Best Road-to-Trail Running Shoes of 2026

Out of necessity or preference, many runners will traverse multiple surfaces throughout the course of a single run or run on roads one day and trails the next — and the best road-to-trail shoes will handle this varied terrain with ease. Whether it’s by adeptly transitioning between pavement and trail or providing a comfortable ride on dirt roads, road-to-trail shoes are versatile options that many runners have in their shoe rotation.

We developed this guide with the expert input from the dozen-strong iRunFar Test Team who log tens of thousands of miles across a wide range of locations, terrains, and surfaces every year. Some of our favorites include tried and true models we’ve loved for ages, while a few newcomers rose to the top of the shoe pile.

Our testers’ favorite road-to-trail shoe was the Nike Pegasus Trail 5, while they loved the Hoka Challenger 8 for cushion and the Inov8 TrailFly for grip. They also turned to some classics, like the Hoka Torrent 4, and newer options, like the Brooks Ghost Trail and Tracksmith Eliot Range, for road-to-trail runs.

After reading our product reviews, check out a glossary of common shoe terminology, our buying advice for shoes, a summary of our testing methodology, and answers to some frequently asked questions about the best road-to-trail shoes.

Best Road-to-Trail Running Shoes

• Best Overall Road-to-Trail Shoe: Nike Pegasus Trail 5
• Best Cushioned Road-to-Trail Shoe: Hoka Challenger 8
• Best Road-to-Trail Shoe for (Slightly) Technical Terrain: Brooks Cascadia 19
• Best Road-to-Trail Shoe for Grip: Inov8 TrailFly
• Best Zero-Drop Road-to-Trail Shoe: Altra Mont Blanc Carbon
• Best Budget Road-to-Trail Shoe: Hoka Torrent 4
• Other Great Road-to-Trail Shoes: Mount to Coast H1, Brooks Ghost Trail, Tracksmith Eliot Range

Best Overall Road-to-Trail Shoe: Nike Pegasus Trail 5 ($155)

Actual Weight (U.S. men’s 9): 10.2 oz (290 g) | Stack Height (heel/toe): 37/27 mm | Drop: 10 mm

Pros:

• Tremendous midsole foam
• Breathable and comfortable upper
• Can handle almost everything

Cons:

• Not the best performer on technical trails

The Nike Pegasus Trail 5 has everything you’d want in a road-to-trail shoe. It’s incredibly comfortable, versatile, and durable, making it our top pick for this guide.

Any discussion of this shoe has to begin with its midsole, which Nike upgraded to its ReactX foam. This is the brand’s high-end foam behind only its premium ZoomX, which comes in most of its more expensive shoes. The foam is lively and provides tremendous cushion, most noticeably when the run approaches double-digit mileage or transitions between roads and trails. After running 150 miles in these shoes, our primary tester experienced no signs of compression in the midsole and said the shoes felt as comfortable as ever.

The upper is also top-notch. It’s a single layer of highly breathable mesh with well-placed overlays to help keep out dirt, sand, and moderate amounts of water. The ankle collar, particularly around the Achilles notch, is also much improved from previous versions, and a gusseted tongue stays in place and protects the top of the foot well.

Nike redesigned the outsole by making it wider and utilizing a proprietary rubber material that improves the grip and makes it less stiff on roads and packed dirt. This is not the shoe to take on highly technical trails, as it struggles with traction in those conditions.

For the roads and less technical trails and runs that feature them both, this shoe is hard to beat, making it one of our top picks in our Best Trail Running Shoes and Best Nike Running Shoes guides.

You can read more about this shoe in our full Nike Pegasus Trail 5 review.

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[Editor’s Note: The Nike Pegasus Trail 5 is in the process of being replaced by the Nike ACG Pegasus. At the moment, supplies of the Pegasus Trail 5 are becoming limited. We’re eagerly testing the ACG Pegasus and will update this guide – whether it’s updating this section or removing the Pegasus Trail 5 from the guide once we’ve adequately tested its successor.]

