7 Best Hiking Sandals for Men 2026

Where the Newport H2 is a water sandal that hikes, the Arroyo 2 is a hiking sandal that happens to drain. The heel is closed rather than open, the lugs are deeper and more aggressive, and there’s a thick rubber guard over the toes. Point it at a rocky, dusty trail and it’s the KEEN we reach for.

The closed heel is the detail that changes the walk. It holds the foot in place instead of letting it slide sideways on loose rock, and it keeps pebbles from working their way in under your arch — a small thing that stops being small at mile four. The sole is firmer than the Newport’s, so you feel less of every stone, and the arch support is the part we trust most when the pack is heavy.

Water goes out through the open sides rather than pooling, and the toe guard turns a submerged rock into a nudge. It runs warmer than a webbing design — that’s the price of the protection — so it’s at its best from spring through fall and less fun standing still in high summer. Fifteen ounces on the spec sheet feels about right in the hand: substantial, not clumsy.

The Z/1 has no buckle, no hook-and-loop tab, and no quick release: it has webbing that threads through the footbed and stays where you set it. The first fitting takes a few minutes of pulling strap through, checking the heel, and pulling again. After that, the fit you dialed in is the fit you get on the trail, wet or dry.

Comfort comes from shape rather than cushioning. The footbed is sculpted with a pronounced arch, and the sole is firm enough that you feel the ground through it — which is exactly what some hikers want and exactly what others don’t. It’s also the sandal here with the strongest case for surviving years of hard use, partly because there’s so little on it to break.

For long days on rough ground, this is our pick. It’s heavier than the webbing sandals here and you feel that in the first mile, but the trade is a footbed that doesn’t collapse and a strap system that doesn’t loosen when it’s soaked. Hikers who want a soft, barefoot feel will be happier elsewhere; hikers who want their foot locked in one position for eight hours should start here.

This is the sandal that lives in the duffel. We kept a pair by the door for the kind of day that starts on a trail and ends in town — a short hike, a stream crossing, errands on the way back — and it never looked out of place in either half.

Grip is the standout: the sole bites on wet rock and loose gravel instead of skating, and that’s what makes it useful on mixed terrain rather than just at the beach. The open toe area is generous, and the footbed molds to your foot after a couple of days, which helps if you’re between the whole sizes it comes in.

Durability is the honest weak spot. The upper holds up, but the sole and the glue holding it on are what give out first under heavy use — so this is a sandal you get a few good seasons from, not a decade. For the money, that’s a reasonable deal; if you want one pair to last, the Chaco is the better bet.

At the budget end of this group, this is the pair we point at when someone wants to try hiking in sandals without committing to the idea. What the money buys is cushioning: the midsole is soft underfoot in a way the other low-cost option here isn’t, and the footbed has enough shape that a high arch doesn’t complain on a two-hour walk.

The fit is friendlier than the price suggests. It’s one of the few picks here that comes in half sizes, and the straps adjust at the instep and around the heel, so a wide foot isn’t jammed into a fixed width. Sizing runs small — if you’re between sizes, go up, and don’t assume your sneaker size carries over.

The details mostly hold. There’s double stitching along most seams, the sole doesn’t chunk off on gravel, and the footbed keeps its shape better than we expected. This isn’t a sandal for a week-long traverse or a scree slope, but for day hikes, camp, and a summer of errands, it does the job.

Two webbing straps, a plain footbed, and no toe coverage: the Katavi 2 is about as simple as a hiking sandal gets. It’s easy to adjust one-handed, easy to get on and off, and unobtrusive enough that you forget you’re wearing it — which is why it ends up as the pair by the tent door.

Arch support is better than the strap count implies. The footbed has a genuine arch and holds the foot in position on uneven ground, and the fit runs true to size with two straps to take up any slack. It’s also a good-looking sandal in a plain way, the kind that reads as casual rather than technical.

Where it lands for us is a light summer sandal for day hikes, camp, and hot-weather walks where airflow matters more than armor. It isn’t the pair we reach for when the route is long or the ground is sharp, and it won’t outlast the Chaco by a long stretch. As a second sandal, or a first one for gentle trails, it earns its place.

HUMTTO sells this as a hiking sandal, but the retailer files it under water shoes, and that second label is the more honest one: it’s a closed-toe, quick-dry shoe with a rubber sole, not a strappy sandal. If what you want is open sides and adjustable webbing, this isn’t that.

What it does well is wet ground. The rubber sole grips on wet gravel and slick rock, the closed toe takes the sting out of a submerged stone, and you can step in and out without undoing anything. For kayaking, canyon walks, and beach days that turn into scrambles, that combination is genuinely useful.

Two things to plan around. The fit runs about a size large, so size down rather than trusting your usual number. And they hold water longer than the name implies — the mesh drains, but the shoe stays damp for a while after, which you notice when you pull them on the next morning.

For a wet hike, this is a lot of shoe for the money, and it’s the pair we hand to someone who isn’t ready to go bare-toed on rock. For dry, long, rocky trails, a real hiking sandal with a supportive footbed is the better tool — this one is a specialty act, not an all-rounder.