Spending time outside can be very relaxing and a lot of fun, whether it’s sitting in a camp chair or sprawled out in a hammock. Warm drinks, however? Not so much. Fortunately, coolers keep your favorite foods and drinks cool, even when the weather is hot and sunny. And if that cooler has wheels, it’s even easier to take it with you to wherever the outdoors calls — even if it’s just to your own backyard.
We reviewed dozens of coolers with wheels to identify the best of the best. We looked at all kinds of coolers, considering their size, insulation, portability, whether they are hard or soft-sided, and, of course, reviews from real-life consumers to ensure that every single pick is of the highest quality.
Our top pick, and the clear winner, is the Coleman 60 Quart Performance Wheeled Cooler. It’s a rugged, sturdy cooler from the well-known and well-loved outdoor brand, Coleman. It’s also a great size for both day and weekend trips.
In This Article
The 5 Top-Rated Coolers with Wheels
| Editor’s Picks | Brand | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Best Cooler with Wheels Overall | Coleman 60 Quart Performance Wheeled Cooler | 4.6 |
| Best Large Cooler with Wheels | WYLD Gear 75 Quart Dual Compartment Cooler with Wheels | 4.7 |
| Best Budget Cooler with Wheels | Igloo Ice Cube Roller Cooler | 4.6 |
| Best Compact Cooler with Wheels | YETI Tundra Haul Portable Wheeled Cooler | 4.6 |
| Best Beach Cooler with Wheels | Coleman 40-Quart Wheeled Cooler | 4.6 |
*Ratings are from Amazon at the time of publication and can change
Best Cooler with Wheels Overall: Coleman 60 Quart Performance Wheeled Cooler
Our top pick is the Coleman 60 Quart Performance Wheeled Cooler. Coleman is a popular and beloved outdoor brand and this cooler is just another example of their excellent quality.
It has a 60-quart capacity, which translates to about 94 standard-sized drink cans (without ice). That’s a middle-of-the-road size that’s great for a small group for a weekend trip or a larger group for a day. The cooler is insulated enough to keep food and drinks cold for up to four days.
The heavy-duty wheels are great for a variety of terrains. The telescoping handle has a comfortable grip and folds down neatly so that it’s out of the way when you don’t need it. In addition, the cooler has a molded handle on each side to make it easy to take it in and out of the car or carry it across terrain the wheels can’t handle, such as stairs. The lid has four cup holders molded into it and is designed to be strong enough to act as a comfortable seat. The cooler has a built-in drain that seals well when not in use to prevent leaks. It’s also super easy to wipe clean between uses.
Coleman 60 Quart Performance Wheeled Cooler Key Features:
- 60-quart capacity
- Telescoping handle
- Keeps cold for up to four days
- Four cup holders molded into the lid
Best Large Cooler with Wheels: WYLD Gear 75 Quart Dual Compartment Cooler with Wheels
Our favorite large cooler is the WYLD Gear 75 Quart Dual Compartment Cooler with Wheels. It has two compartments, one with a 50-quart capacity and one with a 25-quart capacity, which makes the cooler super versatile. You can use the two compartments to sort and organize your chilled goods, use one for cooling and one for storage, or even one for cooler and the other for hot goods. The compartments are very well insulated, even from one another, so storing different temperature goods is no problem.
This cooler is designed with many great features for fishing, so you could also use the sections for live bait or your catches. You can use the built-in aerator ports with the WYLD Gear Aerator Kit to make sure your catch or bait has the oxygen they need and the WYLD Gear Rod Holder to hold your fishing rod. This cooler isn’t just great for fishing, though. It’s also great for camping, tailgating, picnics, or even just parties. It even has built-in bottle openers on the front corners. You can also throw a padlock on those bottle openers to use them as locking ports to lock one or both of the compartments.
The cooler has a comfortable handle with a heavy-duty grip. The wheels are also heavy-duty and can take on all kinds of different terrains. This cooler is also surprisingly maneuverable for its size.
WYLD Gear 75 Quart Dual Compartment Cooler with Wheels Key Features:
- Two separate compartments
- WYLD Gear offers several compatible accessories
- Built-in bottler openers/locking ports
- Heavy-duty all-terrain wheels
Best Budget Cooler with Wheels: Igloo Ice Cube Roller Cooler
A limited budget doesn’t have to stop you from getting a high-quality cooler with the Igloo Ice Cube Roller Cooler. With a 60-quart capacity and polyethylene Ultratherm insulation technology in the body, this cooler is a great choice for all kinds of uses, from picnics to camping trips over a long weekend. The sturdy, durable wheels are great for a variety of different types of terrain. The tow handle is reinforced for durability. It’s also telescoping so it can be tucked out of the way when you don’t need it and has a push-button control to ensure that it’s not accidentally pulled open when you don’t.