Best Cushioned Road-to-Trail Shoe: Hoka Challenger 8 ($155)

Actual Weight (U.S. men’s 9): 9.3 oz (264 g) | Stack Height (heel/toe): 42/34 mm | Drop: 8 mm

Pros:

• Offers a smooth ride on roads and light trails
• Well-cushioned and comfortable

Cons:

• Does not perform well on technical trails

The Hoka Challenger 8 can sop up miles on pavement, dirt, and non-technical trails along with the best of them. Like many Hoka shoes, it has ample cushion — it’s often described as the trail version of the Hoka Clifton (see Hoka Clifton 10 review) — and this version significantly increased the stack height to 42 millimeters for men and 39 millimeters for women for an even plusher ride. Both of our testers said that even with this extra cushion, the shoes don’t feel mushy, but it still could be too much for runners used to more responsiveness and a close-to-the-ground feeling.

The outsole features moderate 4-millimeter lugs, which offer a smooth ride for roads and trails. Our testers loved this shoe for those surfaces and everyday easy runs, but they noted that it didn’t perform as well on more technical terrain or faster efforts. After splashing through creeks, this shoe drained and dried well, and after 130 miles, it has shown minimal wear.

Overall, it’s a durable, comfortable shoe that we loved for everyday road-to-trail runs.

For even more detail, you can read our full Hoka Challenger 8 review.

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Best Road-to-Trail Shoe for Technical Terrain: Brooks Cascadia 19 ($150)

Actual Weight (U.S. men’s 9): 10.7 oz (303 g) | Stack Height (heel/toe): 35/29 mm | Drop: 6 mm

Pros:

• Strong balance between agility and protection
• Can handle technical terrain
• Energetic and well-cushioned ride

Cons:

• High-volume toebox is not for runners with narrow feet

The Cascadia line has been around for more than two decades, and the Brooks Cascadia 19 was our tester’s favorite version thus far. It strikes a near-perfect balance between dynamism and protection, allowing it to be a go-to shoe for your road-to-trail adventures.

While most of the other shoes in this guide are primarily suited for smooth trails, this shoe can handle more rugged terrain. In fact, our tester’s first run in these shoes was an 11-mile adventure through the rocks and rubble of Colorado’s Front Range, and they performed admirably. With 4-millimeter lugs that shed mud easily and a durable, sticky TrailTack Green outsole, they offer ample traction for the trails without being overbearing for the roads. If your road-to-trail runs hit more technical trails, this shoe would be a worthy companion.

Even better, they’re also light and agile enough for smoother surfaces. Brooks dropped the weight of this shoe to 10.7 ounces (U.S. men’s 9) and added its nitrogen-infused DNA Loft v3 foam in the midsole, creating a zippy, well-cushioned ride on roads and smooth trails. For a shoe that’s been clunky in the past, this version of the Cascadia is a refreshing change, making it one of our top choices for road-to-trail runs. It also appears in our Best Trail Running Shoes guide.

You can also read more about this shoe in our full Brooks Cascadia 19 review.

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Best Road-to-Trail Shoe for Grip: Inov8 TrailFly ($150)

Actual Weight (U.S. men’s 9): 9.6 oz (274 g) | Stack Height (heel/toe): 29/23 mm | Drop: 6 mm

Pros:

• Excellent grip on dry, hard surfaces
• More natural feel without sacrificing cushion
• Nimble and responsive ride

Cons:

• Run a half-size small
• Not for wet conditions

One of the drawbacks of many road-to-trail shoes is their suitability for technical terrain. Enter the Inov8 TrailFly, a grippy, lower-to-the-ground shoe with excellent traction on dry, hard-packed surfaces from pavement to technical trails. This is the shoe for those runs that feature truly varied terrain.

While Inov8, a brand born in England’s famously rainy Lake District, has carved out a niche for shoes that thrive in the mud, this shoe strikes the opposite note. With relatively low-profile 4-millimeter lugs on its sticky Graphene Grip rubber outsole, it’s designed for running on packed, dry surfaces. Our primary tester found these shoes to be comfortable on forest roads and pavement while still excelling in more technical terrain, making it an excellent choice for those who want more grip on their road-to-trail runs.

Aside from its grip, what sets this shoe apart is its anatomical fit, which Inov8 calls its Natural Fit. Our tester characterized it as the perfect balance between hugging the foot’s natural contours while still providing ample space in the toebox. With a stack height of 29 millimeters at the heel and 23 at the forefoot for a 6-millimeter drop, this shoe offers a more natural, approachable feel than many of the high-drop options that dominate the market without sacrificing cushioning. Its Powerflow Pro foam in the midsole still offers ample cushion for longer efforts, and the removable insole features hundreds of squishy foam beads to boost energy return. The upper is simple, breathable, and comfortable.

