Best Hiking Shoes Review - Best Hiking Shoe For Day Hikes

The Best hiking shoes money can buy should provide protection and care for hikers feet hitting the trails, however, the best hiking shoe or lightweight hiking shoes will vary in design, materials used and costs.

Whilst mid cut Hiking boots are required for longer multi-day hiking trips to protect the feet and the various types of terrain encountered, day hikes require low cut Hiking shoes that deals well with the conditions of the trail and light enough for moving, dependant on the hike planned.

If your unsure of how to choose the best hiking boots and shoes you may find it useful to check our best hiking boots guide first.

We review hiking shoes here we would recommend and explain the features and what type of trips they would be suitable for.

Mens Best Hiking Shoe

Merrell Men's Chameleon 3 Ventilator GORE-TEX Shoe: The reason we chose these shoes for hiking was the ability to be used in various terrains. These are tough, with an injection molded TPU heel and has an instep engineered for greater stability.

These weigh just over 2.5 lbs that would not suit the trail runner but great for day hikes that may not be an easy hiking terrain. Breath-ability ensures your feet stay cool in any climate, whilst the Gore-Tex lining materials will keep you dry and offer protection.

The mens Merrell Chameleon hiking shoes have a Vibram rubber sole that gives great traction on all surfaces . They are firm so hill hikes and mountain walking can be safe and comfortable.

There are many positives for this choice of the best hiking shoes that includes:

Pros

• Comfortable
• Breathable providing ventilation in heat
• very strong
• Suit most terrains
• Versatile

There are also a couple of negatives:

Cons

• A little heavy for day hikes on flat terrain
• Quite costly

What consumers comments actually say:

That's our choice of the men's best hiking shoe for various terrains. If buying these Hiking shoes you may find breaking them in will help by wearing them for a couple small walks, because they are quite heavy duty, it will help.

Womens Best Hiking Shoes For Versatility

The Keen Women's Targhee II Hiking shoe is great for various conditions and types of trail. These have been revamped with eVENT waterproof barrier to help keep feet dry and comfortable.

A nice feature is the 4mm lug out-sole that provides excellent traction, and the ESS Shank provides torsional stability to prevent ankle sprains.

These may not be the most attractive Hiking shoes for women, although weighing under 1lb makes these lightweight hiking shoes a great option for the women that want something that's practical, rather that pretty.

Like all Hiking shoes and boots, they have there positives and negatives, here are some we found:

Pros

• Lightweight
• Great traction
• Stable
• Easy to clean
• Excellent comfort

Cons

• Don't look as stylish as some other hiking shoes
• Slightly expensive

If buying these hiking shoes Keenfootwear advise's users to order half a size bigger.

There are many positive reviews for the Keen Womens Targhee II Hiking shoe which made us finally decide to choose this as the best hiking shoe for women, needing solid footwear for day hikes.

These are comments we found consumers making:

We recommend these as one of the best hiking shoes for those that require a solid lightweight shoe for women adventure seekers.

Best Hiking Shoes For Kids

We have chose the Merrell Moab Ventilator Shoes for children becuase of various reasons, which included the ease of taking them on and off. The velcro strap makes preparing a little easier for parents.

These feature suede leather and nylon mesh uppers that offer ample breath-ability, flexibility and support for long-lasting performance. Very lightweight hiking shoes to prevent a child dragging their feet about.

These are really only suitable for day hikes, as they are a strengthened cross training shoe. For rough terrain a pair of kids hiking boots would be more suitable.

The Merrell moab can be used for everyday activities, even school outdoor activities which makes them a good option if you want a shoe that will get used well, before the child grows out of them.

We took a look at the pros and cons of these hiking shoes for kids, here's what we found:

Pros

• Lightweight
• Suitable for everyday needs
• Easy to put on and take off
• Reasonably priced
• Comfortable

Cons

• Not great for rough terrain
• Lacks waterproofing

Most parents were very happy with these hiking shoes and have bought more than one pair for the children. However, some had issues with the hiking shoe lasting well.

Finding the best hiking shoe for a child may take some research and trying various shoes and boots on in store, although these are a good option if you take the kids on a day hike a couple of days a year but also need a shoe suitable for various outdoor activities. We prefer reports given by users for kids hiking boots when comparing with shoes.

Conclusion

Above is our choice of the best hiking shoes and lightweight hiking shoes with others we could include that you will find within this site.

There is a vast amount of choices out there so choose the best hiking shoe you can find, well. Happy trails!