About Hiking Feet

Hiking Feet provides professional recommendations and reviews to help you find the best hiking boots, hiking shoes, & trail running shoes for your hikes. As an avid hiker and outdoor industry professional, I've personally worn, sold, and tested almost all of the footwear this site recommends. My goal is to help men and women find footwear that (1) fits their hiking feet and (2) matches their hiking style. 

About the author

Hi,

I'm  Jory,

the editor of Hiking Feet. I created this site when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the outdoor gear shop where I managed footwear. Hiking Feet stands out from other outdoor gear sites because it focuses exclusively on hiking footwear—what I know best. Plus, my expert reviews and recommendations are based on more than 15,000 miles of hiking experience and 5+ years of professional experience as an outdoor gear expert at Backcountry, Appalachian Outdoors, and leading outdoor websites. I've personally worn, sold, and tested a ton of hiking boots, hiking shoes, and trail runners—and enjoy sharing  my expert reviews and recommendations to help you find footwear that fits your feet and matches your hikes. 

How can Hiking Feet help?

This site is set up to help you find footwear that (1) fits your feet and (2) matches your hikes. My free and independent content includes a range of pages and posts: 

Recommendations

My recommendation posts help you learn the best-in-class hiking boots, hiking shoes, & trail running shoes

Buying Guides

My Hiking Boot Guide and Hiking Shoe Guide provide all you need to find the best hiking boots & shoes

Hiking Boot & Shoe Reviews

My first-hand reviews of best-selling boots and shoes help you make informed buying decisions

Brand Reviews

My brand reviews give you recs and professional scuttlebutt on the most popular brands for hiking footwear

Tour du Mont Blanc hike in 2024

Why Trust Hiking Feet?

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

Unlike other outdoor gear sites, I do NOT publish sponsored content or promote advertisers' products (Hiking Feet is ad-free). 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