressed and turn around.

Heck, you could quite literally do the Hokey Pokey in this bathroom and not kick the walls or the toilet. Now I know many campers may deny it, but who wouldn’t love to do the Hokey Pokey in the bathroom?

One more little touch, the inside of the baggage door at the front of this trailer is a dry erase board. How cool is that? You can use it for keeping score including keeping score of what you should pack next time. Like your sewer hose attachments. Or whatever.

Boondocking and travel access

All RVs can accommodate boondocking in some way, shape or form. Some are absolute boondocking monsters, but just about anything can spend a night or two without hookups.

That’s about the extent of what I’d recommend in this trailer as equipped from the factory. There’s but 200 watts of solar on the roof which is fine if you choose the traditional gas-electric RV fridge but might be challenged if you’re camping on a night where you’ll need the heater and happen to have chosen the 12 volt refrigerator. I have also been told that the gas-electric refrigerator is being phased out, so more solar would absolutely be the answer.

Here’s our article on RV electricity and power consumption made easy.

You can add more solar easily with these GoPower! Duralight portable solar panels.

I was not able to see this model with the slide room closed but I believe you can still access the kitchen and bathroom with the slide room in travel mode. You won’t be able to get into the bedroom, however.

What I would change

For those who read these reviews regularly, know that I am absolutely no fan of the smaller 16” oven. Unfortunately this one has one of those. I wish they’d either allow us to choose no oven or offer the larger oven. Another good alternative is the combination stove top/convection microwave. Honestly, they should just quit making these lousy ovens.

This floor plan also is like so many others in that there is plenty of road-side windows, but not much in the way of camp-side windows. I don’t like this trend at all and it seems to affect a lot of RVs. I wonder if it would make sense to just flip the layout around to put the slide room on the camp side so they could have the windows there?

More to know

These campers are available in two exterior configurations. You can get these with a traditional corrugated aluminum exterior if that’s your choice. There’s also a smooth-sided fiberglass exterior available as an option.

If you do get the fiberglass model know that it’s more of an appearance package than anything as the trailer is not a laminated trailer. The assumption may be that the fiberglass-sided model is a laminated build but it’s not.

We have an article about RV construction types and why it matters.

One of the things I really like about this build is that there is no front windshield. I still don’t understand the pervasiveness of front windshields in travel trailers that don’t have covers on them.

Conclusions

It’s no secret within the RV industry that sales of new RVs have dropped dramatically, in some cases reporting numbers half what they were last year. So it impresses me that RV companies are still investing in new floor plans.

I like this model quite a bit and think it could serve a lot of campers well. As you can probably tell I really like the totes and Access-I-Belly in these. But it could also really be a great choice if mobility is a challenge and you need some form of assistance to get around what with that huge bathroom and the spacious hallway.

Combine that with the nifty Versalounge and you’ve got quite a good choice.

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