It’s important to note that these shoes tend to run small, so it’s best to order a half-size up.

You can read more about this shoe in our full Inov8 TrailFly review.

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Best Zero-Drop Road-to-Trail Shoe: Altra Mont Blanc Carbon ($275)

Actual Weight (U.S. men’s 9): 9.4 oz (266 g) | Stack Height (heel/toe): 29/29 mm | Drop: 0 mm

Pros:

• Grippy outsole
• Reliable, comfortable midsole
• Race ready

Cons:

• Expensive
• More of a dirt path shoe than a road-to-trail shoe
• Zero-drop shoes aren’t for everyone

The Altra Mont Blanc Carbon is a zero-drop, carbon-plated shoe ready to move fast on moderate singletrack and gravel roads. This is the first time Altra has produced a true race-ready trail shoe.

The Vibram Megagrip Litebase outsole of this shoe shines. One of the most respected outsole materials across trail running shoes, the Megagrip lives up to its name, offering ample traction without feeling too burdensome when the surface flattens. Our tester loved this shoe on gravel roads and singletrack but found its performance diminished on pavement, so if your road-to-trail runs involve more road than trail, we’d recommend looking for something different.

The midsole of this shoe features a full-length carbon plate that offers both propulsion when you’re moving fast and protection when the pace slows — acting as a carbon-rock plate combo. Altra used its Ego Max foam for the rim of the midsole and Ego Pro foam in the core, a combination that, along with the carbon plate, offers a fast, fun ride, making it a strong choice for race day.

Our tester noted that this shoe feels narrower than other Altra shoes she’s worn, but said it still has an ample toebox and an upper that feels breathable and secure. The shoe’s laces are, in the eyes of our tester and other reviewers, too long, a small but strange issue for a shoe, especially one this expensive.

This shoe also has a sleeker look than many of Altra’s other options. For those who can’t stomach paying $250-plus for a pair of shoes, our tester also liked the Altra Mont Blanc Speed (review), which lacks a carbon plate but offers many of the same features as this shoe for $80 less.

Finally, it’s important to note that zero-drop shoes aren’t for everyone, especially those who’ve never run in them before. We always recommend doing research, figuring out what works best for you, and easing into zero-drop shoes if it’s your first time in them.

For more information about this shoe, you can read our full Altra Mont Blanc Carbon review.

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Best Budget Road-to-Trail Shoe: Hoka Torrent 4 ($130)

Actual Weight (U.S. men’s 9): 9.0 oz (254 g) | Stack Height (heel/toe): 33/28 mm | Drop: 5 mm

Pros:

• Versatile
• Performs well on technical trails
• Improved durability and stability
• Approachable price

Cons:

• Not as specialized as other options
• Deeper lugs are less ideal for road running

The Hoka Torrent 4 is an approachable, everyday running shoe with moderate cushion that can handle a mix of surfaces from technical trails to gravel roads. Our primary tester characterized it as “just a nice everything shoe.”

The upper provides a locked-in fit and a wider, roomier feel than previous versions. Underfoot, Hoka added two millimeters of stack height for some extra cushioning, striking a good balance between cushion and responsiveness and making it a worthy choice for everything from workouts to 100 milers. While it doesn’t have a rockplate, it’s much more stable and durable than previous versions of the shoe, which could feel packed out and mushy after just 100 miles. After 140-plus miles, our primary tester experienced no issues with excessive wear and no ankle turns, an issue that had plagued her in previous versions.

With 5-millimeter lugs, this shoe handles technical trails better than most other shoes in this guide, but it is not as adept on pavement. Aside from that, this shoe does basically everything well — and STILL at $130, that value is hard to beat.

For an even deeper look, you can read our full Hoka Torrent 4 review.

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Other Great Road-to-Trail Shoes

Mount to Coast H1 ($160)

Actual Weight (U.S. men’s 9): 8.5 oz (242 g) | Stack Height (heel/toe): 35/29 mm | Drop: 6 mm

Pros:

• Well-cushioned and durable
• Runs like a road shoe with enough traction to perform well on dirt
• Lacing system makes it easy to take shoe on and off

Cons:

• Does not perform well in mud

The Mount to Coast H1 is the only shoe in this guide specifically marketed as “road-to-trail,” and we found that designation to be refreshingly accurate.

