The best hiking boots for women

Italian brand La Sportiva is a heavy-hitter when it comes to making technical shoes that stand up to outdoor activities. From rock climbing shoes to hiking boots, La Sportiva knows shoes and the Ultra Raptor II Mid GTX is one of the brand’s all-stars.

For starters, these women’s hiking boots are comfortable right out of the box. In case you run out of time to break in new hiking boots, this could save you a ton of pain and blisters. There’s also a five-inch comfort collar that serves as ankle support that isn’t too stiff to feel like it prohibits movement, but isn’t soft to feel that an ankle roll is inevitable.

A Gore-Tex lining provides a waterproof barrier between your foot and streams, snow, or lake shorelines if you get a little too close. While keeping water out, it’s still breathable to keep the boots from feeling like a sauna.

The La Sportiva Ultra Raptor II Mid GTX can also be resoled, so you don’t have to buy new boots should these eventually wear out.

Expert reviews and customer reviews mention these tend to run small, so you might want to consider ordering a half size larger than your street shoes to get the best fit.

Searching for good hiking boots for women? How about going with a pair that 28 million people have bought. As one of Merrell’s best-selling boots, the Moab 2 Mid Waterproof is our pick if you’re shopping on a budget.

The Moab is constructed from durable suede leather and feels comfortable right out of the box. It features a removable footbed that provides arch and heel cushioning, but you can easily take it out if you have custom inserts. The Merrell Air Cushion in the heel helps with stability while absorbing shock from rough terrain.

We also love the huge size range which covers from five to 12, and both medium and wide widths. A five-millimeter lug depth in the Vibram soles makes for great grip, even in wet conditions.

While the Merrell Moab 2 is made with a waterproofing membrane, customer reviews aren’t entirely sold, and it’s possible the boots lose waterproofing capability as time wears on.

If you’re just getting into hiking or looking for a pair of boots that won’t cost a fortune, the Moab 2 Mid boots are a reliable and comfortable option that certainly gets the job done.

Altra took the performance shoe game to a new height by introducing us to running shoes designed to fit a foot naturally, without crunching the toes. The Lone Peak Hiker builds on the company’s signature FootShape, but with hiking boot qualities like a cushioned ankle support and an outsole designed to tackle rocky terrain.

As some of the most comfortable hiking boots we’ve ever encountered, the Lone Peak Hiker almost lets you forget you’re wearing a boot. At slightly over one pound per pair, these are not your classic super-heavy, built-up hiking boots. The upper is made with a breathable and abrasion-resistant mesh that’s great for hot-weather hiking. Feet swelling is inevitable, and the breathability of the Lone Peak Hiker combined with the wider-than-average toe box makes these extra comfortable.

If you plan to hike in wet conditions, the Lone Peak Hiker isn’t for you. It has zero water resistance or waterproofing, so these are not the boots to hike in on a muddy trail. But if lightweight, all-day comfort is your main priority, Altra’s Lone Peak Hiker boots are as impressive as the summit views.

What started as a running shoe company has now expanded into making some of our favorite hiking boots. The women’s Topo Athletic Trailventure 2 WP is an all-around excellent hiking boot that’s performed well in all terrain and weather conditions we’ve thrown at them.

The waterproofing on the Trailventure means business. The inner lining is made with eVent material that keeps moisture out but doesn’t suffocate your feet. But should your feet get sweaty, the OrthoLite insoles are antimicrobial and odor-resistant.

Aside from being lightweight, we’re impressed by the feel of the ESS rock plate that makes sharp rocks or roots no issue. I’ve even done some trail running in the Topo Trailventure and felt invincible. Another bonus for some is the lack of leather materials, which means the Trailventure is vegan.

Maybe it’s the way I walk, but I ended up with a lot of the trail inside my boots. I dumped out plenty of pine needles and leaf litter before I drove home. Topo sells gaiters if you also encounter this problem. In no way was this a deal-breaker, though. The Topo Trailventure 2 WP are still my go-to hiking boots when it comes to wet trail conditions.

If we were to assign ice cream flavors to hiking boots, the Keen Targhee III Waterproof Mid would be vanilla. We mean this in the most complimentary way — vanilla is a classic, versatile, and dependable flavor that never disappoints. Keen hits on all the features we’re looking for in a boot that can carry us on the trail through any weather. They’re easy to break in, waterproof without being suffocating, and downright comfortable. Keen’s distinct toe guard means you can happily go around kicking all the rocks and roots you like with a diminished likelihood of breaking a toe.

