2020 Aliner Ascape Updated Review – Pros And Cons


Aliner Ascape: The Model With A Wet Bath

I rented the Aliner Ascape ST 2020 for two weeks and visited the inside of an Scout model. After that, I decided to review the Ascape model and compare it with other models here in this article.

First and foremost, I would like to mention the most notable feature introduced to the Aliner Ascape product family, is in my opinion, the presence of a wet bath composed of a toilet and a shower in the ST model.

The 2019 Aliner Ascape ST is a great looking trailer on the outside. It is quite different from the previous Aliner Ascape models.

The most notorious feature of this Aliner Ascape ST, as I mentioned above, is that it has a bathroom, a wet bath, to be more precise. Therefore you have a shower and a toilet. This feature is currently present in the Aliner Ascape ST model and not in all Aliner models.

So for those who would like to have a hard-sided pop-up camper or an “A-frame” travel trailer but were resolved to conserve the bathroom as a non-negotiable attribute of the camper, now you have the option of an Aliner Ascape ST with a wet bath.

This new edition of the Aliner Ascape is as every year, the Ascape model from Aliner. It has some features, not all of them great as you will see, that we are discussing right now.

Rear door entry

One of the neat features about the trailer that I really like especially if you like to paddleboard or mountain biking is the rear-entry door. You can take your mountain bikes,  roll them right inside. Likewise, you can introduce your paddleboards in there or a kayak or something like that. Therefore, if you have bought a small SUV and you want to take that equipment with you, it is more convenient to have the rear door versus a side door. It makes it easy to load these objects in and out.

Floorplan looks spacious: excellent dinette configuration

On the inside, I see it well equipped. The floorplan looks well designed and the dinette configuration helps a lot to achieve these results. Rooftop air conditioner (depends on the model because an Aliner Scout can also come with an embedded RV air conditioner mounted on the wall),  two-burner stove, a little sink, three-way refrigerator from Dometic, in the unit I visited.

Includes a nice drawer storage capacity. A satisfactory floorplan that makes good use of the space. A nice and spacious dinette with overhead storage. It converts into a bed and it is quite a large bed too. It is very easy to set up and it makes nearly a queen-size bed.

The Aliner Ascape ST has many unusual features, one of these is its entry door at the back, as we describe here. Also, we must include a drop floor that creates an amazing 6’4″ of interior headspace. A roomy 64″ x 77″ sleeping area is created whenever the dinette is configured for its bed formation.

aliner ascape
SEE THE EXTENDED DINETTE CONFIGURATION IN THE ALINER ASCAPE WITH AN OVERHEAD STORAGE OF LARGE CAPACITY

On the inside, I see that the Aliner Ascape ST looks a bit different than models before 2019. The dinette table actually pops out, the cushions slide in and it converts into a nice full-sized bed.

aliner campers

There are storage areas everywhere. Below the kitchenette and beside the refrigerator, that is a Dometic RV fridge, there is also more storage capacity.

aliner ascape

Many features already included in the standard RV delivery

The Aliner Ascape has many standard options included. You do not require additional customization or bespoke options. These features include a solar panel mounted on the front roof (40 watts), an outside shower, aluminum wheels (13″), electric brakes, water heater (6 gallon), refrigerator with freezer (3 cubic ft.), Fantastic Fan, range hood including fan, LED lighting, screen door, stainless steel sink including pullout faucet, 2 burner top stove, twin propane tanks (20 lbs.), microwave oven, and a furnace (16K BTU).

Extras are also available

Still, want some extras? The Ascape only offers a few optional extras, and they are available in one package only:

  • Carefree 5 ft. awning mounted over back door
  • 9200 BTU roof-mounted A/C
  • Flat-screen TV (23′ ) with Bluetooth soundbar.
  • Thetford cassette toilet

Price

An Ascape that is fully loaded will retail for about $20,000, making it possible to get one in the mid-tens.

Lightning

The lights have dimmer switches. You have also indirect lighting down on the floor, to keep it easy to move around at night. You can change the blinds for pull-down shades

Many features come already included in the standard configuration

Air Conditioner in the Aliner Ascape

Although the optional air conditioner is mounted on the roof in the Aliner Ascape, Aliner has installed wall mounted units in other product lines like the Aliner Scout. The newer models will, however, come with the unit mounted on the roof. The option package including the RV AC unit normally excludes the Fantastic Fan as we understand.

If you do however want the Fantastic Fan and the RV air conditioner that is wall-mounted, there are some of these combinations available.

Stabilizer Jacks In All Corners

So I continue on the outside, and I see that the ST variant also has four stabilizer jacks so that will keep your trailer nice and stable when you have it parked and when you are camping.

