I know what you’re gonna say: “do you live in the Netherlands? Is your highest mountain like 320 meters?”
No, as much as I love me some lowlands, I live in Wales, U.K., and we have some pretty respectable hills. The highest of those is Mount Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa in Welsh, at 1,085 meters / 3,000 feet. Hardly Rockies-level climbing, I know, but steep enough to present a challenging hike, and changeable enough to present some risk.
The other week, I climbed its hardest ascent, Watkin Path (listed as 10/10 difficulty), to test out these lightweight Keen Hightrail hiking boots, currently $55 off at Keen.
These are quickly becoming my favorite outdoors gear, and in my opinion are some of the best hiking boots you can buy for summer trails, especially at this low price. Here’s why.
Forget the break-in
I've hiked most of my life. When I was younger, family holidays with my parents consisted of going to the beautiful Lake District here in the U.K., ascending mountains and dipping our feet in tarns.
I've worn a fair few hiking boots in my time, including boots from Merrell and On, and I'm not messing around when I say I've never worn a set of boots this comfortable.
I've hiked around 25 miles in the Hightrails so far, so I'm around halfway through testing for my upcoming review of these boots. I haven't had a single blister, and there's been no breaking in period. The internal padding is super comfy and you can literally put 'em on and get walking straight away.
This is especially true if you have wide feet, like me. Something we've noted in our other Keen reviews is just how much toe space the brand builds into its shoes. I normally experience cramped toes and blisters from narrow boots, but again, no problems to report with the Hightrails.
I have a form of immuno-arthritis which affects my legs and feet in particular. My anterior tibial tendons are common flare-up points, and inflammation there often also causes acute plantar fasciitis. The padding in the soles of the Keen Hightrails has been good enough to help cushion a recent flare up, although I definitely wouldn't say these are the softest boots I've worn.
Hitting the high trail
That's not not to say these boots don't perform. They're comfortable and soft, yes, but very supportive. I need a lot of interior ankle support as my gait tends to roll. For that reason, I always wear a mid boot.
Not all mids are created equal though, and I've really enjoyed how much support the Hightrails give me there — there's an ankle strap on each side of the boot, which is pulled taught by the laces, allowing you to slacken or increase ankle support.
They also provide strong levels of grip. As I mentioned earlier, I hiked the hardest trail of Wales' highest mountain, Watkin Path, which gets very steep and involves a good amount of scrambling. I never once missed my footing in the Hightrails.
The boots' waterproofing is also decent, and fine for spring and summer hikes. Up at the top of Snowdon, mist and rain rolled in, and my feet stayed totally dry until the water runoff from my trousers started to seep into the top.
I also took these boots walking recently on a hike through Monmouthshire, Wales, along a river path. I stepped into puddles and rivers and my feet stayed dry.
That latter hike was on a 29C / 84F day, and my feet stayed totally cool — in fact, they were probably the only cool part of my body that day.
If I were looking for a new set of lightweight/summer boots, the Keen Hightrail Mids would be on my shortlist, no doubt. At $55 off (that's a 35% discount), I'd say these boots are too good to pass up.
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