When I started hiking, big leather boots were the only real option. They were burly, stiff, and difficult to break in, but one pair would last you decades. Technology has mercifully caught up, however. If you head to the trails today, most hikers and backpackers are opting for more lightweight, low-cut options. While an influx of new shoes from brands like Hoka, Merrell, Danner, and Salomon has transformed the footwear industry, that doesn’t mean the hiking boot has had its day. It just depends on what you’re looking to do and when you’re doing it.

Which shoes should you pick to go out for the day? I tested countless pairs of great hiking boots, trail runners, and hiking shoes across a variety of terrain, from forest trails and coastal paths to high alpine terrain. To get a better understanding of the differences between the many options available—and which is right for you—I grilled Ingrid Johnson, a leading footwear product specialist at REI. (For what it’s worth, Johnson’s personal recommendation is the Salomon XA Pro).

When you’ve chosen your next pair of trail running shoes (or hiking boots), be sure to check out more of WIRED’s outdoor guides, like the Best Gravel Running Shoes, the Best Merino Wool T-Shirts, and the Best Electric Bikes.

Update March 2026: We added links to recent coverage, added the On Running Cloudrock Low, and updated links and prices.

Here’s When You Need Boots

If you’re carrying a heavy pack over rough terrain, or if it’s wet or snowy, you need hiking boots. They tend to be higher at the ankle, with stiff midsoles and protective toe caps, and they are generally made from very durable materials like leather and tough synthetic fabrics like Cordura. Hiking boots prioritize stability, protection, and durability.

Boots generally have thick, deep lugs, tougher soles, stronger toe guards, and sturdier ankle support. They protect you from rock impact, uneven ground, moisture, and often colder conditions. The high-cut designs also offer more ankle support, something I found reassuring when coming back from a recent injury.

But don’t think that hiking boot brands are stuck in the dark ages. Borrowing lightweight features and materials from trail running, brands are able to offer technical boots with cushioning, grip, and stability. They’re still heavy, but featherweight compared to a traditional leather boot. Hoka’s Kaha 3 GTX ($240) is one of the best boots available, blending soft nubuck leather, Vibram Megagrip sole, and bags of cushioning. Here are a few other picks:

Perennially popular for good reason, these Salomons boast superb levels of comfort and support without the bulk typically associated with traditional walking boots. They feel like ski boots, but that’s not a criticism; the height and support is most welcome when walking all day carrying a full pack.

Despite being declared the third-hottest year on record, 2025 was a relatively quiet year for climate disasters in the US. No major hurricanes made landfall, while the total number of acres burned in wildfires last year—a way of measuring the intensity of wildfire season—fell below the 10-year average.

But starting this week, the West is experiencing what looks to be a record-breaking heat wave, while forecasting models predict that a strong El Niño event is likely to emerge later this year. These two unrelated phenomena could set the stage for a long stretch of unpredictable and extreme weather reaching into next year, compounding the effects of a climate that’s getting hotter and hotter thanks to human activity.

First, there’s the heat. Beginning this week and heading into next, a massive ridge of high-pressure air will bring record-breaking temperatures to the American West. The National Weather Service predicts that temperature records across multiple states are set to be broken in dozens of locations, stretching as far east as Missouri and Tennessee. The NWS has issued heat warnings for parts of California, Arizona, and Nevada, as well as fire warnings for parts of Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Colorado.

“This will be the single strongest ridge we’ve observed outside of summer in any month,” says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The other remarkable thing about this heat wave, Swain says, is just how long it’s going to last. “This is not a day or two of extreme heat,” he says. “We’ve already in some of these places been seeing record highs every day for a week, and we expect to see them every day for another at least seven to 10 days.” The later end of March will be much more intense, with temperatures in some places breaking April and May records. “There aren’t that many weather patterns that can result in an 85- or 90-degree temperature in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Denver in the same week.”

This late winter heat wave is adding on to an already warm winter in the West—with big implications for the summer. A month ago, snowpack levels across multiple states were at record lows thanks to warmer-than-average temperatures. According to data provided by the Department of Agriculture, snowpack levels were still sitting below 50 percent of average across many Western states. Snowpack is a critical natural reservoir for rivers in the West; between 60 to 70 percent of the region’s water supply in many areas comes from melting snow. Low snowpack is a bad sign for already-stressed rivers like the Colorado, which supplies water for 40 million people in seven states.

The ongoing heat wave, Swain says, will more than likely make conditions even worse. “April 1st is typically the point at which snowpack would be, at least historically, at its peak,” he says. Even if temperatures cool off until summer, these low snowpack levels are also a worrisome sign for the upcoming fire season. Snow droughts like the one the West is experiencing can dry out soil, kill trees, and lessen stream flow: ideal conditions for a wildfire to grow. Meanwhile, the water supply in the Colorado River could drop even lower. States that rely on the river are already facing a political crisis as they attempt to renegotiate water rights; a drought would only up the ante.

Then there’s El Niño. Last week, the National Weather Service announced that there was more than a 60 percent chance of an El Niño event emerging in August or September. Various weather models suggest that this El Niño could be particularly strong. While we likely won’t know for sure until summer, “the fact that [all the models] are moving upwards is worth watching,” says Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth.

As it looks to address the changing needs of customers with four new applications driven by artificial intelligence (AI), Orange Business has clearly stated the importance and competitive differentiation nature of its core infrastructure to support digital transformation.

Unveiled at the Orange Business summit in Paris – where the enterprise arm of the global telco hosted more than 1,000 customers, developers and ecosystem partners – the new applications encompass Live Collaboration, a suite of collaboration tools; a reimagined enterprise voice communications system; an extension of the Live Intelligence platform to support enterprises with “trusted” AI agents; and the launch of Orange Drone Guardian, Europe’s first anti-drone as-a-service solution.

Putting the launches into perspective, Usman Javaid, Orange Business global chief product and marketing, observed that they come just as the company has got itself into the correct position to address the new demands of the workplace and help users employ agentic AI tools to evolve workflows and practices.

“If you go back three years, we were impacted by quite a change in the market in terms of products and services we offer. We had a lot of legacy business that was impacted by the move to cloud, and that was further accelerated with Covid. We saw that most of our portfolio was really shifting. Customers were moving from private connectivity, MPLS [multiprotocol label switching], to internet-based connectivity, from on-prem contact centres to cloud-based contact centres. AI was slowly coming in. Customers were expecting us to offer more digital, fully automated experiences, and to be honest, we were not ready for all that.

“This is where we started this massive transformation. We built a new operating model, which was based on centralised functions – one single product organisation, one single IT organisation, one single operational organisation, clear accountability. Then we looked at our portfolio and realised it was not ready for the change in time and the needs of customers. We realised that the way we serve our customers was able to [deliver] transformation, and we invested a lot in terms of our skills, our teams, to make sure [we met] the needs of our customers. Fast forward three years, and we already see the fruits of that transformation, so our customers really see the value that we bring for them.”

The plan, said Javaid, was to put Orange Business into the context of customers, who were facing increased cyber threats, where data sovereignty was becoming more important and where CEOs expected to drive new revenue and new business models from AI, and where CIOs were using AI for productivity gains and efficiency. And in this context, Javaid said it was essential to help customers be prepared for the unforeseen and offer choices so they could make decisions that would help them sustain business.