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A light hiker is the best type of shoe��for��on-foot��adventures close to home. The right pair can bridge the gap between trail and town, saving��you both money and closet space.��Unlike a high-top��hiking boot, it offers less structure, more breathability, and a minimal��weight. That makes��it��much more comfortable for occasions when��you aren’t carrying a heavy load or walking for days at a time—i.e., 95 percent of the average user’s hikes.

An increasing number of manufacturers have caught on to this need��and, in the past five years,��have focused on more functional and��better-looking designs. Now there are a wealth of options on the market. Since many��of us are staring down months of nearby adventures (though��these shoes will also��serve you farther afield��once things reopen), it seemed��apropos to put five of these do-it-all light hikers in a head-to-head test.

The Test

Comfort: I wore each pair while working at my standing desk for an entire day��and during��an hourlong hike��in a green space near my house.

Performance: Besides the hike, I��wore��each��to climb and descend��a steep scree field three times. I gauged how well each shoe��gripped the ground and interacted with my feet.

Style: I FaceTimed with fashion journalist and founder of the outerwear site , Alex Rakestraw. We studied each pair��and discussed their designs.

The Winner

Danner Trail 2650��($160)

Comfort: 5
Performance: 4.5
Style: 5

was��so comfortable and capable during both the hike and scree-slide tests that I wore them on��a bonus hike��with my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter in our Deuter Kid Carrier��that same day. The��shoes��handled my adorable 25-pound load with aplomb, and the hours on my feet proved to be��full-on enjoyable. Credit the cushy midsole, coupled with an OrthoLite insole, the latter of which hugged the bottom��of my feet like an old friend; this helped while standing at my desk as well as��when sliding��downhill on scree, because my dogs��didn’t move��around in the shoe at all. On the fashion front, Rakestraw shared��my love of the 2650. “These are my favorite true-to-form light hikers that are out right now,” he says. “A lot of the time,��brands keep designs so firmly anchored in the idea that it’s��a boot,��to the detraction of the sneaker.��These��hit a balance with this that no other pure outdoors light hikers have hit so far.”

Best Value

Salomon Outline��($110)

Comfort: 3.5
Performance: 4.5
Style: 4

If you’re on a budget, look no further than the , which was fantastic by��all three testing criteria��and costs $50 less than the 2650. Its��aggressive five-millimeter lugs allowed me to arrest a downward slide in less than two feet on the scree field. Meanwhile, its��extremely lightweight and breathable upper felt��like that of��a comfy sneaker, making this��a best-of-both-worlds day hiker. Rakestraw believes that this party-on-top, business-on-bottom approach added to the aesthetic of the shoe as well. “I love that it has a running-shoe upper with a monster-truck bottom. It looks a little sandwiched together, but because it is Salomon, there is a real tastefulness to how it was executed,”��he��says. “It’s like one of those Porsche 911 models with big Baja tires: you might say, ‘Wait, that doesn’t go together,’ but it’s very utilitarian because of it.”

Best Performance

Oboz Arete Low��($125)

Comfort: 5
Performance: 5
Style: 3.5

If this test had been based solely on performance, the would have won. I made audible oohs and aahs��while navigating��downhill amid both mud and scree, as the Arete’s fantastic traction and best-in-test fit made it��incredibly capable at maintaining control. The��fit—a nice cupping heel to keep my foot in place, with an arched midfoot��and a wide toe��box—married the best of performance and comfort. Though the upper was featherlight and breathed well, I never felt like this��shoe��would be undergunned��on a technical day hike. Oboz has not historically been known as a stylish��brand, but it stepped up its��game with the Arete. “I think this is a great move for the brand,” Rakestraw says. “It’s somewhere between a walking shoe and a really technical sneaker, and it looks completely unlike anything I would associate with Oboz. It has some of that outdoor niche detailing that’s in fashion right now.”

Best Summer Style

Columbia Vitesse Outdry Hiking Shoe��($110)

Comfort: 4.5
Performance: 3.5
Style: 4

I don’t think of Columbia as a��brand that puts aesthetics first, but the����proved me wrong. “I think these would be really fresh with shorts,” Rakestraw says. “I like how big the weave is on top. This is a funky risk-taking shoe that is aggressively summer��and retro in color scheme.” On the performance side, these��were��the most running-shoe-like of the bunch, and I felt extremely comfortable standing in them for hours at my computer. They also��had lugs that were tough��enough to help me maintain control while descending the scree field. My only beef was that my feet got extremely hot because of��the waterproof upper. I finished my 55-degree, hourlong hike with wet socks and clammy feet.

Best for Mountain Townies

Forsake Cascade��($110)

Comfort: 3.5
Performance: 1.5
Style: 3.5

I really liked the way the ��looked with jeans, but I wasn’t happy with the shoe’s performance. It was��plenty comfortable for��walking on streets and standing at my desk for hours, but the fit felt sloppy during hiking climbs and descents. On��one downhill, both of my big toes��hit the front of the shoe for 30 consecutive steps. That’s a one-way ticket to losing a toenail on any longer hiking trip. Their lugs were the least aggressive��of the test��and did little to help me control myself on scree. But when I brought these issues up with Rakestraw, he reminded me that they have��a place in this market. “They do look like a nice casual sneaker—like a generic seventies-inspired runner—and they have an extra layer of ruggedness to them,” he says. “It is a more mature style.”