Sand and Deliver: We Raced Across Dunes to Find the Best Beach Wagon

WIRED

a day ago

Armed with a trunkful of outdoor gear, we hit the beach to source the best trolley for your next family vacation.
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The family beach day. Nothing but blue sky, crystal waters, and beaming smiles. Unless you're the packhorse responsible for maneuvering a mountain of gear from the parking lot to the perfect spot on the sand. What you need is a high-quality beach wagon.
Also known as a festival or shopping wagon (or trolley), these collapsible, all-terrain carry-alls live in the trunk and make it possible to transport everything you need for a day at the shore or a weekend camping, in just one trip. They're also increasingly popular with those of us who love dragging our kids around farmers markets while loading up with organic produce.
To discover which beach wagon is best, WIRED took four popular options to the beach for some serious shoreline testing. Camber Sands is just two hours from London, but it has a vast sandy beach and miles of dunes to play in. With models ranging from an Amazon favorite from Timber Ridge costing just $80, to Veer, a luxurious hi-tech option for $700, we wanted to know which wagon would complete our real-world race course featuring deep dunes, wet sand, wetsuits, awnings, coolers, chairs, buckets, dry bags, spades, and soccer balls.
Each beach wagon got loaded up with the same selection of WIRED's outdoor gear.
As well as our beach wagon time trial—a 300-foot dash through dry, soft, firm, and wet sand—we tested how compact each design was when folded, how easy they were to assemble, pack, and unload. We also tested each design off the beach across a range of surfaces from paving to gravel, so wherever you're heading, you'll know what to expect.
It's by no means an exhaustive test—there are hundreds of almost identical designs on Amazon—but what it does do is focus on the features worth investing in, from build quality and collapsibility, to durability and, crucially, how well it copes with sand.
And if you're interested in upgrading your outdoor gear, check out WIRED' s many other outdoor guides, including the Best Coolers, Best Flat-Top Grills, and if the weather betrays you, the Best Rain Jackets. Best Beach Wagon for Deep Sand: Veer All-Terrain Cruiser
Veer designs and manufactures premium gear for parents of small kids who want to explore. The $699 All-Terrain Cruiser is so far removed from a typical Costco beach wagon, it looks more like a NASA-designed high-tech stroller. And with a vast selection of add-ons, including toddler seats, bassinet for infants, awnings, coolers, insect and rain shields, it's the most desirable cart available.
Our sample, which has two child harnesses as standard, shipped with a set of tough-but-forgiving all-terrain wheels, which chewed up sidewalks and trails with ease. But for this test, we added a pair of $299 Beach Wheels. Yes, these inflatable wheels with aluminum forks cost almost as much as the next most expensive beach cart on test. That said, the extra surface area and smooth texture made all the difference across the sand, and the beach wheels were the only ones that rolled, rather than plowed through deep dry sand.
The Veer's beach wheels are an expensive extra, but worth the outlay.
Despite being the heaviest, Veer was the fastest beach cart, which is impressive given that it was the last to be tested, and by that point WIRED was exhausted. It was also impressively maneuverable through the dunes, with excellent balance and no danger of tipping. Reassuring if you're hauling kids, not gear.
The fold-flat metal and plastic design screams quality, but takes up significantly more space in the trunk of a car, especially with the beefed-up wheels. The handle height can be adjusted to suit different users, and the dual-grip design is easier to pull than a single, and you can share the load. The angled sides made it a little harder to pack compared to the Timber Ridge or Gregory, but the handling was hard to fault. Most Transportable Beach Cart: Gregory Alpaca Gear Wagon 140
Samsonite's hiking, skiing, and camping offshoot brand Gregory has been doing a roaring trade in backpacks for years, but it recently expanded into hauling kit, including robust travel duffels and the $299 Alpaca Gear Wagon. The concertina-style folding design is fairly typical for a beach/festival cart, as are the 8-inch all-terrain wheels, which hate the sand, especially when fully loaded.
Away from the beach it was a godsend, especially at a music festival where it coped admirably over gravel, grass, and through a few muddy puddles—but the deep dry sand caused the front wheels to plow, rather than roll. It was the slowest on the test, and getting it up a sand dune slope proved too much effort for even the most determined parent.