The lid of the cooler has four cup holders molded into it to keep your drinks close at hand while you’re drinking them. There are molded handles on each side of the cooler’s body to make it easy to lift or carry the cooler when necessary. It also has an integrated drain.
The Igloo Ice Cuber Roller Cooler is relatively narrow for its height, so it has a small footprint for a cooler of its capacity. This prevents it from taking up too much floor space in your car or ground area at a campsite or picnic spot, optimizing space efficiency.
Igloo Ice Cube Roller Cooler Key Features:
- 60-quart capacity
- Telescoping handle
- Small footprint for its capacity
- Four cup holders molded into the lid
Best Compact Cooler with Wheels: YETI Tundra Haul Portable Wheeled Cooler
The YETI Tundra Haul Portable Wheeled Cooler is a small cooler that’s big on quality. YETI is known to be something of a powerhouse when it comes to high-quality coolers, and the Tundra Haul is no exception. It is, however, YETI’s first-ever cooler with wheels. The cooler’s thick walls and lid hold up to two inches of YETI’s pressure-injected commercial-grade polyurethane foam Permafrost Insulation. The lid has a Coldlock Gasket to seal cold air in and warm air out, while T-shaped T-Rex Lid Latches ensure that the lid stays securely sealed closed.
The cooler’s walls are virtually indestructible and the pull handle is made out of welded aluminum to make it durable as well. The handle also has covered grips for comfortable pulling. The handle is wide and tracks left or right to make steering the cooler (and doing so without banging up your heels) easier as well. Speaking of which, the cooler’s wheels are tall and wide to take on all kinds of terrain with ease. The wheels are made from a single solid piece of plastic to make them resistant to impacts and punctures.
The cooler itself is available in four different colors: Coral, Tan, White, and Navy.
YETI Tundra Haul Portable Wheeled Cooler Key Features:
- Highly insulated
- Gasket sealed lid with lid latches
- Highly durable
- Easy to steer
Best Beach Cooler with Wheels: Coleman 40-Quart Wheeled Cooler
Many wheeled coolers get bogged down and stuck on a sandy beach, but not the Coleman 40-Quart Wheeled Cooler. With a 40-quart or 59 can (without ice) capacity, it’s the perfect size for storing drinks, snacks, and even a picnic lunch and dinner for your day at the beach. You could even drop your sunscreen inside for a pleasant way to cool down whenever you reapply your sun protection. The cooler has sufficient insulation to keep the contents cold for up to three days, so it won’t have a problem keeping your food and drinks cold, even in the hot sun on the beach.
The cooler’s wide, sturdy wheels should have no problem with sandy beaches and the wide molded tow handle makes pulling the cooler easier and more comfortable. If the wheels do get a little bogged down in the sand, however, the molded handles on either side of the cooler’s body make it easy to carry across the sand. They’re also great for lifting the cooler in and out of the car or up and down the stairs to and from the boardwalk.
The cooler’s built-in drain allows you to empty any excess water from the cooler throughout the day. It’s leakproof, though, so you won’t have to worry about water ending up anywhere you don’t want it, like in your car. The lid has four cup holders to keep your drinks convenient but free of sand while you’re laying out on the beach or splashing in the water.
Coleman 40-Quart Wheeled Cooler Key Features:
- 40-quart capacity
- Molded tow handle and side handles
- Keeps cold for up to three days
- Four cup holders molded into the lid
Who Should Buy a Cooler with Wheels
Pretty much everyone can benefit from owning a cooler, even one without wheels. They’re great for picnics, tailgating, beach trips, camping, road trips, fishing, and sports practices and matches. Coolers provide extra storage space and keep people from shuffling through your fridge when you host parties. A cooler can even be kept in the car for helping protect refrigerated and frozen groceries from the heat of the car. Collapsible options are especially space-efficient and won’t take up your entire trunk.
And speaking of space efficiency, collapsible coolers are also a great option for people who don’t have a lot of storage space for a cooler. A small home doesn’t mean you can’t still get the advantages of a cooler.
Between food, drinks, and ice, coolers can get heavy, and the larger and more full a cooler is, the worse it gets. A cooler with wheels provides the same benefits as a cooler without wheels but makes the cooler much easier to move around.
