Nine beds and the smallest tanks in the family
The 38DEN publishes the highest sleeping capacity of any Cardinal, up to 9, and pairs it with the smallest tank package Forest River uses in this family: 60 gallons fresh, 38 gray, 38 black, 136 gallons in total, a set it shares only with the 32CHILL. The 35CRIB, 36FUN, and 37GALLEY carry 76 gray and 76 black on the same fresh tank. That is the tradeoff to settle before anything else on this plan: the most people and the least holding capacity, on one bath.
The beds come from a den at the rear of the trailer. Forest River draws a loft above, a tri-fold sofa beneath it with a ladder, a desk, and an entertainment center with a wardrobe on the rear wall. In front of that is the living room: a sectional sofa in one slide, a fireplace and entertainment center, a hi-top table with chairs and a flip-up counter top, and a pantry beside the 16 cubic foot refrigerator in the opposite slide. The kitchen counter, microwave, and overhead cabinets are mid-ship with the bath, and the 66 by 80 inch king rides in the front slide with a dresser and wardrobe. Four slides, and two awnings of 18 ft and 10 ft 6 in.
Forest River's 2027 38DEN drawing and figures →Published specifications
Before counting on nine
The capacity figure is RVUSA's, and the drawing shows where the beds are. Test the ones that are not a king.
- Climb the ladder to the loft with the den slide out, then look at it with the slide in. The loft, the sofa, and the ladder are all in the rear room, and the sectional slide is just ahead of it.
- Open the tri-fold sofa under the loft and the sectional in the living room. With the king, those are the sleeping places the drawing shows, and the difference between them and nine is what the RVUSA figure assumes about the den.
- Fill and drain the 38-gallon gray tank in your head against the number of showers nine people take. On this plan that tank is the limit on a stay without hookups, not the 60-gallon fresh tank.
- Lift the flip-up counter top by the hi-top table. It is the extra work surface the drawing gives a kitchen that is otherwise a single mid-ship run.
Position among the seven
Reading the 38DEN against the 36FL
Forest River publishes the same length, the same pin weight, the same GVWR, and the same slide count for the 38DEN and the 36FL. The two plans differ by 355 lb of dry weight, which is also exactly the difference in cargo capacity, and by what sits at each end: the 38DEN keeps the king over the hitch and puts the den at the back, while the 36FL puts the living room over the hitch and the king at the back. The 38DEN sleeps three more and carries half the gray and black tank volume. A buyer choosing between the two 44 ft 5 in Cardinals is choosing between beds and tanks, because the weights will not decide it.
Related plans, by what changes
Front living, rear king, six sleepers, 355 lb lighter, and 76 gallons of gray tank instead of 38. Length, pin weight, GVWR, and slide count are identical.
Open record →Bunks with their own bathCardinal 35CRIBSleeps two fewer on a proper bunk room with a second shower and toilet, 1 ft 9 in shorter, 315 lb heavier, three slides, a 60 by 80 queen up front, and the 76-gallon gray and black tanks. Pin weight is 70 lb higher.
Open record →Same tanks, none of the bedsCardinal 32CHILLThe only other Cardinal on the 38-gallon tanks. It is 9 ft 2 in shorter, 1,950 lb lighter, sleeps up to 4, and carries 470 lb less pin weight with a rear living room where the den would be.
Open record →Sources
Dimensions, weights, GVWR, cargo capacity, tank sizes, the bed size, the awning lengths, and the room arrangement are from Forest River's 2027 Cardinal 38DEN page and drawing, read on 2026-08-15 and 2026-09-12; Forest River labels UVW and cargo capacity as estimated averages. Sleeping capacity is from RVUSA's 2027 spec guide, and the drawing itself shows a king, a loft, a tri-fold sofa, and a sectional. Forest River publishes the Wildcat 38DEN with identical figures.