Hoka One One footwear reviews

A backpacker at Evolution Lake on the John Muir Trail in Evolution Basin, Kings Canyon National Park.

The Best Backpacking Gear for the John Muir Trail

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By Michael Lanza

So you’re planning to thru-hike the John Muir Trail and making all of the necessary preparations, and now you’re wondering: What’s the best gear for a JMT hike? Having thru-hiked the JMT as well as taken numerous other backpacking trips all over the High Sierra—mostly between late August and late September, which I consider that the best time to walk the Sierra, to avoid snow and the voracious mosquitoes and blazing hot afternoons of mid-summer—I offer the following picks for the best ultralight and lightweight backpacking gear and apparel for a JMT thru-hike.

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A backpacker above the Cutthroat Lakes on the Doubletop Mountain Trail in Wyoming's Wind River Range.

The Best Backpacking Gear of 2025

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By Michael Lanza

Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness, Montana’s Beartooths, and Colorado’s Weminuche. Glacier National Park and the Tetons. The Grand Canyon (repeatedly). The Canadian Rockies. Southern Utah’s Owl and Fish canyons. The Wind River Range. The John Muir Trail and Wonderland Trail. Iceland’s Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls trails. New Zealand’s Milford Track, Routeburn Track, and Tongariro Alpine Crossing. These are just some of the places where I’ve recently tested the backpacking gear and apparel that I’ve reviewed at The Big Outside—so that I can give you honest and thorough, field-tested opinions that help you find the best gear for your adventures.

And that’s exactly how I came up with the following picks for today’s best backpacking gear.

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The Hoka One One Speedgoat 6 trail-running shoes.

Review: Hoka One One Speedgoat 6 Trail Running Shoes

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Trail Running/Hiking Shoes
Hoka One One Speedgoat 6
$155, 1 lb. 3 oz./539g (US men’s 9)
Sizes: US men’s 7-15, women’s 5-12
backcountry.com

Hoka’s popular trail-running shoe, the Speedgoat, has passed through several updates since it first emerged on the scene in 2015, named for the American phenom ultrarunner Karl “Speedgoat” Meltzer. The latest, the Speedgoat 6, builds upon that legacy again, with a more durable, breathable woven upper, a more responsive midsole, and even better traction—maintaining the Speedgoat’s standing amid an expanding field of copycats and its stature as a solid performer for trail ultra-runs and ultra-hikes, lightweight dayhiking, and ultralight backpacking.

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The Hoka One One Speedgoat 5 shoes.

Review: Hoka One One Speedgoat 5 Shoes

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Trail Running/Hiking Shoes
Hoka One One Speedgoat 5
$155, 1 lb. 3 oz./539g (US men’s 9)
Sizes: US men’s 7-15, women’s 5-12
backcountry.com

Improving on a great piece of gear is hard. But Hoka nailed it again with the Speedgoat 5, the newest update of the brand’s workhorse trail-running and light hiking shoes. Wearing them on trail runs up to 10 miles in my local foothills, I found my favorite trail runners retain the same cushion, comfort, and breathability I’m accustomed to, but now have a welcome traction upgrade, a sweeter fit, and have even dropped a little weight.

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Hoka One One Anacapa Low GTX hiking shoes.

Review: Hoka Anacapa Low GTX Hiking Shoes

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Hoka Hiking Shoes
Hoka One One Anacapa Low GTX
$170, 1 lb. 10.5 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: US men’s 7-15, women’s 5-11, all gender M3.5/W5-M14/W15.5
backcountry.com

Sometimes it’s the subtle details that make a hiking shoe stand out. From June and October days of hiking 10 or more miles with about 6,000 cumulative feet of elevation gain and loss each day in New Hampshire’s Presidential Range—including hiking up the hardest trail in the White Mountains, Huntington Ravine—with very rocky and sometimes muddy trail and wet snow; to an 18-mile, 7,300-foot, 13-hour, four-summit, partly off-trail dayhike in Utah’s Wasatch Range in early October; and hikes in my local foothills on trails consisting mostly of dry, packed dirt with occasional rocky sections, the Hoka One One Anacapa LowGTX proved to be one of the most comfortable and supportive hiking shoes I’ve come across in a while.

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