Important Features to Consider
A cooler with wheels should do several things well. Here’s what to consider when selecting a wheeled cooler:
- Capacity. Coolers come in a huge range of sizes from just a few quarts to 100 quarts or more. To determine the size you need, you’ll need to consider how many people will be using it for how long and for how much stuff. For example, if you just want a cooler that will hold your lunch for work or a few drinks during your kid’s soccer game, a cooler you probably don’t need a cooler that fits more than 10 or so quarts. On the other hand, if you’re packing food for a group of four or five adults going camping for a long weekend, you’ll probably want something in the 70 to 80-quart range or larger. Don’t forget to account for space for not just food, but also ice to keep it cold. You generally want twice as much ice as you have food and drinks.
- Insulation. Insulation is the single most important feature of a cooler. More effective insulation will keep your ice frozen and the cooler’s contents cold for longer. Generally, the more expensive a cooler is, the better insulation it has. However, that’s not always the case. In addition, most people don’t need a cooler that will keep ice frozen for a week or more, so you probably don’t need to go out and buy the fanciest, most expensive cooler you can find. Think about how long you’ll really need the cooler to keep things cold and base your choice on that.
- Hard or soft-sided. Soft-sided coolers tend to be very lightweight and easy to carry. Many are also collapsible, which is great for storing them when you’re not using them. However, they don’t tend to have nearly as good insulation as hard-sided coolers do. In addition, it’s difficult to find soft-sided coolers in large sizes since they require a frame to support the weight a larger cooler may have to contain.
- Portability. Wheels make coolers pretty portability anyway, but it’s also nice to have other ways of moving or carrying your cooler, too. Look for a cooler with handles or a shoulder carry strap. A lightweight cooler will also help with portability, but ice and the contents of the cooler will make more of a difference when it comes to portability. The larger the cooler, the less portable it generally is. Using multiple small coolers is often better for portability than using a single large one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size cooler with wheels should I buy?
What size cooler you need depends on how much stuff it needs to hold for how many people and for how long. For lunch or just a few drinks, a cooler smaller than 10 quarts will do the trick. A cooler that holds 10 to 20 quarts is good for a single person for a weekend or so or a few people for a day trip. 20 to 30 quarts works for three to four people for a weekend or one or two people for three to five days. Somewhere between 30 to 50 quarts is a good sweet spot for general purpose use. It provides enough room for a small to medium-sized family for a weekend without leaving too much empty space when packed for shorter trips or fewer people. Empty space causes ice to melt faster and filling space with ice adds cost and weight. Larger coolers are seldom needed unless going for larger trips with larger groups of people.
Does a cooler with wheels work on the beach?
Some wheeled coolers have a tendency to sink into the sand and be tough to pull along the beach. There are, however, wheeled coolers that do just fine in the sand. Some are marketed for being functional on the beach, but you can also look for a cooler that’s wide and has large, broad wheels to help distribute the weight of the cooler and its contents and ensure that the wheels don’t get covered by the sand. Wide coolers are also easier to steer on the loose, uneven sand. Avoid tall, narrow coolers with small wheels.
How long does a cooler with wheels keep ice?
Unfortunately, there are tons of variables that affect how long a cooler keeps ice. For one, some coolers are just better insulated than others and therefore keep ice frozen longer. In addition, the hotter it is around the cooler and the more frequently the cooler is opened, the quicker ice will melt. However, there are things you can do to help keep the ice for longer. The less empty space there is in the cooler, the longer the ice will stay frozen. Draining out the water every now and then as the ice melts will help keep the remaining ice frozen. Placing a reflective cover over your cooler can help the ice last longer as well.
Do white coolers keep ice longer?
A light-colored cooler can help keep ice longer, but only by a tiny bit. You won’t notice the difference over a day or even a weekend, and after a week or longer, a light cooler will only buy you an extra few hours. You’re much better off going with a cooler with better insulation than choosing one that’s white.
Other Coolers with Wheels We Reviewed
We looked at 20 other coolers with wheels. Even though they didn’t make our 5 best coolers with wheels list, they’re the best of the rest and each is still a great option for you. The information you’ll need to compare each one is included with the listing.
- Beach Coolers with Wheels
- Compact Coolers with Wheels
- Large Coolers with Wheels
- Soft-Sided Cooler on Wheels
Beach Coolers with Wheels
Pelican Elite Cooler with Wheels
Sand is no match for this cooler’s large, all-terrain wheels.
Key Features:
- Retains ice for up to 10 days
- Stainless steel bottle opener
- Lockable lid
Cost: $390
This cooler has an internal bin to help organize your items, plus a pop-up bin on the lid for storing other things.
Key Features:
- Internal bin and pop-up bin on the lid for better organization and storage
- 60-quart capacity
- Large all-terrain wheels
Cost: $400
VINGLI 80 Quart Ice Chest Wagon on Wheels
This cooler cart is equally good for trips to the beach or for keeping in your car to keep groceries cold.
