Best Footwear of 2025

From rugged backpacking boots to trail runners built for speed, the right footwear takes you farther and keeps you comfortable along the way. Our top picks for Spring/Summer 2025 cover everything from technical performance to everyday versatility.

Topo Athletic Ultraventure 4

The Ultraventure has been one of Topo’s best-selling trail running shoes for a long time and with good reason. Its combination of a well-cushioned midsole, a roomy toe box, and a multi-surface capable outsole makes the…

Salomon X Ultra 5 GTX

The classic X Ultra gets a high-performance face-lift this year with the introduction of highly abrasion-resistant Matryx fabric to its upper. This fabric has an amazing strength-to-weight ratio and enhances breathability and flexibility without sacrificing durability.…

Salewa Wildfire NXT Mid GTX

What a funky shoe. But in a really good way! Its sleek Matryx high-tenacity upper delivers a more slipper-like a fit than you’d possibly expect in a boot, but you still get a surprising amount of…

Oboz Katabatic LT Mid GTX

This zippy boot may have won over even our most stubborn non-boot wearers. A lighter weight version of Oboz’s popular Katabatic model, the LT version utilizes GORE-TEX Invisible Fit technology and a compression molded EVA midsole…

NNormal Tomir 2.0

We’re not sure how a truly mountain-worthy trail running shoe can be as light as the Tomir and still deliver high-mileage performance, but it is, and it does. The supple, breathable monofilament-and-TPU upper is craft-stitched to…

LOWA Renegade EVO GTX Mid

Wait, what? Why would you mess with one of the most beloved, best-selling boots of all time? Thankfully “mess with” is the wrong way of looking at the update to the classic Renegade as LOWA pretty…

Asolo Acadia Leather GTX

This shoe is almost too pretty to subject to the trail. Almost. But it also happens to be solidly built to hold up to wear-and-tear while also delivering waterproof and breathable protection. The suede upper uses…

Adidas Terrex Agravic 3

We’ve always been impressed with the way Adidas translates its road-running expertise into trail-worthy offerings. That’s certainly the case with the Terrex Agravic 3 and the dynamic, responsive ride provided by its soft, energy-returning Lightstrike foam…