This shoe’s standout feature is its supremely well-cushioned midsole, made from a foam called CircleCell. The brand claims it’s sustainable, too, being transformed into a foam from organic waste and residual biomass. Often when brands aim for sustainability, performance sadly suffers, but our tester found that wasn’t the case with this shoe.

Mount to Coast shoes are also known for their unique dual lacing system, with different adjustment points in the forefoot and midfoot designed to allow ultrarunners to adjust the fit when their feet swell or change shape. Our tester wasn’t convinced the system did much for performance or comfort, but she did appreciate that it made it easy to put on and take off the shoe with minimal lace adjustment.

The outsole, with 2-millimeter lugs, has just enough traction to perform well on dirt and non-technical trails, but this is not the shoe to take on more technical pursuits. Our tester also found that it was highly ineffective in mud, so save it for dry runs on relatively smooth surfaces.

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Brooks Ghost Trail ($150)

Actual Weight (U.S. men’s 9): 10.4 ounces (294 g)| Stack Height (heel/toe): 37/9 mm | Drop: 8 mm

Pros:

• Road shoe ride
• Durable
• Affordable and versatile

Cons:

• Not suited for technical trails
• Laces can be tricky to get right

The Brooks Ghost Trail is the trail version of one of the most ubiquitous road shoes around, and the first edition of this shoe is another excellent option for road-to-trail running. With an 8-millimeter drop and a nitrogen-infused DNA Loft v3 foam, it has a road shoe profile and ride, paired with 3-millimeter lugs for gripping singletrack and dirt roads with ease.

The upper, made from a soft air-mesh material, is breathable and comfortable, and it has enough structure for running switchbacks. The upper also drains well. The midsole is where this shoe really shines, though. It strikes the right balance, allowing smooth forward propulsion like a road shoe without feeling overly boggy or bouncy. Our primary tester has run 200-plus miles in these shoes, including some threshold and tempo efforts, and she reported that they’ve maintained their resilience and energy return and have no major signs of wear. The outsole, made from Brooks’ TrailTack Green rubber, is excellent on smooth trails and gravel and can handle both wet and dry surfaces. It is not, however, designed for the snow or technical trails.

Finally, the value of these shoes is undeniable: For a shoe that’s well-cushioned, versatile enough to perform well on most surfaces, and durable through 200-plus miles of running, $150 is tough to beat.

For even more information on this shoe, you can read our full Brooks Ghost Trail review.

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Tracksmith Eliot Range ($240)

Actual Weight (U.S. men’s 9): 9.5 oz (269 g) | Stack Height (heel/toe): 35/26 mm | Drop: 9 mm

Pros:

• Premium materials
• Low-profile ride with solid cushioning
• Classic Tracksmith style

Cons:

• Not for technical trails, snow, or mud
• Very expensive

The Tracksmith Eliot Range is the New England brand’s first trail shoe, and our primary tester found it to be a nimble, classy option well-suited to road-to-trail runs for runners seeking quality materials and a more refined aesthetic.

This shoe is unlike others in this guide and, more broadly, unlike most trail shoes on the market. There are several unique aspects of this shoe, starting with its upper. The outer layer is a breathable woven shell that enhances durability and weather resistance, while the inside is lined with merino wool that extends around the ankle collar to create a bootie-style fit. There are also knit heel pillows to help keep the foot in place. Pulling on this shoe feels more akin to pulling on a slipper than a running shoe: It provides a soft, secure fit that wraps around your foot. One of our other testers didn’t like this unique fit, but it is undeniably snug.

The midsole is a sandwich of PEBA supercritical foam, a nylon plate, and a second, removable layer of PEBA. With a 35-millimeter stack height at the heel and 26 millimeters at the forefoot, this shoe offers a relative low-profile ride and feels at home on well-groomed trails, offering a light, agile running experience. Our primary tester raced a half-marathon that featured a combo of pavement, Forest Service roads, and non-technical singletrack in these shoes, and she found them to perform well on all three surfaces. Another tester, more accustomed to max-cushioned shoes, didn’t like the ride as much, but can see how others appreciate the departure from the current high-stack norm. Its outsole, with low-profile lugs, is not rugged enough for technical or muddy trails, though our tester did throw them on for a few icy road runs when she wanted a bit of grip without having to wear a luggier trail shoe.

