Highwood Elk Outdoors Essential Adirondack Chair Set Review 2024

Do you love spending time in the outdoor spaces around your property, whether in your yard, porch, patio, or deck? Are you a heavier individual?

If you answered yes to both of those questions, and you’ve been hunting for outdoor furniture to enhance your enjoyment, you know what a struggle it can be.

Most outdoor furniture on the market today will be supported in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. That’s great if you weigh less than that, but if you’re heavier, most of the furniture sold today is useless to you.

The Highwood Elk Outdoors Essential Adirondack Chair set is a happy exception to this. It’s a handsome chair by any reckoning. Moreover, it can support an impressive amount of user weight and looks great in almost any setting.

In the sections that follow, we’ll tell you everything this chair offers so you’ll have all the information you need to decide if it’s the chair you’ve been looking for. If that sounds good, let’s jump in and look closer.

Key Features of the Highwood Elk Outdoors Essential Adirondack Chair and Ottoman

We’ll start by saying that not everyone likes or is comfortable sitting in the Highwood Elk Outdoors Essential Adirondack chair and ottoman. While we love them, we understand that not everyone feels the same. If you’re not a fan, then it doesn’t matter what we say in the rest of this review; you’re not likely to be swayed. If you are, let’s start by taking a closer look at the core stats defining the model.

Chair Specifications

As you can see, this is a sizable chair with some heft to it. It’s not so heavy that it can’t be moved around your yard easily enough if and when you need to, but it’s heavy enough that it’s unlikely to get blown over on a windy day.

Most importantly, though, it supports an impressive five hundred pounds of user weight. The only potential drawback here is the seat width. The seat may not be wide enough if you’re near the chair’s maximum weight limit. You’ll want to take a quick measurement to be sure it’s a good fit.

Color Variants

Assuming that’s not an issue for you and you decide you want one, you can get yours in a modest selection of colors, including:

Finally, we should point out that this chair isn’t crafted of wood but is made right here in the USA from an environmentally friendly synthetic wood product. It’s got a look and feel similar to wood, but if you are interested in “going green,” you’ll be pleased to know that no trees were harmed in the creation of this chair.

Adjustability and Comfort

There’s nothing adjustable about the Essential Adirondack Chair, so there is nothing to say on that front. Comfort-wise, Adirondack chairs offer a delightful seating experience. Still, there’s a catch: If you suffer from any mobility issue, you’ll probably find it challenging to get into and out of this type of chair.

Assuming that’s not an issue for you. At the same time, Adirondack chairs are delightfully comfortable on their own; this particular one also comes with an ottoman, which makes it even more of a delight to lounge in. If that’s still not enough, adding a seat and/or seatback pad of whatever thickness you desire is easy enough.

Minimal Assembly is Required

Most of the furniture you can buy online today has to be assembled before you can enjoy it, and this chair is no exception. The good news is that only minor assembly is required, and it shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes to get the chair ready for first use. The production quality of the chair is quite high; all the pieces fit together exactly as they should, and the assembly instructions are clear and easy to understand. You should have no difficulty on this front whatsoever.

Note that this chair doesn’t come with an expert assembly option, but we couldn’t recommend it in good conscience even if it did. The process is so simple that it just wouldn’t be worth the money, even if you loathe the idea of putting your furniture together.

Pros and Cons Highwood Elk Outdoors Essential Adirondack Chair Set

There’s a lot to like about this chair. It’s a good-looking, environmentally friendly piece of furniture proudly made in the USA. It comes with an Ottoman, which makes it a great chair for lounging. It also supports an impressive amount of user weight. Though we didn’t mention this earlier, it’s got an impressive 12-year warranty.

The biggest drawbacks are the rather steep price, the somewhat narrow seat, and the fact that it’s an Adirondack chair, a style that not everyone appreciates. In addition, these chairs tend to be fairly low to the ground and difficult to get into and out of if you have a moderate mobility issue. Those things can be deal-breakers for some people.

Highwood Essential Adirondack Chair With Essential Folding Ottoman Review Conclusion

We like the Highwood Elk Outdoors Essential Adirondack chair, but we readily admit that the Adirondack styling makes it a bit of a niche product and a self-selecting chair. If you’re a fan, this is a great option, but there are enough potential gotchas here that we can only give it a provisional recommendation. If you decide you want one, though, you’re going to love it.

Recommended Reading

Official Manufacturer Support

References & Resources

• Highwood USA, Official Brand Website.
• Anatomy of an Adirondack Chair, Bob Vila.
• How to Clean and Protect Adirondack Chairs, Hayneedle.
• What Is an Adirondack Chair? The Scandalous Story Behind This Summer Seat, Realtor.com.