About Hiking Feet

Hiking Feet provides professional recommendations and reviews to help men and women find the best hiking boots, hiking shoes, and trail running shoes for their hikes. This is the only website focused exclusively on hiking footwear—what I know best. I'm the former footwear manager at Appalachian Outdors and Gearhead® Expert at Backcountry. I also hike more than 1,000 miles every year to test and review the best hiking footwear. Having hiked 16,000 miles the past 14 years, I've personally worn almost every brand and tested more than 50 boots and shoes. 


You won't find too many people who know more about hiking footwear than me. 

How can Hiking Feet help you?

The key to buying hiking footwear is to find boots and shoes that (1) fit your feet and (2) match your hikes. That's why Hiking Feet's reviews and recommendation lists highlight the "best fit" and "best match" for every hiking boot, hiking shoe, and trail running shoe on this site.

Helpful Content: 

Here's what you'll find on Hiking Feet: 

  • Lists of Recommended Hiking Boots & Shoes: Scroll my home page for curated lists of the boots and shoes I recommend based on my personal experience.
  • Hiking Boot reviews: My in-depth hiking boot reviews give you an honest comprehensive overview of the support, weight, fit, comfort, traction, weather protection, and overall value of new and best-selling hiking boots
  • Hiking Shoe Reviews: Similarly, my hiking shoe reviews include comprehensive, first-hand reviews of the most popular hiking shoes and trail running shoes for hikers.
  • Brand Reviews: Are you trying to find the best brand for you? My brand reviews give you an overview of popular brands, outline their pros and cons, and recommend each brand's top 3 boots and shoes for hikers. 

Why Trust Hiking Feet?

My combination of extensive hiking experience and outdoor industry experience sets Hiking Feet apart from other websites that recommend and review hiking footwear.

Unlike other outdoor gear sites, I do NOT publish sponsored content or promote advertisers' products. Hiking Feet is ad-free and not owned and managed by a media company or advertising firm. 

Likewise, this site does NOT compile reviews from other sources or rip off content from other high-ranking websites, paraphrase it, and pass it off as my own. 

That's because I know my stuff.

My professional reviews and recommendations are based on

personal experience

I typically hike 1200-1400 miles per year—approximately 15,000 miles since 2011 

outdoor industry pro

I've been a Gearhead Expert & Copywriter at Backcountry—a leading outdoor retailer

brand expert

I'm a certified brand expert— based on extra training & tests for outdoor industry pros 

trained by podiatrist

I was trained in hiking footwear by a licensed podiatrist at a grassroots outdoor gear shop

footwear manager

I'm the former footwear manager at Appalachian Outdoors in State College, PA

up-to-date training

I attend vendor clinics and trainings to keep up-to-date on new hiking boots & shoes

Backpacking Tasmania's Overland Track

I can't pass along confidential information or trade secrets from my day jobs and professional contacts. However, I can pass along up-to-date information, outdoor industry scuttlebutt, and personal recommendations from outdoor industry professionals who have access to the best information and the best gear.

I know a ton about hiking footwear and enjoy passing along expert reviews and recommendations to help men and women buy whatever footwear is best for them—whether that's a hiking boot, hiking shoe, or trail running shoe. 

Australia's Great Ocean Walk

Independent & Reader Supported

Hiking Feet is 100% independent and run as a side hustle in my spare time to help me make ends meet. 

All views expressed on this site are my own. They are not influenced by brands and do not reflect the views of any outdoor brands, retailers, or websites who've hired me as a copywriter, freelance writer, gear analyst, or editor. 

The only way that this site makes any money is if you click on an affiliate link and then buy something. 

Affiliate Disclosure:

Hiking Feet includes affiliate links to Backcountry, REI, and other outdoor specialty retailers that I recommend. If you click on these links and buy something, I may receive a small percentage of that sale from the retailer—at no cost to you.

That's a free and easy way for you to support this site's free and independent content.

Those commissions aren't much. But they keep this site afloat and give me a few dollars back for the thousands of unpaid hours I've spent testing footwear and creating free content for hikers like you. 

Hiking Feet is basically one under-paid hiker who knows his stuff competing against ad agencies, media companies, and billion-dollar brands for traffic. Google has now stacked the deck in the favor of those who pay for advertising—and often rewards the wealthy websites that steal expert content from sites like mine. 

If Hiking Feet hooked you up, please consider hooking me up, too, by purchasing your next pair through these links. 


get in touch

Please reach out via email with any hiking footwear questions or collaboration inquiries: 

jory@hikingfeet.com