True to the Tracksmith ethos, the look of this shoe is much more understated — dare we say elegant? —  than that of today’s typical trail shoe. The elephant in the room, of course, is its cost. At $240, it definitely represents an investment, especially for a first edition. But if you want to try something different with a unique aesthetic, snug fit, and closer-to-the-ground ride, this shoe could be worth a try.

You can read more about these shoes in our full Tracksmith Eliot Range review.

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Comparing the Best Road-to-Trail Shoes

SHOE	PRICE	WEIGHT	DROP	DISTINGUISHING FEATURE
Nike Pegasus Trail 5	$155	10.2 oz	10 mm	Go-everywhere versatility
Hoka Challenger 8	$155	9.3 oz	8 mm	Plush cushioning
Brooks Cascadia 19	$150	10.7 oz	6 mm	Rugged enough for technical trail
Inov8 TrailFly	$150	9.6 oz	6 mm	Grip on dry ground
Altra Mont Blanc Carbon	$275	9.4 oz	0 mm	Speedy shoe for zero-drop lovers
Hoka Torrent 4	$130	9.0 oz	5 mm	Affordable go-anywhere shoe
Mount to Coast H1	$160	8.5 oz	6 mm	Exceptional midsole
Brooks Ghost Trail	$150	10.4 oz	8 mm	Road shoe ride on varied terrain
Tracksmith Eliot Range	$240	9.5 oz	9 mm	Unique ride and aesthetic

Glossary

• Road-to-Trail Shoe: A shoe that is designed for running on both roads and trails. Depending on their construction, road-to-trail shoes can serve you well on several surfaces, from pavement to trails to packed dirt and gravel roads. Road-to-trail shoes typically have a blend of features associated with both road shoes and trail shoes, like ample midsole cushioning, lugs, and rock plates. Most of the shoes in this guide are not designated as road-to-trail shoes, but all tick the various boxes that make them perform well on a variety of surfaces.
• Stack Height: The total height of the shoe between your foot and the ground, measured in millimeters at both the heel and forefoot. This is often used as a proxy for the amount of cushioning found in a shoe’s midsole. Though stack heights can range from 10 millimeters to 40-plus millimeters, they typically fall between 25 and 35 millimeters.
• Drop: The difference in stack height between the heel and toe, also measured in millimeters. Higher drops indicate more height at the heel than at the forefoot and mean the shoe is better suited for heel strikers. A lower drop indicates the shoe is more evenly heighted throughout its length. Low-drop shoes are typically better for midfoot or forefoot strikers. Drop is the same as “heel-to-toe drop” or “offset.”
• Upper: The top of the shoe, which includes everything above its midsole.
• Midsole: The layer(s) of cushioning foam between a shoe’s outsole and upper. Midsole performance and durability can vary drastically between brands and models, and the materials chosen can often be major factors in the shoe’s price.
• Outsole: The bottom of the shoe, usually made of a rubber-like compound, that makes contact with the ground.
• Lugs: The small rubber cleats on the shoe’s outsole that provide traction on trails and other unpaved surfaces. Road-to-trail shoes typically have lugs 2 to 4 millimeters deep, and, generally, the deeper the lug, the more traction it provides. Road shoes, meanwhile, don’t typically have noticeable lugs because they’re unnecessary.
• Toebox: The front part of the shoe, which surrounds the ball of the foot and toes. Runners with wider feet or squared-off toes may want to search for shoes with a wider toebox. Some brands like Altra or Topo, are know for having wider toeboxes for a more accommodating fit.

How to Choose Road-to-Trail Shoes

Surface

This is a guide for road-to-trail shoes, so all of our picks perform well on both surfaces, but the relative proportion of your time on each surface and the type of trail you plan to run could influence your choice. Will most of your miles be on pavement with just a little non-technical trail sprinkled in? A true road-to-trail shoe, like the Mount to Coast H1, would be a good pick, as would the Brooks Ghost Trail. Do you plan to run fast on mostly gravel or dirt roads? The Altra Mont Blanc Carbon excels on those surfaces, especially at speed. Will you find yourself on technical trails at some point during your road-to-trail run? The Inov8 TrailFly offers excellent grip in these conditions, and the Brooks Cascadia 19 also performs well when the trails get steeper and more technical.

