This article is a complete re-write of content originally published in September 2023

Hiking is a rewarding and accessible activity which can be enjoyed across a wide variety of locations, climates, weather and seasons, so here’s something to address right at the start: there’s no single answer to the question of “what to wear on a hike”. Sorry about that.

Having a basic understanding, however, of clothing materials and layering will help get you well on the way to creating a dependable hiking clothing setup that’ll keep you active and comfortable when hiking across the seasons.

In this article, we’ll give you a helpful guide of clothes to consider wearing on a hike depending on the weather, what footwear to choose (hint: it’s not always boots), and how long you’re going to be out hiking for (whether that’s a couple of hours or a couple of days).

For inspiration and reference, we’ve also included some links to some clothing and footwear choices you might consider when thinking about what to wear on a hike. When out on a hike, make sure you always carry the 10 Essentials.

What to wear on a hike: know before you go

• Research the weather for the day (or, if you’re out for a few days, make sure to plan ahead)
• Choose the appropriate footwear
• Avoid cotton
• Think about other things you might need (sunscreen, hat, mosquito net, etc.)
• If it’s bug season (usually early-mid summer, depending on your location), consider treating your clothing with permethrin before you go. This’ll help to deter bugs like mosquitos, gnats and black flies from you while you’re on the move and/or taking breaks on the trail.

What to wear on a hike: A complete guide

Before going out on a hike, take a look at what the weather’s going to do (especially if you’re out for a few days). This’ll help you choose appropriate clothing for the conditions and ensure that you’re comfortable and protected from whatever conditions you might face.

One piece of advice that’s always helpful, no matter the season, is to avoid wearing cotton when hiking. 

Though cotton button-up shirts may have a similar appearance to others made by outdoor-specific clothing brands like Columbia or Mountain Hardware (both are available in both male and female sizing), you won’t have any of the moisture-wicking, quick drying or, in some cases, sun-protection capabilities that those more hiking-specific shirts will provide. 

If the weather’s sunny and warm with a dry heat:

Locations could include: U.S. South-West, Colorado, Spain

Prioritize wearing lightweight fabrics that offer sun protection but are breathable and moisture-wicking. This goes for both the top and bottom halves of your body. 

Note: If it’s genuinely hot outside and you’re planning on hiking, don’t go in the middle of the day. Instead, head out earlier in the morning and plan to finish your hike by 10am – or, instead, head out after 4pm. The sun’s at its strongest between 10am and 3pm and hiking in those temperatures is not only unpleasant but dangerous.

Upper Body

When hiking in weather like this, I’ll often choose to wear a sun hoodie. I’ve worn models by Hoka (whose model I used is now unfortunately discontinued) and Patagonia in the past and have found them both to be incredibly effective, somehow, at both keeping me cool and keeping my skin completely covered from the sun.

If you prefer a button up shirt, I’ve used the Columbia Silver Ridge Utility Lite while hiking in Southern California in the past and found it surprisingly effective at keeping me cool, even on those hot desert days. 

Lower body

If you’re going with the bare-legs and shorts route (which I often do out when hiking out in the Mountain West), remember to bring sunscreen.

If you prefer hiking in pants, I’d go with a pair that are lighter in color and aren’t skinny fitting – that extra airflow will come in super handy when you’re walking through the heat! 

Footwear

When hiking on hot days in a dry heat I’d definitely recommend choosing trail running shoes to hike in rather than hiking boots. Though they’ve still got an enclosed toe box, your feet will have more chance of ventilation in trail runners than they would in a more traditional hiking boot. 

Paired with a dandy set of Injinji Toe Socks (I prefer the midweight ones, which seem to last longer), this’ll help to prevent blisters from cropping up – and will help you enjoy a longer hike with less blister-based foot pain.

Other items to consider taking with you 

• Electrolytes (I’m a big fan of the un-caffeinated Nuun Sport Tablets). Hiking in hot, dry weather will drain your body’s salts much more quickly than your body would do when you’re not hiking. Popping one of these in a liter of water will help your body absorb that water when you’re on the trail and help to prevent dehydration from taking hold. 

• Sun hat (a wide-brimmed hat is good for sun protection on its own, but I’ve found that pairing a baseball cap with a sun hoodie also works well)

• SPF 30+ Sunscreen (the travel size Banana Boat Sport SPF 30 is what I’ll usually take with me) 

If the weather’s mild/warm and humid:

Locations could include: U.S. East Coast (Appalachians), parts of the Pacific Northwest at lower elevations

In this scenario, it’s probably early summer for you and, if it’s humid, you may be in an area where ticks are pretty prevalent (at that time of year, at least).

