Today’s RV review is another sneak preview of a forthcoming 2024 RV—the Flagstaff Micro Lite 25DK. Some brands of RVs just have these very passionate followers, and for very good reason. I’ve seen gatherings of Tiffin-brand RVs, there are rallies for Alliance, and I accidentally started a huge group on Facebook for Rockwood and Flagstaff RVs.
More on that in a minute.
Who is Flagstaff RV?
Perhaps the reason that Flagstaff has such a passionate following is because of some of the things the company regularly does. Despite the popularity of the brand, they continue to only build RVs in their plants in Millersburg, Indiana.
The significance of this is the number of Amish members of the workforce. In fact, there’s even a buggy barn on the property so team members who drive buggies or ride horses have a place to park them.
Flagstaff has its own cabinet shop where hardwood cabinet faces are built along with drawers and such.
They use a man-made wall board for both inner and outer substrate in the wall lamination. The company laminates all its own walls and roofs. Oh, right. The roofs are laminated walkable structures with aluminum framing.
You’ll also find welded aluminum structures under anything that is structural even inside—like the dinette, bed, and that sort of thing.
Windows in Flagstaff products are frameless, so they require less maintenance, but some campers say they don’t provide as much airflow. So they put in a high-performance fan to counter that. In fact, you can get a second high-performance fan.
Torsion axle suspensions are also a signature item in these trailers. The advantage is that they just ride smoother and tow better. The smoother the ride in the trailer, the less jiggling and banging it experiences—which means it’s not beating itself to death.
I also criticize RVs with tiny ovens because, again, all Flagstaff products that have ovens have the larger ones.
In other words, when there’s a choice, Flagstaff tends to choose the better components or features or build methodology.
New for 2024
As with all companies, Flagstaff continues to make changes for 2024. One of those is the upgrade to slam latches for the baggage doors.
Flagstaff is a good brand, but the tumbler latches on the baggage doors didn’t reflect the brand’s more up-level status. The slam latches are better. And now they’re there.
There is also an upgrade to the antenna system from previous years. The new antenna is a Winegard product that is intended to improve both performance and also eliminate some of the structural issues with the previous antenna.
Another big change is pretty cool: a new refrigerator. This is an updated Magic Chef unit that was specifically designed to be an RV 12-volt product, so it is built for the road. But it also has a feature that is kind of magic: The door opens from either the left or the right. Nice! I also like the mechanical latches, which are far better than its predecessor and closer to what we have in the refrigerator that we upgraded to in our own trailer.
Flagstaff Micro Lite 25DK
For those who wish RVs had miles of counter space for meal prep or meal service, this might be your model.
This floor plan features a countertop down the entire camp side of the trailer. I have seen this concept before, including in the Grand Design Imagine XLS 17MKE that I reviewed. But this is a longer trailer and, thus, has more counter space. Plus, I feel that the Flagstaff product is vastly superior to the Grand Design product including for the reasons I mentioned above.
Theoretically, if you owned a sandwich shop and were known for your really long sandwiches, you could prepare them in here and still have counter space left. I kid you not.
With all that counter space, there are also plenty of cabinets and drawers underneath. In fact, back to that long sandwich, you could have all your jars of pickles and pepperoncini and all of those other things at the waiting—you wouldn’t have to leave anything behind.
Flagstaff has transitioned to one large single-bowl sink from their two-bowl model used earlier. Some prefer this, others don’t.
The interesting thing is that, for those who do bring countertop appliances, there are places and plugs for those here.
Choices in the Flagstaff Micro Lite 25DK slide room
In the slide room, you have choices, just as you do with upholstery colors. You can get either theater seats or a king-sized U-shaped dinette here. I like that the table in the dinette is a free-floating table. While I usually would consider this additional prep space, I’m not sure anybody needs that here.
You could bring that table over to the couch at the front of the trailer and have your meals there, too.
One area that might dissuade some buyers is the Murphy bed. But know that Flagstaff has the best Murphy bed system in the business. Period. Bar none.
The bed doesn’t have to fold in half or do any other tricks. You can put a better mattress on it (we love our GhostBed!) or just a mattress topper and not worry about that bendy/folding nonsense. Plus, this gives you a couch by day and a proper queen-sized bed at night.
Boondocking and travel access
You do have full access to that huge counter space and the bathroom even with the slide room in. The one thing that the slide does block, however, is the function of the Murphy bed.
Flagstaff trailers include a single 200-watt solar panel and, for 2024, a 1,800-watt inverter. This means that you could run things like a CPAP overnight, given that you have sufficient battery reserves. You can also get a second 200-watt panel as a factory-installed option.
But, for those who truly want to stay off the grid, there is the optional Power Package. It consists of 1,000 watts of solar on the roof, 400 amp-hours of battery and a 3,000 watts CombiMaster inverter/charge controller. I have this system in my own trailer and it changes how we plan our travels since we don’t worry about needing hookups every night. In fact, I’m writing this using the power from that system right now.
