Looking for the best hiking sandals on the market? Hiking sandals are a great option for hikes with water features, sand, river crossings, or anytime it’s hot out. Hiking Sandals are also a great choice for rafting trips and paddling.

why this blog? Hi there! My name is Maddy and I’ve been working as a paddling guide and trip leader since 2018! When I’m not guiding, I work as a freelance outdoor writer. This means that I’ve had a lot of time and opportunity to explore and test gear. Beyond guiding and writing, I’ve also worked hands on in outdoor retail and tested these hiking sandals on trail myself!

Oh hey there! this article uses affiliate links. that means if you choose to make a purchase, I make a small kickback at no additional cost to you.

Best Adventure and Hiking Sandals for women:

There are a couple of factors to consider when looking for a good pair or adventure or hiking sandals. One of the major things to consider is traction. If you’re looking to hiking in sandals, it’s likely because you’re feet are going to get wet! For this reason, you’ll want shows with good traction even when wet that dry quickly and don’t blister. Additionally, it’s good to consider where you want your sandal to strap on, and how much toe protection you want.

• Bedrock Carin Adventure Sandals
• Teva Hurricane XLT2
• Chaco Z/1 Classic Sandals
• Keen Newport H2
• Bedrock Clog (not fully a sandal)
• Xero Z-Trail EV Sandals
• Birkenstock Mogami Terra Sandals (hideous, but some people are into that)

READ: Best Women’s Hiking Boots

1) Bedrock Cairn Adventure Sandals

Bedrock Cairn sandals are my personal favorite adventure and hiking sandals. When I’m running overnight sea kayaking trips in the Apostle Islands I pretty much just pack this pair of shoes for the whole trip. They have good traction while still leaning barebones in support and are closer in style to barefoot shoes with zero drop than the typical adventure sandal.

The stand out feature of Bedrocks are the T-shaped between-the-toe strap style, which leads to just the best sandal tans. No, the strap between the toe doesn’t bother me (though I did initially think it would) and overall I find the T-straps paired with the ankle strap to make the Bedrock Cairns one of the more secure-feeling hiking sandals.

I’ve now had these since 2022 and they’ve survived two seasons of heavy use as an overnight sea kayak guide plus a moderate handful of backpacking trips. Overall, I think that Bedrock Cairns are probably the single best pair of hiking sandals on the market.

READ: Beginner’s Guide to Backpacking (+packing list)

2) Teva Hurricanes XLT2

If you’re looking for a classic and solid pair of hiking sandals that don’t break the bank, at $80 USD the Teva Hurricanes are probably the best bang for your buck you can find. Comfortable to walk long distances in, adjustable straps, and decent grip, these hiking sandals are a good choice for a do-it-all shoe for water hikes and paddling.

I brought an earlier iteration of these shoes on my 70-day British Columbia sea kayaking trip and they held up really well. The only “con” to the Teva Hurricanes is that the velcro itself tends to stick to a lot of things, where some of the other other systems that don’t use velcro are less likely to pill your other clothes or collect grass.

3) Chaco Z/1: Classic hiking sandals

The Chaco Z/1s are the classic and iconic paddling and hiking sandal and were the legacy choice of river guides long before Bedrocks hit the market. Chacos come with some major pros– like classic tan lines.

I rocked Chacos my first two years of coastal kayak guiding, and actually decided to move on from them after. While I find Chacos to be some of the best designed hiking sandals for keeping rocks out, I guide in a place with lots of sand and found that the Chacos just filled with sand. Great choice for rocky hikes and terrain, but not so much for sandy.

4) Keen Newports: Best full-coverage hiking sandals

The Keen Newports are a great hiking sandal for more coverage on your adventures. The Keen design tends to have good traction, and be pretty ideal for hiking rugged terrain with water where you might want full protection of the toebox. That said, these shoes SHOVEL small rocks and sand into a raft or boat. They’re definitely more practical for hiking, and borderline inconvenient for most paddling trips.

5) Bedrock Clogs: The casual spirit of a hiking sandal but make it the ugliest shoe imaginable

Bedrock Clogs are not cute, but they grow on you I promise. While these aren’t a hiking sandal in the traditional sense, these shoes channel the spirit of a sandal but for cooler weather.

With zero drop just like their sister shoe, the Bedrock Clog has an ankle strap in the back but a clog with toe coverage in the front. With great traction, these are pretty much the ideal “around town short hike might break out” shoe, or the shoe you throw on after your 10-mile hike to wear on the quick 2-mile sunset jaunt.

honorable mentions/shoes I haven’t tested:

6) Xero Shoes: Z-Trail EV Sandals

Xero Shoes Z-Trails are your true barefoot adventure sandal, and when I say “bare” I mean these things are basically thongs for your foot. Ultralight, barely any sole at all, and a sexy little thin strap, at $80 USD these little numbers are a good choice for anyone looking for the barefoot experience in full, but still not willing to cut open their foot by going actually barefoot. (After seven years of guiding I do in fact NOT recommend going actually barefoot. I’ve seen many a season ruined for even the guides with the thickest foot callous).

7) Birkenstock: Mogami Terra Sandals

I feel like Birkenstock saw how well Keen and Crocs were doing with their ugly sandals and wanted a piece of that pie because the Morgami Terra’s are ugly. Full disclosure I have not personally tested these! I’m turned off by the lack of an ankle strap and the, well, look of them. That said, it seems that people who have loved the classic Arizona Birkenstock model also love these, and the Morgami Terra’s are essentially the Arizona’s but with a better sole for hiking and fully waterproof.

All that considered, these are good hiking sandals for casual hikes with swimming along the way, or beach days, but likely don’t belong in your backpacking, rafting, or kayaking pack.

love reading about hiking sandals? Check out…

• The best hiking day packs for women
• The best women’s hiking boots
• A beginner’s guide to what to wear day hiking

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