Many men enjoy hiking for its sport, exercise, recreational appeal, and its ability to connect the soul and body to nature. Hiking also takes many forms. One hiker may prefer trail walking and botany while others may be into cross country training and rock climbing and still other hikers may see hiking as a way to just retreat, relax, and become one with nature. These hiking shoes for men will set you up so that the next time you step out into your rural back yard, take a weekend up at the hunting lodge, or take a liesurely trek to the local state park, you do it with maximum comfort, safety, and style. Whatever your personal hiking preferences and style, this excellent list of best hiking shoes for men will protect your feet, take you where you need to go, bring out your inner warrior, release your inner naturalist, and maybe even do it all in style.

The Vibram Five Fingers shoes are some of the latest in walking and hiking shoe technology. The Five Fingers shoes were designed at made to be as much like a bare foot as possible. The idea behind these remarkable shoes is that the body functions best and is best aligned when it is in its natural state. Using many different kinds of shoes can actually have negative affects on posture and body alignment. Walking in bare feet is completely natural and provides a way for the body to return the way nature intended it to be. Rather than have millions of people walk around in unprotected bare feet, Vibram designed their Five Finger shoe to mimic natural bare feet and protect them from the elements.

The Five Fingers Shoes are available in a number of different styles and colors. The one pictured at the left is among the most rugged that Vibram manufactures. The shoe is constructed with a sort of neoprene stretchy upper and a super-flexible rubber sole which protect against sharp objects and can even protect the foot from adverse temperatures. The bottom of the sole is razor siped to insure that the shoes grip and adhere to surfaces, minimizing your chances of slipping and falling on a wet and slippery trail. While these shoes do look a bit eccentric and "gorillaish", they certainly do provide the necessary roughness requred of a hiking shoe while allowing the wearer to walk naturally.

The ECCO collection of outdoor shoes for men contains about five different takes on the traditional hiking boot. One boot takes its stylistic inspiration from the army and combat style boots. It is rugged with a high rising upper that comes up as far as the mid shin. The rest of the ECCO outdoor collection is based on the more traditional hiking shoe style. Each of the remaining shoes has a distinguishing feature. Some are rounded in the toe while others are sqaure. Some are low rising while others protect the ankle with their high top style. The one uniting feature that they do share is that none of them are explicitly sneaker like. They are each more a fusion of the casual dress shoe and work boot - a combination that likely provides a certain level of ruggedness and long-term wearibility. Each are crafted from leather and are outfitted with a thick rubber sole protect the hiking feet from any unforseen sharp objects or other damaging and injurious things.

The Patagonia line of hiking shoes for men is a bit more diverse and athleticically styled than that of ECCO. While most of the patagonia shoes share the same style in terms of the upper and sole, each contains subtle differences in materials and color to accomodate the many different styles and techniques of hiking.

Patagonia's main line of hiking and trekking shoes are round-toed with a sort of brushed/suede leather upper.  The sole is a deeply treaded yet flexible black rubber which provides excellent grip and traction. Patagonia also carries a line of trail running shoes for the more strenuous and higher energy hikers.  The trail running line is based on the same style of the hiking and trekking line, yet the running version is built on a padded foam sole to make the shoe lighter and provide cushioning against the pounding running strides.