Check before you go as to whether this is correct for the area in which you’re planning to hike, as you’ll need to dress accordingly.

Upper Body

If you’re planning on hiking in an area where there does happen to be a high density of ticks, but it’s also pretty muggy outside, you’ll want to strike a balance between maintaining airflow to the areas of your body generating the most heat (that’ll be the armpits in the upper body and the groin in the lower) while also trying to prevent ticks from getting there. 

We’d therefore recommend wearing a long-sleeve, well-ventilated shirt like the Columbia Silver Ridge Utility Lite. 

Wearing a shirt such as this is a good idea even if ticks aren’t present, as the longer sleeves will also give you some extra UV protection.

You’re probably unlikely to need a thermal baselayer or a fleece if it’s a warm, somewhat muggy day – but as these conditions can bring rainstorms later in the day we’d absolutely recommend bringing along a lightweight rain jacket just in case. This extra layer will also help keep you warm if the temperatures do happen to drop as the day progresses.

Lower body

If I’m hiking in an area where ticks may be present, I’ll usually choose to wear long hiking pants. Though they’ll naturally keep legs a little bit warmer than if you were wearing shorts, choosing to wear long pants on muggy days do give more protection from ticks latching immediately onto you.

My pair of preference are the Prana Brion Slim Pants. They’re a little stretchy and thus incredibly comfortable for hiking, they’re water-repellent (though not fully waterproof, so not should not be used instead of dedicated rain pants) and, finally, also clearly help with UV protection.

No matter what you’re wearing on the lower half of your body, however, remember to always check yourself for ticks at the end of your hike.

Footwear

If the weather you’ll be hiking in is mild/warm and humid, I’d also recommend choosing a pair of trail running shoes to hike in. Trail runners come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so it’s a good idea to consider what might work for your particular foot shape before choosing a pair.

If, however, you’re expecting a lot of wet, ankle deep mud where you’re going, I’d probably go with a pair of hiking boots. They’ll be better suited at preventing said mud from seeping through the sides of your shoes and into your socks – which, from experience, is an awful feeling. Scroll down for more on the pros and cons of trail runners and hiking boots.

Other items to consider taking with you 

• Electrolytes (I’m a big fan of the un-caffeinated Nuun Sport Tablets). Much like hiking in hot weather, exercising in warm, humid weather will drain your body’s salts much more quickly than your body would do when you’re hiking in cold weather/not hiking at all. Taking electrolytes like these will help your body absorb water correctly when you’re on the trail and help prevent dehydration from taking hold. 
• Sun hat (a wide-brimmed hat is good for sun protection on its own, but I’ve found that pairing a baseball cap with a sun hoodie also works well)
• SPF 30+ Sunscreen (I’ll usually go for the travel size Banana Boat Sport SPF 30) 

If the weather’s cold: 

Understanding how to layer hiking clothes correctly really comes into play when considering what to wear on a hike on those chilly, cold days. This is how we’d do it.

Upper Body

Your first layer will need to be some kind of moisture-wicking base layer. 

Even though it’s chilly outside, hiking is going to generate some amount of heat underneath all those layers you’re wearing, and you will warm up. 

If you start to sweat, therefore, and then happen to take a break, wearing non-breathable/moisture-wicking clothing is just going to keep that moisture stuck inside your clothing, and you’ll start to get colder much faster than if you’d been wearing that moisture-wicking shirt.

Above that, I’d recommend your second layer being some kind of windproof shirt.

This, in combination with the breathable, moisture-wicking base layer you’ve got underneath, will help to trap the heat that your body’s generating by walking – and will help you to stay warmer for longer.

Those two layers (i.e. the base layer and a windproof shirt) should help to keep you warm enough when moving. 

If, however, you feel like you’re in need of more when you’re on the move, pair those two layers with a fleece above them. Now we’re talking!

Naturally, when you stop moving, your body won’t be producing as much heat, and you’ll start to cool down (though the combination of these hiking-specific layers will help your body to retain the warmth for a while).

When you do take a break, then, you’ll want to don an insulated jacket above the rest. I use a down jacket, but synthetic insulation works as well – though it won’t pack down as small inside your backpack.

If there’s a wind chill, you can break out your rain jacket as a fifth layer to use as a windbreaker. Even my inexpensive Frogg Toggs Ultralite2 jacket works very well for this purpose.

Lower body

As your legs are doing the propulsion here, they’ll be generating heat – but don’t just rely on moving to keep you warm on cold days.

We’d therefore recommend wearing at least one layer of long hiking pants when you’re hiking in cold temperatures.