Once on, the Keen Targhee feels more like an athletic shoe than a boot thanks to its sole that feels both stable and protective, but flexible. The four-millimeter lugged sole helps with confidence on less-than-flat terrain. When it comes to durability, the Keen Targhee III is made with a leather upper which adds to its ability to stand up over time. It also adds to the comfort level since over time, the leather will adapt and shape to your individual feet. The leather upper does add to the overall weight of the shoe, but we don’t find that to be a dealbreaker.

Keen’s have a slightly wider toe box, so anyone with narrow feet might feel more comfortable and better supported with our pick for narrow feet, the Lowa Renegade GTX Mid.

In our quest for good hiking boots for women, we can’t leave out those with narrow or wide feet. The Lowa Renegade GTX Mid Hiking Boots offers an impressive 13 color choices, and many of them come in standard, narrow, and wide sizes. Many of our top picks — like both pairs of the Altras, Topo Athletic, and Keen — have a naturally wider toe box, but narrow feet are likely to feel great in the Lowa Renegade GTX Mid.

Lowa started making the Renegade hiking boot 25 years ago and they’ve been award-winners since 2014, providing trusted support through the all-leather construction. The leather components, in addition to the grippy Vibram EVO rubber outsoles and the superior Gore-Tex waterproofing, means the Lowa Renegades don’t come cheap. They’re the most expensive boot on our list of top picks, but we think their durability should last long enough to justify the higher price tag.

I spent a winter in northern Finland, just to see what life was like near the Arctic Circle in the darkest months. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned was that I was wearing the wrong boots. Everyone who lived there knew better than me, and they were all wearing Icebug boots. The Swedish company has winter hiking sorted with the Stavre Women’s BUGrip GTX boot. With 16 carbide-tipped metal studs, slipping on an icy winter hike is no longer in the cards. Even if your winter hike doesn’t involve ice, these can work great for hard-packed snow on trails that get slippery. If you live in a snow-prone area like Colorado or Alaska, these happen to be excellent daily dog-walking boots to help with grip. They also have great waterproofing ability with a Gore-Tex membrane for slogging through slush.

The BUGrip is a combination of the rubber sole and the metal studs. Each stud moves independently of the others and responds to each step depending on how much pressure is applied. IceBug says it adds extra studs to the boots, so the boots will function just as well even if you lose a few studs.

They look a bit like moon boots, but we think they look cooler than breaking a tailbone on an icy descent. If you live in a snowy climate, you might also benefit from our list of the best snow boots for women.

If you’ve had an ankle injury, heading on a short hike or a backpacking trip can feel intimidating, but the La Sportiva Nucleo High II GTX Hiking Boot is available to whisper calming affirmations. La Sportiva designed this high boot with its 3D Flex ankle hinge that gives additional support where you need it without sacrificing mobility.

Aside from being great for ankle support, the Nucleo High has Gore-Tex waterproofing and a durable Nubuck leather upper. Expert reviews feel this boot really shines through with its waterproofing ability, thanks to the addition of La Sportiva’s Nano Cell inserts for extra protection.

Typically, leather materials add to the overall weight of the boot, but the La Sportiva’s remain impressively lightweight at one pound six ounces. The lighter weight of the boot is also a benefit for those dealing with weak or compromised ankles.

Sadly, this award-winning hiking boot doesn’t come cheap, and if you’re shopping on a budget, you might be better off with our budget pick — the Merrell Women’s Moab 2 Mid Waterproof.

Altra is all about making comfortable shoes that fit the natural shape of your foot. It perfected the running shoe first, and then built upon that to come up with the Lone Peak ALL-WTHR Mid Hiking Boot. While these aren’t as sturdy as a more traditional design, the all-weather Lone Peaks do a great job at any distance during all four seasons. The DuraTread rubber outsole gave me traction on a dry, dirt, and pebbled slope that I surely thought I was going to butt-slide down. The inner liner is made with eVent which keeps your feet dry in any type of wet condition but has some breathability to let any unwanted heat escape.

Dare we say these are actually cute hiking boots? They currently come in three color options, none of which we find offensive or overly girly. These could also be great for those with wider feet.

These are a waterproof and slightly taller version of the Altra Lone Peak Hiker which we love for hot-weather hiking. If you don’t plan on utilizing the waterproof abilities of these Altra’s, check out the standard Lone Peak Hiker to save some money.