Or maybe you just want one shoe for every surface, outside of technical trails. In that case, we’d recommend going with our top overall pick, the Nike Pegasus Trail 5.

Use

In addition to maximizing fun, using shoes for their intended purpose is both a good way to extend their lifespan and boost your training. While versatility is one of the top things we look for in most of the shoes we review, the reality is that some shoes are better suited for different purposes.

If you’re looking for a shoe to race on relatively smooth terrain, we’d point you toward the Altra Mont Blanc Carbon — a carbon-plated super shoe that will give you some extra juice when you’re hunting a PR. They’re lightweight, bouncy, and, of course, expensive, costing nearly of $300. Most of the other shoes on our list could be used for racing, too, but none of them would offer the same performance as this one.

For an everyday trainer that could double as a workout shoe, we loved the Hoka Torrent 4. It is light enough to move relatively quickly while still holding up over hundreds of miles.

Cushion

A shoe’s cushion, characterized by its midsole foam and quantified by its stack height, is often considered its most important feature. Accordingly, companies spend a lot of time and money researching and developing the best foams for running shoes. In the era of highly cushioned shoes, we have entire guides devoted to the Best Cushioned Running Shoes and the Best Cushioned Trail Running Shoes, and several shoes with high stack heights and premium foams made it in this guide.

How much cushioning you need is likely dependent on what you’ll primarily be using the shoes for. If you plan on putting in lots of long efforts, a more cushioned shoe, like the Hoka Challenger 8 or Mount to Coast H1, could be a good option. If you’re seeking a more responsive, low-to-the-ground feel, meanwhile, a shoe like the Inov8 TrailFly, which has a stack height of 29 millimeters, might suit your needs better. The Hoka Torrent 4, with 33 millimeters of stack height, strikes a nice balance between cushion and responsiveness.

The type of foam also matters. Our testers love the ReactX foam in the Nike Pegasus Trail 5. It’s one of the company’s top foams, second only to the foam it uses in its racing super shoes. Likewise, our primary tester of the Altra Mont Blanc Carbon enjoyed the foam combo of the brand’s Ego Max and Ego Pro.

Drop

Drop refers to the difference in stack height between the heel and toe, and it can range from more than 10 millimeters to zero. Shoes with higher drop, like the Tracksmith Eliot Range (9 millimeters) or the Brooks Ghost Trail (8 millimeters), offer more cushioning at the heel and are therefore typically better suited for heel strikers. A more moderate drop, like the 6 millimeters of the Brooks Cascadia 19 or the 5 millimeters of the Hoka Torrent 4, signifies the cushioning is spread more evenly throughout the shoe and can encourage a foot strike that lands near the middle or front of your foot. And then there are zero-drop shoes, like the Altra Mont Blanc Carbon, which has the same amount of cushioning at the heel and forefoot. Running in these shoes typically requires ample build-up before your leg muscles and tendons are ready to handle the majority of your miles in them.

Cost

Cost might be the first thing you consider when buying shoes. While it’s hard to find a quality shoe under $100 these days, the upper end of shoe price points can push $300, so there’s a lot of variation. To that end, we included shoes all throughout the price spectrum in this guide, and we believe that even the lower-priced options are great shoes.

Our budget pick, the Hoka Torrent 4 at $130, is also among the most versatile, adept at handling pavement and more technical trails. While there’s nothing super fancy about this shoe, it’s a good, everyday pair that can rack up the miles for half the cost of the most expensive shoe in this guide. In the middle range of prices, you’ll find shoes like the versatile and durable Brooks Ghost Trail ($150), grippy Inov8 TrailFly ($150) and Brooks Cascadia 19 ($150), and the Nike Pegasus Trail 5 ($155), which boasts a stellar foam and outsole. And at the high end, the Tracksmith Eliot Range ($240) offers premium materials and a unique aesthetic, while the Altra Mont Blanc Carbon ($275) is the most specialized, with a carbon plate that makes it race-ready.

Why You Should Trust Us

We developed this guide with the expert input from the dozen-strong iRunFar Test Team who log tens of thousands of miles across a wide range of locations, terrains, and surfaces every year in a nearly countless number of shoe models. Some of our favorites models include tried and true models we’ve loved for ages, while a few newcomers rose to the top of the shoe pile.

