Best Trail Runners for Men

What actually separates one men's trail shoe from another

Men's trail shoes are the one corner of hiking footwear where width is reliably published. Almost every brand on this page prints a letter - D, E, 2E, EE, 4E - for the men's version, and several of them sell nothing beyond a standard width on the women's side of the same shoe. That is an advantage worth using: it means the decision can be made on paper instead of in a fitting room, which is exactly what the rest of this list is built on. The three numbers that matter after width are stack height (how much foam is under you), lug depth (how the shoe bites), and whether there is a rock plate between your forefoot and the ground.

The spread is bigger than most buyers expect. Stack height on this page runs from 33/29 mm on the Peregrine 16 to 44/37 mm on the HOKA Challenger 8 - a difference you feel immediately on uneven ground, because a taller shoe trades trail feel and lateral stability for cushion. Lug depth runs from 4 mm to 5 mm, which sounds trivial and is not: the 5 mm Vibram Megagrip on the Speedgoat 7 and the Agility Peak 6 is the difference between holding a wet root and skating off it. Rock plates are the clearest divide of all - the Peregrine 16, the Agility Peak 6 and the Bushido III publish one; the Hierro v9, the Speedgoat 7, the Cascadia 20 and the MTN Racer 4 do not.

Published widths, side by side

How we ranked these for men

Fit range carries 30% on this page and problem fit another 30%, with support and protection at 15%, durability at 15% and weight at 10%. Problem fit here is specifically the quality of the published men's width information: a named letter beats a word, a defined measurement beats a letter, and "2 Widths Available" with no letters at all - the HOKA Challenger 8's situation on Running Warehouse - scores lowest, which is why the shoe with the most cushion on this page finishes last. The standing rubric is on how we choose.

Sizing a trail shoe when you are hiking rather than running in it

Trail runners are sized for running, and hiking changes two things. First, you are usually carrying weight, which spreads the foot and lengthens it slightly; second, you are descending slowly rather than quickly, which means your toes spend longer pressed against the front of the shoe. Both push in the same direction: most hikers want a half size more length in a trail runner than in a road shoe. Per OrthoInfo (AAOS), you should still be able to wiggle your toes with the shoe laced - and if you cannot, the answer is a wider last rather than a longer shoe.

If your toes are hitting the front on descents, length is usually not the problem and lacing is. Our guides to hiking boot lacing techniques and toes hurting on the way downhill both apply directly to trail shoes. And if what you actually need is more room across the forefoot rather than a different model, best trail runners for wide feet filters this same field on width alone.

Who should skip all of these

Skip the whole category if you carry a heavy multi-day pack over rough ground: none of these has a shank, a stiff chassis or ankle coverage, and best backpacking boots is the right page instead. Skip it too if your hikes are wet - every shoe here is a non-waterproof mesh shoe, and most brands sell a separate GORE-TEX version of the same model; best waterproof hiking shoes covers that end. If you are simply not sure whether a trail runner or a boot suits your trips, hiking boots vs. trail runners is the page to read before buying anything here. And if you want the same list filtered for women's lasts and widths, see best trail runners for women.