Best Camp Shoes for backpacking – Arizona Hikers Guide

There are few things better than unlacing those dirty, sweaty hiking shoes after a long day of trekking around the wilderness. Even better is slipping off your nasty socks and letting your feet dry out in a brisk mountain breeze. Airing my feet out after a long day is one of my favorite treats at the end of my backpacking day. But what do you do for the rest of the evening? That’s where camp shoes make their appearance.

When I use the term “camp shoe” a.k.a. pack shoe, I mean the shoes/sandals a person packs with them to replace their hiking boots or shoes at the end of a hike. Many backpackers carry these as a luxury item to take care of their feet at night or for river crossings. Many moons ago I learned that these luxury items are worth their weight in gold when you are out on the trail. I used to believe they were a waste of weight and space, making the argument that I could simply just walk around in my bare feet and “rough it”. Bad idea for many reasons. And then one day my paradigm shifted…

Enter Crocs…

My wonderful and thoughtful Mother-in-Law introduced me to my first pair of Crocs just over two years ago when I received them from her as a Christmas gift. From the first time my wife laid eyes on them she hated them. She would say, “those are old man shoes” or “are you wearing those in public again?”. No matter the abuse, I loved them.  I read online that they made great camp shoes as well so I had to try them out.  I wore my Crocs for nearly two years on my backpacking trips before I finally tossed them due to an unfortunate incident.

Exit Crocs…

I accidentally stepped in human poop (long story… actually not really; some idiot pooped near a trailhead and didn’t clean it up and I stepped in it with my Crocs on and I had to throw them away).

Now that my favorite pair of camp shoes have left my life I did some research on what kind of footwear makes the best camp shoes.  During my quest I found four options that really work well in just about any situation.   Here are my four suggestions for finding the best camp shoes.