If you’re planning on camping out overnight as well, don’t forget to bring a pair of base layer long johns to sleep in as well. In combination with a pair of woolen socks to sleep in, these will help keep you warm inside an appropriately temperature-rated sleeping bag through the night.

Finally, don’t wear jeans when you’re hiking in the cold (or in the heat, for that matter). Remember, denim’s made from cotton – so will not only leave you with major chafing problems, but will also absorb the sweat your body’s generating underneath them. This, as it’s freezing outside, will only serve to cool you down even more – doing completely the opposite of what wearing long pants in this scenario is supposed to do (i.e. keeping you warm).

Protect the extremities

Your body will lose significant amounts of heat through the extremities (as you’ll already be wearing thick socks and shoes, we’re mostly talking about fingers and ears here).

You’ll therefore want to kit yourself out with a warm pair of gloves to hike in as well as a warm hat that covers your ears. 

Other items to consider taking with you 

• If it’s raining, you’ll need waterproof gloves to cover your first pair of warm gloves (i.e. ones made out of wool, polyester, or other warmth-insulating materials), as well as a dependable rain jacket and pair of rain pants.

What shoes should I wear on a hike?

Nowadays, you’ll find hikers often choosing either to wear a more traditional style of hiking boot or a pair of trail running shoes to hike in. To help you decide what might work best for you, we’ve broken the question down into a couple of handy pros-and-cons lists, and go into some greater detail below.

Pros and cons of hiking boots

✅ Great for winter hiking in combination with wool socks (though make sure not to get them wet)

✅ Better choice if you’ll be hiking in ankle deep mud 

✅ Better ankle support than trail runners

✅ High quality hiking boots (my pair of choice are the Meindl Bhutan) often last much longer than trail runners, even with regular use

❌ Not great for hiking in the heat

❌ I wouldn’t recommend using hiking boots for river crossings, especially if you’ll be out for multiple days. They’ll take days (literally) to dry.

❌ Much heavier and less agile. 

Pros and cons of hiking in trail runners

✅ A great choice for long-distance hikers looking for more agility and comfort

✅ Much more pleasant choice for hiking in the heat

✅ Much faster to dry 

✅ I’ve had much less problems with blisters whilst hiking in trail runners

❌ Not as durable as boots, and need replacing more often. This, however, is brand and model dependent; I’ve had Altra Lone Peaks that have lasted for only about 300 miles, yet my last pair of the Topo Athletic Terraventure 4 lasted for nearly 700…

❌ Thanks to their often mostly fabric-based structure, you’re more likely to have water seep in through the sides if you happen to walk through a deep puddle than if you were wearing higher-sided waterproof hiking boots

❌ Less ankle support than hiking boots

Do I need to wear boots when hiking?

Short answer, no. Absolutely not. If you feel more comfortable wearing hiking boots, then absolutely – but they’re absolutely not necessary whenever you go out for a hike. 

There are, however, a couple of reasons for choosing hiking boots over trail runners to hike in.

Firstly, if you’re heading out in an environment where you know there’s going to be mud (I live in southern England, so take from that what you will), hiking boots will absolutely reduce the risk of the wet ground seeping through the sides of your footwear and into your socks.

Another reason you might choose to wear hiking boots over trail runners is that they’ll give you much greater ankle support than trail running shoes. If you know that you’ve got weak ankles, then, this might be something to consider when choosing hiking footwear.

If you do happen to get hiking boots wet from the inside, however (if, say, you’ve accidentally stepped in a large hypothetical muddy puddle), they’ll stay wet for what feels like an eternity. 

Trail running shoes for hiking

As a prevalent long distance hiker myself, you’ll rarely find me walking on a trail in anything other than trail running shoes. Why? Because trail runners allow me to walk longer distances in greater comfort. It’s pretty much as simple as that. 

I’ve heard it said that every 1lb of weight carried by your feet is equivalent to carrying 5lbs on your back (thanks to the extra effort it takes for your leg muscles to lift up that weight). Naturally, that makes long-distance hiking a lot more comfortable in trail running shoes than in boots.

Furthermore, trail runners dry out much faster than boots do. After walking through numerous rivers in trail runners in the summer months, for example, I’ve found that they’ve often dried out completely in less than two hours – a far cry from the seemingly endless days it takes to dry out a pair of sodden hiking boots (or even more traditional hiking shoes) in the sunshine.