Flagstaff trailers also have a device called the Showermi$er that redirects water back into your fresh water tank while you’re waiting for it to get hot at the shower. A sheath over the pipe changes colors once the water’s hot so you know to proceed.
The advantage of this is not wasting water waiting for it to get hot in the shower. It is another feature we really like.
Also included are holding tank heaters for all holding tanks so you can extend your camping season.
My thoughts
Now, I know some of you don’t like Murphy beds and the fact that you can’t use this one without extending the slide is probably the biggest drawback to this model. But the long countertop and a big U-shaped dinette, or theater seats, might be enough of a counter (hehe) that this model makes a lot of sense.
More about these RV reviews
These RV reviews are written based on information provided by the manufacturers along with our writer’s own research. They are based on information from a single unit and may not reflect your actual experience. Shop your RV and dealership carefully before making a buying decision. We receive no money or other financial benefits from these reviews. They are intended only as a brief overview of the vehicle, not a comprehensive critique, which would require a thorough inspection and/or test drive.
Tony comes to RVtravel.com having worked at an RV dealership and been a life long RV enthusiast. He also has written the syndicated Curbside column about cars. He also works closely with a number of RV manufacturers to get an inside look at how things are done and is a brand ambassador for Rockwood Mini Lite with his wife, Peggy.
You can also check out his RV podcast with his wife, Peggy.
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Not a bad setup, especially if you opt for the solar power package. If you don’t, good luck keeping the battery charged and running the 12-volt fridge while boondocking. But they put a real fan in the lu, so good for Flagstaff! Unfortunately, I’m in the ‘never a Murphy bed’ camp so it’d be a no-go for me.
Thank you, Tony! Sounds like a great RV. The price is beyond my buddy’s budget, but you’ve convinced me to strongly encourage him to look long and hard at Flagstaff RVs, both new and used. Safe travels! 🙂
As someone who has owned a 17MKE and thought it was the best RV we’ve owned yet, this trailer has a lot I like! I wish their excellent iteration of a Murphy bed didn’t take such a heavy toll on pass-through storage.
Pretty expensive for a TT with a murphy bed.
Having had a Rockwood Mini Lite with a somewhat similar floorplan, I really like this floorplan, with several “buts”. With the Murphy bed taking up so much of the basement, I would delete, if possble, the outdoor kitchen for more outside storage. I also noticed that the battery box is still on the tongue, not ideal for LiFePO4 batteries in cold weather. With so little basement space, putting the Li batts in the basement is not ideal either. So, Flagstaff needs to offer a heating pad or self-heating Li batteries if they are going to remain on the tongue.
But kudos for having no useless windshield behind the Murphy bed!
Until I took a second close look at RockStaff, I never cared for them. Over time, I have learned that they build a solid, reliable product. They are every bit the equal of (or superior to) Keystone or Jayco; I am skeptical of the Johnny-come-lately builders as they have no record by which to judge them. Reviewers who drool all over them are easily impressed by filigree and windowdressing. This RockStaff model looks like a good fit for a couple. One drawback: there appears to be a Coleman-Mach HVAC thermostat on the back wall? While they may still work, they are obsolete and I don’t like them. The upgraded solar system sounds fantastic. Tony’s work is always ne plus ultra; a joy to read!
“RockStaff”.👍😁 Have a great day, Clay! 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
I bought a brand new Flagstaff MicroLite 25KS in August of 2012. It cost us $23,000 and
only weighed about 4400# dry. It had a slide-out kitchen, Ac/gas reefer, a fabulous bathroom and yes, a murphy bed with a jacknife.couch in front of it. We towed that trailer all around the entire United States with a 5.7 Sequoia and a Hensely Arrow hitch. One trip was 5 months long- 59 RV parks- SF Bay Area Key West, up the east coast and all points in between. That was a great trailer- never any major problems at all. The murphy bed actually worked out well- no need to make the bed- just flip it up and it was gone.
This new “MicroLite” has become too heavy and $$$. In fact, they all have!
The Flagstaff MicroLite / Rockwood MiniLite lines are excellent trailers. I’ve had 3 new ones. But they recently became too “fat” and too expensive. They only have two smaller ones now. The 25′ models are now over 1000# heavier and cost over twice as much as they did just 5 years ago. I think they need to get back to work on creating more truly LIGHT rigs in the 3500#-4500# and approx $30k range. I’m happy with my 5 year MicroLite and would look for an older used one if I had to replace it. I tow with a 1/2 ton.
Agree! Our 2012 Mini Lite was 21’9″ long, but had a GVWR of only 4850#, even with a sofa slide. We towed it for 27,000 miles with a Nissan Frontier King Cab 4L V-6 4×4. It would have been an easier tow with an F-150, but even a half-ton would have trouble towing some of the newer Mini Lites.
Don’t like slides, and micro lite is more for molded fiberglass campers But it’s a good camper Impressed by all the counter space. Well designed for a small trailer