7 Best Salomon Running Shoes in 2023

The Salomon XT-6 has been a hugely popular shoe for nearly a decade both for its looks and its ability to take you anyway on a trail. With heaps of protection, insane grip, and a responsive, speedy ride the XT-6 is still a relevant trail shoe to help you explore the less beaten trails. It’s a shoe that’s sure to leave you confident traversing steep gradients, or comfy at the end of a long hike.

The Speedcross is one of Salomon’s best-selling trail running shoes, and can almost be defined as “historical,” because it has been around since 2006. It’s a solid, sturdy model for fast training and racing on the most rugged trails. It shines when it comes to comfort and protection, and fortunately, it hasn’t lost its best feature... the lugs are still poking out aggressively and screaming for mud.

The Pulsar Trail from Salomon is the brand's take on a mid-range, do-it-all trail running shoe. With this, you can tackle any terrain and any distance at any pace. It comes to life, rolls smoothly, and offers lots and lots of protection. And if you want a shoe that's clingy, the Salomon Pulsar Trail's grip is amazing.

The Salomon Sense Ride 5 shows consistent performance from dry pavements to moderate trails with its reliable grip, unopposing midsole and soft cushion. It’s a no-fuss hybrid shoe that keeps us worry-free, making it our top road-to-trail Salomon running shoe.

Lined with 3.5 mm diamond-shaped lugs on its Contagrip rubber outsole, it has traction that works well even on wet surfaces and moderate terrains. Its outsole is hard enough to protect our feet from debris, as confirmed by our durometer when it measured slightly above average. The higher the number, the tougher the rubber is. 

It has a trail shoe’s ideal low profile that offers great ground feel and control. Its stack is below average but remains soft overall, measuring 20.5 HA on our durometer. This is 25.2% softer than the average trail shoe.

SR5 rises to the occasion when pushed to faster paces. Its adequately flexible midsole follows our lead, allowing us to stay in control. Our flex test confirms it's at par with the average of other trail shoes.

We do not recommend this pair to midfoot-to-forefoot strikers as the 18.5 mm forefoot stack (vs. the 24.2 mm average) might lack the landing support needed.

Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise—running fast and running comfortably aren’t supposed to be mutually exclusive in an ultra-distance race. Case in point: the Ultra Glide 2. As Salomon’s second crack at their cushioned trail line, the shoe addresses the v1’s stability issues and it's softer than before. It’s a good, versatile runner that could keep the Speedgoat and Xodus Ultra on their toes.

The Salomon XA Pro 3D V8 is a trail running shoe that easily doubles as a hiking companion. It is a great option for outdoorsies looking for a hybrid of a running/hiking shoe that would keep them comfortable and supported no matter what the adventure brings. This Salomon shoe offers reliable protection and grip that help you stay in control on any type of trail.

The Salomon XA Pro 3D GTX is a durable and worthwhile trail shoe for those looking to go for a hike, head into the woods for a weekend backpacking trip as well as for an adventurous runner who needs heavy-duty footwear to tackle the more arduous challenges.