It is really nice to see in this trailer that you have four stabilizer jacks on all four corners. Lightweight travel trailers like this only come with two, so this feature is excellent.

stabilizer jacks
ALINER ASCAPE HAS FOUR STABILIZER JACKS

Water Systems

The Ascape has a fully-fledged water system with water heater. It has an exterior hot and cold shower, furnace. Also, there are full hookups with power water, so you can use it in a park or you can take it off the grid and use it out in the outback.

Construction And General Aspect

On the outside, the Aliner Ascape is made from smooth aluminum with the roof made from a single sheet of aluminum. It comes standard with a spare tire mounted in the front, as well as four stabilizer jacks, as we described above. Four color options are also available.

Please see the picture below to discover the standard options: In the exterior, the outside part, they keep the nice diamond plating. On the bottom, it comes with a propane tank, spare tire there on the front, and air conditioner up top in the roof.

aliner ascape

The whole bottom of the trailer is diamond plated, so this protects the trailer very well. It also looks very beautiful, I think. There are nice frameless windows, it seals up really nice because you have a real rubber bulb seal inside. It is not sealed with silicone. The entire travel trailer is made mostly aluminum, with no fiberglass presence that I can notice.

aliner ascape camper

Aluminum framing, aluminum skin on the outside. This is the reason why it is very lightweight and the neat teardrop shape makes it very aerodynamic, so super easy to tow. However, it is not a teardrop camper, it is really an ” a frame ” travel trailer.

The Ascape measures 13 ft. from tail to hitch, and weighs around 1700 lbs. with all the options. The external height is 7’5″ with no A/C installed, while this increases to 8’4″ with the RV air conditioner added to the top. The overall width is 73″ with the box width at 66″.

A good part of the structure is aluminum. However, the frame is powder-coated steel with a torsion axle. The roof is aluminum. The side walls are fiberglass laminated.

In the front, it has a large front basket area where the spare tire is located, but you could also keep your jack, straps, or similar accessories like that in there. Propane tanks and batteries go there in the basket as well.

The Aliner Ascape ST Wet Bath

We mentioned already the inclusion of a wet bath in this model. This is a shower and a toilet in a single module without a sink. All the surfaces in a wet bathroom can be wet or damp.

aliner ascape st

Easy To Tow

The Ascape is ideal for individuals with a tow vehicle that has a minimal towing capacity. It is however also aimed at a growing market segment, i.e. single women wanting something that is easy to tow. The Ascape Aliner can be towed with a four-cylinder Subaru Outback, to put an example.

With a tongue weight of 170 lbs. and a GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) of 2500 pounds, this travel trailer allows about 700 to 800 lbs. capacity for cargo.

Kitchenette Is OK

Now about the kitchenette, it is a two-burner cooktop using propane gas. The kitchenette has a nice backsplash area. Not too different than other similar models. Nothing special in the kitchenette.

2020 ALINER ASCAPE KITCHENETTE
aliner ascape
2019 ALINER ASCAPE KITCHENETTE

Going Off The Grid With An Aliner Ascape

This trailer will also work well for people wanting to go off the grid for a while. The standard twin propane tanks and solar panels do offer extended boondocking time. It might also do well for those who simply want a cool looking, unique small trailer with good features.

Aliner Ascape narrow footprint and structural stability

As the footprint in the Aliner Ascape is so narrow, I had several doubts about how the travel trailer will behave in the road when it is exposed to bypassing vehicles and crosswinds. well, I did not have any issue at all, and I enjoyed instead a very smooth ride. No lateral sway and no bouncing at all.

Conclusions Of My Aliner Ascape Experience

Our overall impressions, from my wife and myself, of the Ascape is very positive. Although it would have been nice to have a wet bath in all options (currently in the last update of the article, you have a wet bath in the Aliner Ascape ST), this would have taken away most of the storage given the small footprint. Aliner has however been very creative for the more than 3 decades they have been in the business, so they might still be able to do this.

Since 1984, Aliner has manufactured pop up campers with hard sides, and they are generally regarded as the de facto standard in the industry, while other RV manufacturers follow along. Aliner tried their hand at a conventional small travel trailer late in the 2000s with the Amelia and Marco models. This experiment did however not last long and had limited success. Aliner has however recently introduced the 13-foot Ascape, returning to the market for small travel trailers.

The Aliner Ascape is manufactured at the company’s plant in Mt Pleasant, Pennsylvania. It is cool to see a company bring out something that is totally unique and the Ascape has many new features, despite its small size.

Anthony Foxx

I am Tony, an RV designer and RV developer. I create bill of materials for RV manufacturers for travel trailers and fifth wheels. I worked as a freelance transportation consultant for Lyft. As an RV development consultant, I create customization trees for RV manufacturers who want to offer a solution to prospective customers to design their custom RV with variant configuration. Apart from this, I sell in Indiana trailer hitches, hitch balls, goosenecks and weight distribution systems where I provide advice to customers who want to know which is their towing capacity, which hitch ball should they utilize and how to deploy a weight distribution system. I do my best to explain all these processes and their installation, here in RV Favorites.

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