7 Best Lightweight Hiking Shoes

The Danner Trail 2650 is a thoroughbred of lightweight hiking shoes. Not only is it lighter than most other shoes we have tested, it’s incredibly versatile, grippy, and so comfortable that it has become our go-to hiking shoe!

An all-rounder should be able to go anywhere and do anything, and that means it needs good traction. We checked out the lugs’ depth in the lab and they came in at 4.3 mm, which is the average for hiking shoes that we’ve tested so far. That explains why they kept us confident and stable when walking on most surfaces, from rough trails to smooth rock! 

This shoe was such a smooth ride, and we suspected it had something to do with the plushest midsole we had ever experienced. We checked the midsole’s softness with a durometer and measured 52 HA, a whopping difference from the average of 86 HA, making it 65% softer than average! 

Next, we tested the shoe’s flexibility with a force gauge, measuring it at 31N, much more flexible than the average of 39N. We also bent and twisted the shoe to test longitudinal and torsional flexibility, and it scored 2/5 for both, 5 being the stiffest. We noticed the flexibility out on the trail; the shoe felt nimble and flexed naturally with our foot. It’s a great choice for summer walking; we found them to be wonderfully breathable and they dried out quickly.

We don’t recommend these shoes to hikers who enjoy quite a lot of ground feel. In the Danner Trail 2650 we wish there was a bit more of it. 

31% softer than other hiking shoes and lighter than the average hiking shoe with a Gore-Tex membrane: it's the Hoka Anacapa Low GTX. A lightweight hiking shoe with, by far, the best cushioning out there. After hiking for hundreds of miles when testing hiking shoes and dissecting all of them in the lab, we can say that this cushioning is what a hiker's dreams are made of. 

First, it's soft. Like crazy soft, our durometer showed 23.3 HA and the average for hiking shoes is 30.7 HA. Second, the Anacapa Low GTX stays soft even when exposed to cold weather. We confirmed this when we put it into the freezer for 20 minutes and checked its softness afterward. It got only 18% firmer. Most hiking shoes get 23% firmer! 

Third, there's a rocker. It feels so good; it makes us even start speed hiking! This is not a difficult thing to do in the Anacapa Low GTX because it's not a burden for our feet. It weighs 13.9 oz, and the average for GTX hiking shoes is 14.3 oz. 

While perfect in cushioning, this shoe is not perfect when it comes to heel to toe drop: Hoka says it's 6 mm, but, in the lab, our calipers measured a different story: 10.5 mm. This is a huge deviation and hikers, you've been warned. 

We have good news for hikers looking for a grippy, lightweight, and agile hiking shoe! After thorough testing in the lab and on the trail, we found the Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX ticks all the boxes and voted it the best lightweight hiking shoe with the best grip.

We tested the shoe on all terrains, and it didn’t let us down. The 4.5 mm lugs are slightly deeper than the 4.3 mm average, which play their part in sticking to soft mud and loose gravel. The star of the show is Salomon’s trademark Contragrip sole. Its chevron-shaped lugs work wonders on steep ascents and descents, 

We popped the shoe on the scale in our lab and measured it at 11.8 oz (336g). This is 12% lighter than the average for hiking shoes and the difference is unmistakable out on the trail, with our feet feeling a whole lot fresher at the end of a long day than we expected. Speaking of fresh feet, this shoe is highly breathable, so moisture and air can get in and out! We noticed heaps of grip on terrain ranging from grassy hillsides to rough trails. In the lab, measured the lugs at a meaty 5.2 mm on Salomon’s Contragrip outsole, 0.9 mm deeper than average. With such sturdy lugs, it’s no wonder we felt confident! 

We don’t recommend these shoes for regular hiking in mud. The 41 lugs clustered relatively tightly on the outsole have trouble shedding mud and we found we slipped a bit.

This shoe is so stable it feels like "stability" should be its middle name. When hiking in Adidas Terrex Swift R3 GTX, we felt very safe, secure and stable. Our lab tests allowed us to understand why. 

When looking at the stiffness of the shoe, the longitudinal one sits is 6.7% lower than the average which tells us why the ride was more on the natural, unobtrusive side. However, what matters more for stability is the torsional stiffness, and on that test, when we tried to twist the shoe, it scored 5/5. 5 is for the stiffest! It was almost impossible to twist it, even a little bit. 

