7 Best Day Hiking Shoes in 2023

The Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX wins a place among the best day hiking shoes for its wide toe box. Roomier than average at the toes, it is also wonderfully lightweight and a top performer on wet days too!

We love the wiggle room for our toes in this shoe. It leaves space for air to circulate, not to mention allowing space for our toes to splay out more naturally. While not a particularly wide hiking shoe overall, the X Ultra 4 GTX outshines the competition at the toe. The average hiking shoe narrows to 76.2 mm at the toes, but our calipers showed this shoe to be wider than average, at 79.2 mm. No cramped toes here!

On rainy days, we reach for the Salomon X Ultra GTX - the watertight upper keeps our feet warm and dry even on the wettest hikes. Even hiking along muddy trails doesn’t pose much of a challenge - the 4.5 mm chevron lugs on the Contragrip sole bite into soft ground with ease.

Good waterproofing is often responsible for upping the weight in a pair of shoes, yet at 13.3 oz (378g) the Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX still manages to weigh in 0.7 oz (16g) below the average for hiking shoes. Good news for our long day hikes, as our feet didn’t feel tired by the end of them!

On the flip side of the coin, we don’t recommend these shoes for winter hiking. We left them in the freezer for 20 minutes to simulate winter conditions, before testing them for flexibility with a force gauge. We were surprised to find that they stiffened up by 75%, and as a result, they didn’t perform as we were used to.

When we want a versatile and lightweight hiking shoe that is great for long distances and still keeps our feet dry and toasty in cold, wet weather, we reach for the Hoka Ancapa Low GTX. Bundling all these features and more into a single shoe, we chose it as our best waterproof day hiking shoe.

Versatility is the name of the game in the Hoka Anacapa Low GTX. They can handle almost any weather and any resulting conditions underfoot. The GoreTex/Nubuck leather upper and gusseted tongue work in harmony to keep our feet dry even when splashing through deep puddles. We found it also makes them a great choice for winter hiking because our feet were so cozy! They can tackle all kinds of terrain; we tested them on rocks, loose stones, gravel, mud, snow, and even ice! Their 5 mm deep lugs, 14% deeper than average, managed them all with ease.

We can’t get enough of the plush cushioning and Hoka’s characteristic rocker on a hike. The rocker helps us to walk faster and keep our momentum. When we measured the midsole in the lab, our durometer showed 23 HA, a significant increase in softness from the average of 33.9 HA. Altogether, these make for an extraordinarily comfortable ride and we could walk much further per day as a result. We normally expect this kind of spec to come at the cost of weight, but these shoes still only weigh 13.9 oz (393g), 6% less than the average waterproof hiking shoe!

We don't recommend the Hoka Ancapa Low GTX to hikers requiring a stiffer shoe for technical terrain or backpacking. The soft midsole and low cut around the ankle mean the shoe lacks support on rough terrain or carrying heavy loads.

When testing this shoe, our day hikes were rather long and over a demanding terrain; usually 15+ miles long and we used some well-maintained trails as well as some... ok, we improvised. Because of this, this shoe has seen the best and the worst outdoors have to offer. And still, it was as stable as a hiking shoe can be. That's why Swift R3 GTX is our #1 picks when it comes to stability in day hiking shoes. 

We rarely see this many stability elements in a hiking shoe: lateral stability is perfect which means no wobbliness, torsional rigidity was rated as 5 out of 5 (5 being the stiffest), the midsole is wider than the average both at the heel and the forefoot which ensured stable and planted landings, the stiffness of the heel counter got a 4 out of 5 rating, which means no unwanted ankle movements. As if all of these weren't enough, we could also feel the Pro-Moderator technology which prevents side-to-side movements of the feet. 

All of these stability features might sound like overkill but, in reality, what we felt was just that: a lot of stability and significantly milder fatigue after our test hikes. 

What definitely helped with this overall secure feel is the outstanding grip. 4.4 mm lugs are not deeper than average (ok, they are 0.1 mm deeper) but paired with the Continental rubber that's, in this case, a bit softer than the average, they work like a charm. They bit whatever we threw at them! 

And what's also great is that this shoe felt so comfortable next to all that stiffness and stability. In the lab, our durometer showed 26.0 HA when we pressed it into the midsole. Given that the average is 31.7 HA, this tells us that the Swift R3 GTX is softer than the average hiking shoe. And we definitely felt that. When we pushed it to somewhat colder temperatures, it still felt soft. Our freezer test confirmed this because the Swift R3 GTX got only 17.3% firmer after spending 20mins in the freezer! Other shoes, on average, get 22.6% firmer. 

We do not recommend the Adidas Terrex Swift R3 GTX for hikes during very hot summer days or in very hot and humid climates. To avoid sweaty feet and socks, use it on colder days. The price we pay for the awesome waterproofness is the lack of air circulation.

