I'm a mega shoe nerd and have tried a lot. I can't recommend Hokas or other high stack shoes on our trails since you come across several different types of topography in the same hike. The high stack runners, I find, are way too unstable and wobbly... great if you're just going in a straight line on flat trail... but not so great for lateral movement and scrambling. My favorite all around trail runner has been the New Balance Hierro 7... which sadly is all done and they've turned into yet another wobbly high stacker with the 9. Recently I tried a Brooks Caldera 8, and I gotta say it's pretty much spot-on the money. Really solid stability and traction for gravel, rock, incline up and down, and lateral motion. Great cushioning without being a high stacker. Nice ample toebox. They're like wearing nice comfy tanks on your feet, and fit our PHX trails almost perfectly.
Shame they're so ugly, lol.
Couldn't disagree more. the traction in the Hierro i find is terrible in the muddy fields here in Kent, and i find the shoes a bit lifeless on the firmer trails. I know it's very dependent on your running gait and personal preference, but i thought it was interesting that we had such contrary points of view on the same shoe!
Fellow Pennsylvanian here... and this struggle is real! I'm somewhat in the same boat as you as I've been trying to find shoes that are protective against the rocks and roots of our region while also being durable enough to get your money's worth out of the shoes.
Here's my progression of footwear over the past 5-7 years or so along with some insights you can take as suggestions. None of these options are zero drop though except the Merrell trail gloves.
Adidas Terrex - Pros: good coushion, plenty of padding and protection against rocks. Cons: not wide enough for my feet and they changed the cut of the heel stabilizer to be too high.
Merrell Trail Glove - Pros: out of box comfort and very light. Cons: not at all good on rocks.
Asics Gel Venture - Pros: out of box comfort and good tread. Cons: not durable, not wide enought, bad quality control.
Merrell Moab Speed 1 - Pros: great durability of shoe body, available in wide sizes, and sufficient protection against rocks. Cons: tread is not durable. However, this is probably my favorite trail runner and I wish it was still in production. Its a 500 mile shoe with 300 mile tread.
Brooks Cascadia 13 and 15 - Pros: quality tread and good rock protection. Cons - not as wide as I'd like in their 2E size and the heel lock fabric deteriorated quickly causing blisters on my heel.
New Balance Hierro V7 - Pros: good coushion and heel support. Cons - that damn flappy thing on the heel, lack of padding in the tongue, durability.
Brooks Cascadia 16 - Pros: great rock plate, awesome tread, and wider toebox in 2E size. Cons - shit quality. Regardless, I went through 3 pairs and just dropped the 3rd in the trash after hiking up Old Rag in Shennandoah a week ago. 500 mile tread on a 250 mile shoe body that is not worth the cost.
Merrell Moab Speed 2 - Pros - lightweight and PA approved rock plate. Cons - durability and the redesign in general. Wore these on a 260 mile section hike and they messed up my feet and gave me blisters on top of my toes. Was fully refunded though.
Merrell Nova 4 - arrives in the mail today in advance of a 120 mile AT section in central Va in a couple of weeks. Might move onto Topo Terraventures or Ultraventures next.
Top Trail Running Shoes on Reddit
1
Mount to Coast
H1
85% positive of 177 users
Versatile road-to-trail, but struggles on wet, technical downhills.
Chango13
