2021’s Top Hiking Shoes: Your Guide to this Year’s Drip for the Outdoors

By Ilan Stein

While other hikers may emphasize the importance of gear such as backpacks, large enough water bottles, outerwear, and gloves, they often gloss over the importance of decent footwear. Indeed, the other things listed are all very important in their own regard, but good hiking boots can mean the difference between a nasty fall and a successful adventure. Hiking shoes act as the base for all your grand hiking exploits, and as of such should not be taken lightly. So without further ado, here are some of my personal 2021 best hiking shoe picks!

Best Value: Vasque Juxt

Coming in at a much worth value of $109.95, the Vasque juxt is a fairly priced and solid option for your excursions out in the wild. Typically built for drier climates, the Juxt has insanely impressive traction for scaling rocks and difficult terrain as well as a durable leather exterior that is fully prepared to take a beating from the elements. Overall, this shoe ticks a lot of necessary boxes and is very well worth it for your average hiker.

Best Quality: Velasca Réségott

Our next entry comes in a bit more on the expensive side as a designer Italian boot that blends quality, sturdiness, and style into a beautiful leathery housing for your feet. This shoe is the pinnacle of modern hiking and does its job remarkably while in the greater outdoors. With features such as membrane waterproof lining, a single piece tongue that doesn’t allow water to soak in, visible stitching and robust ankle supports, this shoe hits every mark spectacularly. Of course, for this quality there is a price. While the impressive $335 price on the shoe may seem daunting at first, the quality and effectiveness of the shoe speaks for itself. As one customer stated on the website, the shoe was a “Prodotto Magnifico” meaning “simply a magnificent product”, and I could simply not agree more.

Best Overall: Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX

The reigning champion of the 2021 hiking shoe bunch, the Ultra 4 is the perfect “bang for your buck” being priced at $150. Overall the shoe’s construction is mind-blowing with its most renowned features being its extreme comfort padding, grippy soles for climbing, foot and ankle support to prevent injury, and a watertight antimicrobial insole for those trips that last a little longer. With an affordable price point and a plethora of staggering characteristics, this shoe is a testament to what it means to hike in the outdoors. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking these shoes out and picking up a pair if you have the time.

All in all, the shoes listed are all good in their own regards, but our “Best Value” pick is simply unmatched. Finding the right hiking shoe for you is essential in order to maximize your hiking experience, so happy hunting and also happy hiking!