The most popular footwear on the Appalachian Trail (a 2000+ mile thru-hike, although not all survey responders did the whole thing) are trail runners: https://

The most popular footwear on the Appalachian Trail (a 2000+ mile thru-hike, although not all survey responders did the whole thing) are trail runners: https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/top-footwear-appalachian-trail-2021-thru-hiker-survey/ https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/top-footwear-appalachia... Traditional hiking boots are quite heavy, take a long time to break in, and provide unnecessary protection and support if you know what you are doing. On the other hand, a lot of thru-hikers are completely wearing through multiple pairs of trail runners.