Best Waterproof Hiking Boots for Women

The short answer

Every boot on this page is sold in a women's version by its maker, carries a waterproof membrane the brand is willing to name, and is ranked on the three things that decide whether a waterproof boot works for you: the width range published for women, the membrane, and the weight.

Those are in that order deliberately. A membrane cannot rescue a boot that is too narrow across the forefoot, because a foot squeezed sideways blisters whether it is dry or not. Fit range carries 25% of the score on this page and it is the reason the ranking looks the way it does.

What a women's last actually changes

“Women's” on a hiking boot can mean two different things, and the difference matters. Some brands build a genuinely different last: a narrower heel relative to the forefoot, a lower instep volume, a different ankle shape to clear a narrower leg. Others take the men's last, scale it down and change the colorway.

You cannot tell which you are holding from a photograph, but you can usually tell from the size chart. A brand that publishes separate women's widths - a women's B, or a women's Regular and Wide rather than the men's letters - is a brand that has built a women's last and is prepared to describe it. Salomon publishes a women's B - Medium. Oboz publishes women's Regular and Wide. Merrell and KEEN publish women's Medium and Wide. Columbia's Newton Ridge Plus Amped is a women's-specific model rather than a women's size of a men's one.

What this does not mean is that a women's boot is automatically the right shape for you. Plenty of women hike in men's boots because their foot is wider or higher-volume than a women's last allows, and that is a perfectly sensible thing to do - a men's D is roughly a women's wide fitting. The rule on this site is always the shape, not the label. If your feet are wide, best hiking boots for women with wide feet goes further into the width question than this page does.

Which come in a women's Wide

This is the single most useful fact on the page, because it is the one most listings bury. Of the eight boots here, four publish a women's Wide: the Merrell Moab 3 Mid Waterproof, the KEEN Targhee IV Mid Waterproof, the Oboz Sawtooth X Mid and the Oboz Bridger Mid, plus Columbia's Newton Ridge Plus Amped. The Salomon X Ultra 5 Mid GTX, the Quest Echo GTX and the women's GORE-TEX Moab are published in one width each.

Two warnings that come up constantly in this category. First, a Wide is usually a separate product with its own page and its own stock, not a dropdown on the standard one - so “sold out” on the standard listing tells you nothing about the Wide. Second, sizing up is not a substitute for a Wide: it adds length you do not need, which lets the heel lift and the foot slide forward on descents. What the letters mean is in hiking boot widths explained.

Named membrane vs “waterproof”

Most of these name their membrane: GORE-TEX on the two Salomons and the GORE-TEX Moab, KEEN.DRY on the Targhee, B-DRY on both Oboz models, Omni-Tech on the Columbia. One does not - the standard Merrell Moab 3 Mid Waterproof is waterproof without Merrell naming the membrane, which means there is no third-party rating to look up for it.

That is worth a sentence rather than a panic. A named membrane is a component with a maker standing behind it - GORE-TEX publishes what its footwear products are and what the guarantee covers (GORE-TEX) - and it is the honest reason to pay the difference for the GORE-TEX Moab over the standard one. But the standard Moab still outranks it here, because it is published in a women's Wide and the GORE-TEX version is not, and width decides more hikes than membrane branding does.

What no membrane does is keep water out from above. Every one of these boots will fill if you step in deep enough, and none of them keeps sweat from wetting a sock from the inside. The honest framing of what a membrane buys you, and when you are better off without one, is in waterproof vs non-waterproof hiking boots.

Weight is the hidden cost

A waterproof membrane adds material and a mid cut adds more, so every boot on this page is heavier than its low-cut equivalent. That cost is real and it compounds: weight on the foot is more tiring than weight in the pack, mile after mile.

The spread here is wide. The Quest Echo GTX is the heaviest boot on the list and the one that earns it on rough ground with a load; the X Ultra 5 Mid and the Moab are in the middle; the Columbia is light for what it is. The published weights are in the table below and in each card, each linked to its source. Use them as a tiebreaker rather than a verdict - a lighter boot that does not fit is not lighter in any way you will enjoy.

If your feet run hot

A membrane slows moisture leaving the boot as well as entering it. If your feet sweat heavily, a waterproof boot can leave you with wet socks on a dry day, which causes exactly the blisters the boot was bought to prevent.

Two things help before you change boots. A merino or synthetic sock moves moisture far better than cotton, and changing socks at lunch is the cheapest dry-feet trick there is - best hiking socks for sweaty feet covers both. And if most of your hiking is dry, a non-membrane boot that drains and dries fast may genuinely suit you better. Dry feet are a system, not a purchase: how to keep feet dry hiking puts the pieces in order.

The published specs, side by side

Every value links to the page it came from. A dash means the brand does not publish that figure - scored neutral here, never guessed.

How to choose between them

Start with width. If you have ever sized up to get room across the ball of the foot, go straight to the four that publish a women's Wide and ignore the rest for now.

Then decide how much boot you need. Day hikes on maintained trail: the Moab, the Targhee or the Sawtooth. Rough ground, a loaded pack, or ankles you do not trust: the Bridger, the X Ultra 5 Mid or the Quest Echo.

Then check the membrane only if you care which one. All but the standard Moab name theirs; GORE-TEX is the one with a published guarantee attached.

Then try them on late in the day, in the socks you hike in, and walk down something. Feet swell over a day and a boot fitted at 9am can bruise toes at 4pm. The full check is in how should hiking boots fit.