Because we hiked over grass, muddy areas, rocks, and soft single tracks covered with gravel here and there, we knew that the grip is superb. Looking at our caliper measurements, we understood why: the lugs are 4.4 mm deep and the rubber is a bit softer than average. This combination proved to be great or, well, sticky! 

While hiking shoes with a Gore-Tex membrane tend to be heavier (average is 409g or 14.4 oz), the Swift R3 GTX weighs just around the average (408g), BUT it feels much lighter than what we see on the paper (or our scale in the lab). 

Be warned though, this shoe is stable as heck but needs breaking in to make it work perfectly. 

The Merrell Moab Speed GTX is our number one pick for lightweight speed hiking shoes. This lightweight speedster begs to break into a run, with its rigid sole providing both spring and stability, and the plush midsole prioritizing delightful comfort.

The superb stability of this shoe means we can turn on a dime. The gently fanned-out heel zone prevents our heels from overbalancing. In the lab, we twisted the shoe to test for torsional rigidity. We rated it 4/5, with 5 being the most stiff. It delivers excellent support for our feet whilst retaining a good amount of flexibility for making split-second decisions at speed.

Comfort is the name of the game in the Moab Speed GTX! At 37.7 mm, there’s a whole lot of material underfoot, 4.2 mm more than our other lab-tested shoes. We pressed a durometer to the midsole to test for hardness, and found it to be an incredible 26% softer than average! It’s no wonder our feet felt cushioned and coddled for miles during our hikes.

With its impermeable Gore-Tex membrane, we might expect the shoe to weigh over the odds, so we weighed them in the lab to check. Tipping the scales at 12.1 oz (343g), the Merrell Moab Speed GTX is 1.8 oz (52g) lighter than its waterproof peers! A clunky shoe is the last thing we need for speed hiking, so we were delighted with the findings!

Despite a stiff heel counter, rating 4/5, we experienced quite a lot of heel slippage in the Merrel Moab Speed GTX. For speed hikers needing a more reliable lockdown, we recommend looking at the Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX.

Uninhibited pace and unburdened feet – this could easily be the slogan of the Salomon Outpulse. This hiking shoe steered us through our escapades without a hint of exhaustion and foot perspiration. The support the Outpulse has given us is unsurpassed and the comfort? A revelation!

We loaded up smoke inside this hiking shoe and evaluated the amount that would flow out. Given the abundant smoke release, a 5/5 breathability score is a no-brainer. On our wear tests, a smooth airflow is also achieved, ensuring an unceasing state of freshness. 

This hiking shoe is constructed with such a light build, that our trekking speed benefited a lot. Weighing only 11.61 oz (329g), the Salomon Outpulse is 15.6% lighter than its peers. Granted, it is airy but it is also resilient. We discovered that it is tough against our Dremel tool, especially the heel padding and outsole. The heel scored a solid 5/5 in durability as it prevailed over our abrasive device, while the outsole only bore a 0.3 mm depression, which is negligible compared to the 1.1 mm average.

As good as all these are in the trail, we found that wide-footers might not completely enjoy the Salomon Outpulse. This shoe is 97.2 mm wide across the widest section of the toebox and it is 2.8 mm short of the average. If you think you would have an issue with the Outpulse, fit-wise, better pick a more forgiving pair.

At $90, there's nothing else we could ask from the Adidas Terrex AX4 and we got so much! It retailed at a price that's 30% lower than the average for hiking shoes ($129) and yet we found it to be very versatile and it even has mudguards and recycled elements!

Because it has mudguards we took it to some muddy areas. We also covered very steep uphills and flat gravel-covered paths. The grip was there and it did not make us question it. The lugs are 3.7 mm thick and we found them to work best on softer ground.

When the grip is good, we also wish for stability to be there. And it was! All thanks to the platform that's wider than the average, ensuring planted strides. With a caliper we measured the width of the midsole at the heel (87.9 mm) and the forefoot (111.5 mm). They turned up to be 2.6 mm and 3.8 mm wider than the average, respectively. 

This shoe is on the stiffer side. It starts stiffer than average at room temperature and, when exposed to cold, stiffness up much more than the average. In our test, it got 66.2% stiffer, while hiking shoes usually get 48.9% stiffer. Because of this, we don't recommend this shoe for hikes in very cold weather. Keep in mind it might need more time on the hike or somewhere inside to warm up and "loosen up".