For this guide, our testers considered the fit, comfort, cushion, responsiveness, traction, and more across runs of all types. In all cases, our testers logged at least 100 miles — and usually more — in every shoe in this guide before making their recommendations. They ran on a variety of surfaces — roads and trails, of course, but also gravel and packed dirt, from Colorado to California to North Carolina, all in the hope of helping you find the best road-to-trail shoes for your needs.

We’ll continue to update this guide based on our continued testing of new shoes that come on the market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need road-to-trail shoes?

The running industry often makes you think you need the next big thing, and right now, one of them is a pair of road-to-trail shoes. While they certainly have benefits, you don’t need to buy a pair of shoes specifically for road-to-trail runs, or a pair that the brand specifically markets as “road-to-trail.” A pair you have right now — or a versatile, affordable shoe like the Hoka Torrent 4 — might do the trick.

The best road-to-trail shoes thread the needle between the two surfaces. They offer protection and stability on the trails, they’re not too clunky or luggy for the roads, and they strike a balance between cushion and responsiveness for both surfaces. In the view of our testers, the Nike Pegasus Trail 5 was the shoe that checked all of these boxes the best.

Can I just wear road or trail shoes for road-to-trail runs?

Yes! In fact, only one of the shoes we selected for this guide — the Mount to Coast H1 — is marketed specifically as a road-to-trail shoe. The other eight, including our top pick, the Nike Pegasus Trail 5, are trail shoes.

What all of these shoes have in common, of course, is good performance on both surfaces. That means they have some type of traction for the trails — and some of the luggier ones like the Inov8 TrailFly can handle more technical terrain — without being overbearingly sticky on pavement. Lots of road shoes and trail shoes are versatile enough to handle both surfaces. The Brooks Cascadia 19 is another shoe that can transition between the roads and more technical terrain with ease.

All that said, we also want you to get the most out of your shoe for the long haul, which means using it for its intended purpose. Our picks for road-to-trail shoes are purposefully versatile, but several, like the Brooks Ghost Trail, aren’t meant for technical trails, and most aren’t meant for long efforts on the road.

How should I choose a road-to-trail shoe?

You should first ask yourself what you plan to use the shoe for: mostly road running, mostly trail running, mostly gravel or dirt running, everyday miles, workouts and races, or some combination of all of these. A shoe like the Altra Mont Blanc Carbon would be an excellent choice for fast efforts on smooth terrain, whereas the Brooks Cascadia 19 would be better suited for runs that feature a bit of road and trails with rocks and roots.

Once you’ve determined your primary purpose for them, consider how the shoe fits and feels when you try it on for the first time. As a basic rule of thumb, you want a shoe to be comfortable out of the box and to get more comfortable as you break it in. You want a pair that’s secure enough to offer a comfortable ride on multiple surfaces without being constricting. Next, you want to determine your preference for cushioning. Are you seeking something with a more traditional low-to-the-ground trail feel, like the Inov8 TrailFly, or a more cushioned option like the Hoka Challenger 8? Overall, you want a shoe that’s comfortable and performs well on the surfaces you run.

What’s the best road-to-trail shoe?

The best road-to-trail shoe is the one that meets your needs and budget. For some people, that means going for a unique, stylish option like the Tracksmith Eliot Range, while others just need the everyday simplicity of a shoe like the Hoka Torrent 4.

Because of its versatility and comfort, our top pick for road-to-trail shoes was the Nike Pegasus Trail 5. It checks almost all the boxes we were looking for in a true road-to-trail shoe.

What’s a “gravel shoe”? Should I also buy a pair of those?

No! “Gravel shoe” is just the latest branding trend that companies like to use to make their products seem new and different. Over the years, shoes that can handle pavement, dirt and gravel road, and mildly technical trails have been labeled hybrid shoes, road-to-trail shoes, door-to-trail shoes, all-terrain shoes, crossover running shoes, and, most recently, gravel shoes. There’ll be a new name for the same type of shoe in a few years, unless companies recycle an old one! Regardless of the label, all of the road-to-trail shoes we chose for this guide will serve you very well on gravel.

Call for Comments

• What’s your go-to shoe for multiple surfaces?
• What do you look for in a road-to-trail shoe?

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