An example of a complete three-season hiking clothing setup:

In 2024, I traveled on foot and by bicycle for 2570 miles from Mexico to Canada. When hiking, I followed the Pacific Crest Trail. The temperatures I traveled in ranged between 28F and 105F, and I carried the same clothing setup the whole way. Here’s what I took with me:

Upper body:

Sun hoodie: Patagonia Capilene Cool Daily

I found this hoodie to be super comfortable, well-fitting and, most importantly, very effective at preventing sun exposure – even in temperatures above 90F. I wore this above my Senchi Designs mid-layer for extra warmth when needed on those colder mornings in the Sierra Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Mid-layer: Senchi Designs Alpha 60 hoodie 

This hoodie, made of Polartec’s pretty ground-breaking Alpha Direct material, is a fantastic active layer and works well to keep you warm when hiking without making you overly sweaty. I’d actually usually wear this as a base layer to sleep in, wearing my Patagonia Sun Hoodie over it as an extra layer on cold nights. 

Then, I’d just keep those two layers on when hiking into the chilly morning – and wouldn’t have to worry about having to get changed in my sleeping bag and could simply get up and go pretty much immediately.

Insulation layer: Montbell Plasma 1000 Down Jacket

I carried this jacket because of its fantastic warmth-to-weight ratio. Down also packs down (ahem) much smaller than synthetic insulation, thus taking up less space in a backpack than a similarly warm synthetic jacket – allowing you more space inside the pack for other items like gloves or snacks.

Down doesn’t react well to water, however, and clumps up quickly when exposed to even small amounts of it (if you’ve ever tried washing a down sleeping bag, you’ll know what I mean). Accordingly, don’t use down as an active layer – the sweat generated by your body heat could end up being counterproductive, moistening the down and making it less effective at keeping you warm when you’re not moving. 

For hiking in wetter climates (including the US east coast and, often, the Pacific Northwest), then, I’d probably choose to use a synthetically-insulated jacket instead (I’d go for the Enlightened Equipment Torrid Apex Jacket if on a thru-hike where I was expecting ample rainfall).

Note: Insulated jackets can be pretty expensive (this Montbell one was no different), so if you’re looking for something on the more affordable side, here are some other options (all available in both male and female sizing):

Mid-Range Down: Outdoor Research Helium

Mid-Range Synthetic: Enlightened Equipment Torrid Apex Jacket or Patagonia Nano Puff 

Affordable Down: Decathlon Forclaz MT100 Down

Affordable Synthetic: Decathlon Forclaz MT100 Synthetic

Rain jacket: Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite2

I’ve had my Ultra-Lite2 rain jacket for seven years (I bought it for about $15 in late 2017), and it’s held up well in the rain on over 4000 miles of human-powered travel. Rain gear doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive to be effective.

Lower body:

Underwear: Saxx Quest

These Saxx underwear are pretty male-specific (and are unbelievably comfortable); if you’re a female hiker I understand that the ExOfficio Give-N-Go are super comfortable and highly dependable.

Rain pants: Frogg Toggs Pro-Lite Rain Pants (I carried the Pro-Lite pants and the Ultra-Lite2 jacket)

I carried these $25 rain pants for 700 miles, and they held up great. I’d also sleep in them on cold nights (instead of carrying dedicated leggings, and found myself to be plenty warm enough, as with sleeping socks rolled up over the bottoms of the legs they’d keep my body heat insulated completely within them. 

Hiking socks: Injinji Trail Midweight Crew Socks

Sure, these look pretty weird – but as they prevent my moist toes rubbing directly against each other inside my shoes, I’ve never had problems with blisters whilst wearing them.  

Sleeping socks: Darn Tough Merino Wool

Any pair of thick wool socks is a great choice for sleeping in. Not only will they keep your feet toasty and warm inside your sleeping bag of choice, but they’ll also help to prevent any dust and grime from the day’s hiking from getting inside your sleeping bag.

I prefer taking Darn Tough socks for this purpose as they’ve got a lifetime warranty – and if you do manage to get a hole in them, Darn Tough will replace them for you free of charge. They’re also still made in Vermont, so good job to them on the sustainability front.

Shoes: Topo Athletic Terraventure 4

I always wear trail running shoes when on a long hike, and this is the model that seems to work best for me. They’ve got a wide toe box, allowing the front of the foot to splay out naturally inside the shoe (helping to avoid the risk of plantar fasciitis and bunions), and they often last for 450+ miles/pair.

Accessories:

Hat: Baseball cap (available pretty much anywhere)

Sunglasses: Ombraz Cammina

Gloves: Cheap pair of synthetic warm gloves and, if necessary, waterproof gloves as well

Sunscreen: Banana Boat Sport SPF 30

FAQs

I’m heading out for a multi-day hike – what else do I need to bring?

If you’re heading out on a multi-day hike in the backcountry, you’ll need to bring extra clothes to help insulate you at night.

For a full guide on what to take on a multi-day hike, check out our guides on Layering for Three Season Camping and the 10 Essentials.