Key Features:
- Two compartments
- 80-quart total capacity
- Collapsible
Compact Coolers with Wheels
This compact cooler with wheels has a 28-quart capacity and holds up to 40 cans or two 2-liter bottles.
Key Features:
- 28-quart capacity
- Telescoping tow handle
- Great for picnics and day trips
Cost: $60
Igloo Island Breeze 28 Qt. Roller Cooler
This cooler’s elevated design keeps the contents cold longer by keeping it lifted away from the ground.
Key Features:
- 28-quart capacity
- 3-day ice retention
- Push-button, locking, telescoping handle
Cost: $45
This cooler’s 40-quart capacity puts it on the larger end of the compact cooler category.
Key Features:
- 40-quart capacity
- Reinforced handles
- Ultratherm insulation
Cost: $35
This cooler’s locking, telescoping handle has gear hangers to hold bags and other items.
Key Features:
- Gear hangers for holding items
- Four self-draining cup holders molded into the lid
- Molded media holder slot for phones or tablets
Large Coolers with Wheels
Coleman 50-Quart Xtreme Cooler with Wheels
This cooler uses Coleman’s Xtreme Technology to keep ice for up to 5 days in temperatures as high as 90°F.
Key Features:
- Coleman Xtreme Technology
- 5-day ice retention
- 50-quart capacity
Cost: $40
Coleman 62-Quart Xtreme Cooler with Wheels
This is a larger version of our last pick, great for larger groups or longer trips.
Key Features:
- Coleman Xtreme Technology
- 5-day ice retention
- 62-quart capacity
Cost: $45
Coleman 100-Quart Xtreme Cooler with Wheels
This is Coleman’s largest Xtreme cooler with wheels and it can carry up to 160 cans.
Key Features:
- Coleman Xtreme Technology
- 5-day ice retention
- 100-quart capacity
Cost: $60
GiNT 53 Quart Rolling Cooler with Handle
This cooler has a small built-in table, four molded cup holders, and internal tray, and two gear tie-down loops for all kinds of added convenience.
Key Features:
- 3-day ice retention
- Heavy-duty wheels
- Convenient features like gear tie-down loops and a built-in table
Cost: $140
Igloo 52 Qt Marine Ultra Quantum Roller
This marine cooler is designed for top-of-the-line ice retention and will keep ice for up to five days.
Key Features:
- 5-day ice retention
- Built-in condiment shelf, removable fishing rod holders, and two attachable drink holders
- Locking telescoping handle with gear hangers
Cost: $65
With a 110-quart capacity, this cooler holds more than any other cooler on our list.
Key Features:
- 5-day ice retention
- Horizontal telescoping handle makes it easier to tow the weight of a full cooler
- Cushioned grip handle
Cost: $135
Igloo Latitude 60qt Roller Cooler
These cooler employs Cool Riser technology to keep the contents cooler by keeping it lifted away from the ground.
Key Features:
- Four self-draining cup holders molded into the lid
- Molded media holder slot for phones or tablets
- Cool riser technology
Cost: $60
This cooler comes with all kinds of useful accessories, like a divider to separate the inside, a basket for dry storage, and a cup holder.
Key Features:
- Useful accessories
- Heavy-duty wheels
- 70-quart capacity
Soft-Sided Cooler on Wheels
Arctic Zone 44 Can Hot/Cold Insulated Rolling Tote
In addition to the cooler compartment, this cooler tote has three external pockets for storing additional items.
Key Features:
- 44 can capacity
- Three external pockets
- Removable adjustable shoulder strap
Cost: $65
Coleman 42-Can Soft Cooler with Wheels
This cooler has been treated with microbial to prevent odor, mildew, fungus, and mold from developing on the removable liner.
Key Features:
- 42-can capacity
- Various external pockets and lid bungees for additional storage
- Mesh pocket on the interior of the lid for dry storage
Cost: $35
This soft-sided cooler can be removed from the trolley and collapsed down for more convenient storage.
Key Features:
- Collapsible
- Watertight leakproof interior compartment
- Detachable trolley
Cost: $70
Picnic at Ascot Original 32 Can Collapsible Rolling Cooler
This compact, soft-sided cooler collapses, making it a great choice for keeping in your car to store refrigerated and frozen groceries.
Key Features:
- Collapsible
- 32 can capacity
- Leak-proof easy clean lining
Cost: $50
Picnic at Ascot Travel Cooler with Wheels
This is another collapsible option, but it can also be removed from the cart for more versatile carrying options.
Key Features:
- Shoulder and hand straps
- Collapsible
- External pocket for storing additional items
Cost: $70
