Hiking

We recently visited all 5 Utah national parks (known as the Mighty 5) in one road trip with my parents (!). While Josh and I have been to all five before, including on road trips, backpacking trips, bikepacking trips, you name it, but this was the first time my parents had ever been to any of them. So they flew over, we picked them up at Salt Lake City International Airport, and we hit the road for a 10-day road trip for the ages. Want to plan your own Utah national parks road trip? Here’s our route and recommendations.

It’s officially hiking-in-shorts weather! In fact, all summer long you’ll rarely, if ever, find us playing outside in anything else. We don’t like clingy fabric on our skin (which means breathable sun shirts only on our top half), prefer to feel the breeze on our skin, and don’t mind applying a little sunscreen for the easy-breezy feeling shorts provide on the trail. But a perfect pair can be hard to find, especially if you want a more sustainable pair from a brand that puts Earth first. Fortunately, we put several pairs to the test to help you find the ideal pair for you. Here are 5 of the best sustainable hiking shorts for women we’ve found.

It’s officially hiking-in-shorts weather! In fact, all summer long you’ll rarely find us playing outside in anything else. We don’t like clingy fabric (which means breathable sun shirts only on our upper halves), prefer to feel the breeze on our skin, and don’t mind applying a little sunscreen for the easy-breezy feeling shorts provide on the trail. But a perfect pair can be hard to find, especially if you want a more sustainable pair from a brand that puts Earth first. Fortunately, we put several pairs to the test to help you find the ideal pair for you. Here are 5 of the best sustainable hiking shorts for men we’ve found.

Planning a hiking or backpacking trip and want to know if you can bring along your trekking poles? We got you. Because the answer…well…it’s complicated. Keep reading to find out how to pack your trekking poles so they won’t get confiscated by security.

You know we’re big fans of Xero Shoes here at Terradrift. But at this point, the brand has quite a few options to choose from and it’s hard to decipher which Xero sandals might be the best for you. So in the name of eliminating a bit of trial and error, we tested them all. Well, almost all. And over several years, so we know what we’re talking about here. Want the inside scoop? Let’s get to it.

We’re all about barefoot and minimalist shoes here at Terradrift. We love them for all seasons: summer, winter, in snow, sun and rain. And while we tend to prefer more breathable barefoot hiking boots when it’s warm, sometimes waterproof barefoot hiking boots are required. Fortunately, we’ve tested plenty over the years and these are some of our favorite minimalist, zero-drop waterproof boots designed for hiking and outdoor adventure.

Come summer, we’re all about barefoot sandals. We explore in them, travel in them, wander in them, and definitely hike in them. Yes, we hike in sandals (but only purpose-built sandals designed for the task). So just like last year, we got our hands on a bunch of different brands and styles, tested them all on dirty, rocky, uneven trails in Utah, plus on gravel and asphalt, and sized them up to determine which ones are best for what activities, which are most comfortable, durable, have the best groundfeel, you name it. So if you’re ready for a new pair of barefoot hiking sandals, here are some of the best money can buy.

Are you team water bottle or hydration reservoir? Sound off! Well we tested a hydration system that’s truly the best of both worlds: It has the functionality of a bladder with the ease-of-use of a water bottle. It’s the One Bottle Hydration system, essentially a hydration tube for a water bottle, and it may be our new favorite way to stay hydrated on long hikes and backpacking trips. Read on for our full review.

Barefoot hiking boots! We can’t get enough of them here at Terradrift. In fact, we’re at the point where we don’t hike in anything else. But not all barefoot boots are created equal. So we tested two pairs from some of our favorite brands to see how they compared in this Vivobarefoot vs Xero Shoes showdown: The Xero Scrambler Trail Mid WP and the Vivobarefoot Tracker Textile AT. And because we want you to find your perfect shoe the first time, we’re gonna break down how they’re different, where they excelled–or didn’t–and what type of hiker we think is gonna like each one best.

Hiking requires clothing. Often, pants. Like when it’s cold or trails are covered in brush that threatens to tear up your legs or when ticks abound. We don’t have to tell you why pants are often necessary when hitting the trail. But the perfect pair of hiking pants can be hard to find. So we put several pairs to the test (which are all PFAS-free) to see which sustainable hiking pants for women are the perfect combination of technical performance, trail style, and functionality.