When I lace up for a day on the dirt, I know my trail running shoes are the only thing separating me from the rocks, roots, and miles of pure, unadulterated trail shenanigans. Trail runners, simply put, are just built different. We rack up mud and rocks with our mileage, and that means we expect more from our gear than road runners while simultaneously abusing the hell out of it.
Thanks to my location on the East Coast, I get to run on a huge variety of trails, from packed singletrack to rocky technical trails, to muddy backwoods fire roads, to sandy marsh basins. Basically, I hit all the surfaces, so when I’m testing my trail shoes, I’m really digging in, and so is our legion of shoe testers. This year has been an interesting year for trail running shoes.
Thanks to the growing popularity of trail running, there are more coming out than ever before, but because they are so specialized, reviews are generally all over the place. That’s why on this list you will see very specific workouts for every trail running shoe that we recommend. It’s also why I plan on updating it pretty often, and hopefully expanding the list as new shoes come out and we get our wear testers running in them.
The major brands we all expect to see on this list are on here: Saucony, Altra, Salomon, and the like, but choosing trail shoes is complicated and personal, so make sure you read through these reviews to determine which are the best trail running shoes for how and where you run. For over half a century, Runner’s World has been putting shoes through their paces with staff members and our diverse group of wear testers. These are everyday runners who hit the trailhead and make their shoes work.
Every shoe I ran in was put through miles of testing based on its specificity—trail, gravel, technical shoes, et cetera. We evaluate for fit, grip, comfort, responsiveness, weather adaptability, and temperature regulation. The Hoka Speedgoat 7 makes you forget the issues of the 5 and 6.
They’ve nailed the fit this time with updated uppers, new midsole foams, and a smarter construction that finally fixes those nagging complaints about the fit and feel. This model is seriously dialed-in now, making it the perfect shoe for flying over dusty, sandy trails where you need reliable grip without the gunk. Stack height bumps to 36mm heel, 29mm forefoot using supercritical EVA foam for softer landings and snappier energy return, contrasting to the 6’s firmer feel.
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