It's a shame, as the well-engineered wagon with chunky powder-coated frame doesn't rattle like cheaper designs, has a good capacity (both in volume and weight), and the mesh base makes it easy to remove sand. The drop-in floor is tough enough to cope with a couple of tired kids too. The PFAS-free recycled 600D polyester material feels durable, and we appreciated the rain cover's waterproofing on more than one occasion. We didn't miss its lack of brakes, but it's worth remembering if you're camping on a hill.
At 28 pounds (13 kg) it's fairly heavy, but it comes with the best carrying case, which covers the wheels completely, great for minimizing dirt in the car, but also for easier lifting and neater stowage. Look closely and you'll also find a couple of hidden water bottle holders, although we'd have appreciated some more external storage options similar to those on the Timber Ridge.
Apart from the sand race, the Alpaca performed well, and it's the most versatile if you've not got a huge trunk. It is expensive compared to so many options on Amazon, but there's not many of those backed by a lifetime warranty. A Budget Behemoth: Timber Ridge Folding Wagon
Light, nimble and definitely affordable, this $80, 135-liter collapsible wagon has, as of August 2025, 2,768 reviews (average 4.5 stars) on Amazon, making it one of the most popular and well-received options on the internet. There's a couple of insignificant differences between the US and UK models (we tested the UK option), so essentially they're the same wagon from one of the biggest names in budget outdoor gear.
Like the Gregory, this wagon has hard plastic wheels. In this case, 7.5 inches in diameter and 3.4 inches wide. And they too got stuck in the deeper sand and took a huge effort to pull the loaded wagon up the hill, but the front two wheels didn't plow through the sand as noticeably.
We struggled to get the loaded cart up the dunes, but it was nimble over firmer sand and other surfaces. And despite the smaller capacity, we only lost one item during the time trial, thanks mainly to the side pockets. We were able to stuff towels, water bottles, sandals, and even a giant shuttlecock in them securely.
The Timber Ridge Wagon is just as easy to assemble as both the Business & Pleasure and Gregory carts, but it is a little bit rickety, especially if you haul a heavy load over firm, uneven ground. The handle gives away its low price, too, as does the slightly lower maximum capacity of 220 pounds (100 kg).
It packs down nice and small, although the cover is not as practical as the one found on the Gregory, which covers the wheels and so protects your trunk. There is, however, a practical strap loop on the base which means the fabric cover is held securely in position.
WIRED was pleased by the quality of this budget beach wagon, and we hope it lasts for years, as we're tired of seeing many similar, albeit broken, designs discarded at the end of a festival weekend. Best for the Gram: Business & Pleasure Beach Cart
Available in a collection of attractive fabric colorways (think Cape Cod meets Côte d'Azur), the Business & Pleasure Beach Cart is definitely looking to be in the 'influencer' zone. It looks good, substituting the usual rugged polyester for soft, subtle parasol stripes. Pretty costs, though, and at $399 it feels expensive for what is essentially a fold-up beach cart with a facelift.
A 70-pound (32-kg) load capacity is also meagre compared to the competition, especially given the high unloaded weight, and the metal frame does rattle a bit for a premium-priced product, especially over firm, uneven ground. Across the sand, however, the extra-large wheels do a great job, and it was the second fastest wagon on test. Yes, a couple of items went AWOL during the race, but that could be more to do with the packer than the wagon.
Despite the low weight capacity, there's plenty of room, and this cart was the easiest to pack all our gear into. The hardwood handle, a feature promoted heavily in the brand's literature, felt a little low-end. More garden spade than luxury beach buggy.
And then there's the fabric used. It feels like cotton but is actually 100 percent acrylic. The brand has dubbed it 'Pleasuretex.' Much to our surprise it was completely waterproof and even survived a night out in the rain unscathed. But, being cream colored, it does get grubby quickly, especially compared to the tough polyester. In its carry bag, it's almost completely useless as it's baggy and difficult to lift, especially in and out of the car.