Hiking sandals give you a number of benefits over hiking boots:
- Freedom — Feeling the air on your feet, and not squishing your toes
- Temperature — No more hot feet
- Water friendly — Great for crossing a stream, in a raft or kayak, or on a standup paddle board
- Cost — Up to 75% less
- Odor — Do I need to explain this one? 😉
Not all hiking sandals are the same. Most are actually not good for your feet. Why? Well start with this:
Your feet are meant to bend, and flex and move, and FEEL the world.
You want a hiking sandal that lets your feet do that — do what’s natural — and don’t weigh a ton.
Check out the Z-Trail, Xero Shoes most popular sandal for hikers and campers. They let your feet do what’s natural and THREE pairs of these weigh less than one pair of traditional sport sandals.
We’ve had many customers wear our sandals — all the different styles — to thru-hike major trails, including the AT, PCT, and Camino.
Even if you don’t wear sandals for hiking, they make a great camp shoe or recovery shoe.
To pick the right hiking sandal, you have 2 decisions to make:
- Sport sandal style vs. thong style (e.g. our Z-Trail and Z-Trek vs. Genesis and Cloud)
- More barefoot feeling vs. more protection (Z-Trek, Genesis, Cloud vs. Z-Trail)
NOTE: don’t confuse the thong style sandals with flip flops. I’ll explain why in the FAQ section further down the page.
Check out our best-selling hiking sandals for men, women and kids. We can’t wait to hear what happens when you get a pair, take them out on your favorite trail and Live Life Feet First!

We take our sandals seriously. But we don’t take ourselves that way. So enjoy some barefoot humor in these videos. Then check out our YouTube channel or more.
Can you really hike in a sandal?
Sandals are mankind’s oldest and favorite footwear.
People have been hiking, walking, running — LIVING — in sandals for thousands of years.
There’s no reason you can’t do the same and enjoy the freedom, comfort, and versatility of a hiking sandal.
We’ve had customers hike every major trail — the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Camino de Santiago, and many others.
Some wear their sandals for the whole trail, including our super-thin Genesis. Some use their sandals at the end of the day, as recovery sandals.
We even have cyclists who keep their sandals in their jersey, and slip ’em on once they get out of their cleats.
The ankle support MYTH...
Imagine a typical hiking boot or sandal with a thick, stiff sole.
Now imagine that you step on a pointy rock on the inside edge of your shoe.
That point will become a fulcrum, and with a rigid sole your foot can’t move and your ankle will twist.
Frankly, there’s no amount of ankle support that can stop that. In fact, if it did, the torque would simply move up to your knee, which could be worse!
Now imagine stepping on that same rock with a sole that’s flexible enough to let your foot bend around the obstacle.
No ankle twisting!
Your body gives you all the support you need 🙂
You can join our worldwide "MOVEMENT Movement"
The Xero Shoes mission is helping people re-discover that natural movement the better, obvious, healthy choice… the way natural food is now.
That’s why we say we’re creating a MOVEMENT movement.
We’d love to have you join the movement.
All you have to do is slip on a pair of Xero Shoes so you can Live Life Feet First.
Have you forgotten the feeling of going outside on a warm summer day, kicking off your shoes and feeling the grass, or the sand, or the water between your toes.
Remember that fun. free feeling?
You can have that feeling NOW, regardless of your age.
If you don’t want to go barefoot, put on some shoes that let you Feel the Freedom and Feel the Fun of minimalist shoes, boots, and sandals.
Xero Shoes.
Check out more of our barefoot-inspired products for men, women and kids, below.
Best Selling Minimalist Shoes
Here are the best-selling Shoes that will help you Live Life Feet First:
More info about Huarache Style Sandals
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Still Have Questions About Hiking Sandals?
If the FAQs below don’t answer your questions, contact our Customer Happiness Team atsupport@xeroshoes.comor 303.447.3100 between 9-5, Mountain Time, Mon-Fri (calling is faster).