A firm favorite for day hikers, the Merrell Moab 3 GTX is an exceptionally comfortable shoe from the get-go. Needing no break-in time, it is flexible and supportive, making it our most comfortable day hiking shoe.

With its exceptionally plush padding around the ankle and in the tongue, the Merrell Moab 3 GTX defies anyone to question the comfort factor of this shoe. The tongue measures a staggering 14.6 mm thick, 3.2 mm thicker than average, and prevents the laces from biting into our instep.

The flexible midsole boasts a superbly natural ride as it flexes with our foot. In the lab, we bent the shoe to 90° with a force gauge, measuring 30.2N compared to the stiffer average of 36.4N. This extra flexibility delivers natural transitions and added comfort to our step. It doesn’t even stiffen up too much in cold weather - after leaving the shoe in the freezer for 20 minutes we repeated the flexibility test, finding it had stiffened by only 30%. Given that hiking shoes stiffen by 49% on average, the Merrell Moab 3 GTX is a good choice for winter comfort!

For day hikes without heavy packs, we found the support in the Merrell Moab 3 GTX more than enough. The cushioning is a little firmer than average, as we found when we pressed our durometer to the midsole. Measuring 36 HA compared to the average 32.9 HA, our feet feel well-supported underfoot while still appreciating the comfort it affords. The stiff heel counter holds our heels snugly into the shoe and, along with a nylon shank in the midsole, provides stability from rolling. We manually assessed the heel counter as 4/5 for stiffness (with 5 being the stiffest).

Such a solid, comfortable, and waterproof shoe has to pay the price somewhere - in the case of the Merrell Moab 3 GTX, the cost is in the weight. Weighing in at 15.9 oz (450g), it is 2.4 oz (66g) heavier than average for hiking shoes. Hikers looking for a lightweight hiking shoe may want to look elsewhere.

For a comfortable and reliable shoe for day hikes in summer, it doesn’t get any better than the Merrell Moab 3. We experienced excellent breathability, all-day comfort, and exceptional grip that we would expect from a day hiking shoe.

No matter how intense our day hikes were, the shoes also kept our feet sweat-free. No surprises there: in the lab, we pumped smoke into the shoes to test for breathability, and the smoke easily passed through the mesh upper. We awarded the shoes 4/5 for breathability.

We found the Moab 3 to be supremely comfortable while out hiking. The midsole is perfectly cushioned - protective yet soft enough to be comfortable. We pressed a durometer to the midsole and measured 33.5 HA, which is around the average for hiking shoes. We pushed the shoe to 90° using a force gauge, measuring flexibility of 24.9N. When compared to the average 39.2N, the smooth transitions while hiking in this shoe are a dream!

On our hikes, the shoes were grippy and stable on rough or smooth, wet or dry ground. Our lab measurements showed that the lugs are 4.8 mm deep, slightly more than the average 4.3 mm. We found the spaced lugs shed mud fairly easily too, making these a good choice for soft, muddy trails.

Despite its roomy toe box, we measured the width at the forefoot at 96 mm, and discovered it is 3 mm narrower than average. We therefore don’t recommend the Merrell Moab 3 to hikers with particularly wide feet.

Amazingly lightweight, the Adidas Terrex Trailmaker is a perfect option for an easy hike minus the unwanted bulk. We instantly got lost in the shoe's plush confines which made us want to keep the shoe on even after the hike. On the trail, this Adidas offering feels more natural and grounded as opposed to being stable and protective. Some durability was sacrificed to keep the weight of the Trailmaker down but we believe that its comfort is well worth the price.

This is the best budget hiking shoe because: it retails at only $90, it's perfect for day hikes thanks to its light weight and awesome grip, and it even includes some sustainable elements! 

Looking at the average price of hiking shoes, which sits at $129, it turns out that the Adidas Terrex AX4 is 30% cheaper. What's not to love here? Certainly not its cushioning. We cut the shoe in half in our lab and used a durometer to assess its softness. We learned that it's actually 21% firmer than the average! That sounds like a lot, but what we actually felt was comfort and slight firmness but in a good way. The stable way, not anything similar to the brick. 

This firmness, combined with the base that's wider than the average, allowed us to cover some challenging, even technical terrain with no hints of instability. What also helped, of course, is the superb grip. Although our caliper measurements showed that the lugs are 0.5 mm shorter than the average, we have nothing but praise for how they bit into the surface. Any kind: wet, dry, hard-packed, loose, gravel. 

We'd really love it if this shoe was a bit more protective, at least around the toes. The lack of the toe bumper did not stop us from hiking through the bushes and over rocky terrain, but we can't say that it felt the safest there.