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Best trail running shoes
Grip on wet rock and mud, rock-plate protection, drainage and how the outsole holds up over real terrain.
Research in progressPublished rankings appear only after testing is complete.
When you buy through links on THRYV we may earn a commission. This never affects our testing or rankings. How this works.
Our picks
Nothing published until testing is finished.
Trail shoes are judged on surfaces, not on treadmills. We test each pair over wet rock, mud, loose gravel and hardpack, note where the grip fails, and check underfoot protection on stony descents. Durability is recorded against a fixed distance on abrasive terrain.
No picks published yet
This guide is in the research stage. We will not list a "best" product before the testing round behind it is complete — an unranked page is more useful than a ranked guess. When picks go live, each one will state what we tested, how long for, what it is good at, and who should buy something else instead.
What we score, and why
Written down before any product is considered.
- Traction on wet rock, mud, gravel and hardpack
- Underfoot protection and rock-plate effectiveness
- Outsole lug wear at a set trail distance
- Drainage and drying time after immersion
- Upper abrasion resistance and toe protection
- Fit stability on steep descents
How we will decide
- 01
Criteria before candidates
We write down what would make a product the right pick — and how each criterion is measured — before we look at what is on sale.
- 02
Documented specifications only
Anything we state about a product comes from our own testing or from the manufacturer's published documentation, linked on the page.
- 03
Real-world testing
Where a category can be tested, we test it over weeks rather than an unboxing session, and we publish the conditions we tested under.
- 04
Pricing checked, not quoted
We do not print a price we have not verified, and we do not treat an RRP as evidence of a discount.
- 05
Commercial relationships disclosed
Affiliate links, if present, are labelled on the page. No partner can buy a placement, a rank or a verdict.
The full process is documented in our review methodology and testing process.
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