Best Hiking Shorts of 2026

Four-way stretch is the headline, and the side tabs are why it works. XKTTAC puts hook-and-loop adjusters at each hip, so you can snug the waist after a big lunch without undoing a belt, and the fabric gives in every direction — the thing you notice stepping over a blowdown rather than around it.

This is the men's pair we recommend first. Six pockets, a waistband with elastic panels, and cloth that stays cool on a hot climb between them cover day hikes, camping, and the drive home better than anything else on the men's side of this guide.

The pocket layout is the compromise. There is no rear pocket at all, and a phone dropped into the low side cargo pocket swings against your thigh on a fast descent, so ours moved to a front zip. If you hike with a hipbelt and keep a phone up front anyway, you won't miss it; if a rear pocket is where your map lives, look elsewhere.

These are the cheapest shorts in this guide, and they do the two things a hiking short actually has to do: dry fast and keep your keys where you put them. The elastic waistband sits flat instead of digging in, and the zippered hand pockets are big enough for a phone.

We wore them on the water as much as on trail. They don't cling when wet, they dry fast enough that a soaked morning doesn't end the day, and the zips hold through a paddle or a wade. On a trip where laundry means a sink, that is the difference between packing two pairs and packing four.

The fabric is thin, which is the trade you make for that drying time, and it is happiest on maintained trail, on water, and in a duffel rather than pushing through thorn. Treat them as your fast-and-light pair rather than the one that carries everything, and the thinness stops mattering.

There's a nylon belt in the box, which is the sort of thing you appreciate at six in the morning in a trailhead lot when yours is still in a drawer at home. Shallowlulu pairs it with an elastic waist and a water-resistant, quick-dry fabric, so the belt is doing less work than it looks — the short holds itself up either way.

Four zippered pockets with real depth, and a cut clean enough for dinner in town without a change. The side pocket swallows a large phone. Length runs past mid-thigh, which is the right call for the kind of day where you're pushing through wet brush rather than walking around it.

This is our wet-weather pick, and the reason is straightforward: water-resistant fabric buys you time in drizzle and soaked grass that a plain quick-dry short simply doesn't. The belt is where they cut a corner — the buckle can pop loose when something knocks it — so plan on your own strap if you'll be wearing it hard.

Set these beside our top pick and the difference is mostly price and polish: the same idea — light fabric, a wide waistband, four pockets — for a good deal less. The cloth is soft, breathes well on a humid afternoon, and dries quickly enough to rinse in a sink.

The waistband is the part we liked most. It's wide and stays put without rolling over, which is exactly what cheaper shorts usually get wrong, and the low side pockets keep a phone off your hip instead of bouncing it against bone. They pack small and come out of a duffel without a crease worth worrying about.

This is our budget pick on the women's side, and it earns the spot on that waistband alone. Buy them for travel, day hikes, and the second pair that lives in the car — they're the least precious shorts here, which on a rented kayak or a muddy dog walk is precisely what you want.

Two and a half inches is a deliberate choice, not a shortage of fabric. Willit cuts these high on the thigh, and on a humid climb that is the difference between a breeze and a damp band of cloth stuck to your leg.

The material is the second surprise. It's soft, stretchy, and closer to swimwear than to the crisp nylon most hiking shorts use — which sounds wrong until you're three hours in and nothing has rubbed. They don't wrinkle, they pack to nothing, and they come out of a stuff sack looking presentable.

The pockets are real, including a zippered one, and the waistband sits at a mid-rise that stays put when you drop onto a rock. We wore them from a morning climb straight through lunch in town, which is more than most hiking shorts can claim.

For hot weather this is the pair we reach for, with one honest limit: it's a trail short, not a bushwhacking short. In tall grass, thorn, or scree you'll feel every one of the missing four inches, and a nine-inch option is the better answer there. On a maintained trail in July, nothing else here feels as cool.

Five pockets, and every one of them zips. Pudolla takes the secure-everything approach, which is either the reason you buy these or the reason you don't: nothing falls out on a descent, and you also have five pulls to check before you sit down.

The 11-inch version is what earns them a place here — it's the longest short in this guide, and if you want coverage without going back to pants, nothing else on this page comes close. The nine-inch is the everyday version and the seven is for hot days. Add a slightly dressier cut than gym shorts and you have a pair that travels as well as it hikes.

The fabric is thin, even by quick-dry standards, which is what makes the long version bearable in heat and also what makes a light color a bit revealing. Wear them for travel and warm-weather walking rather than sliding down granite, and the thinness stops being the story.

An elastic waist with a drawstring is the most forgiving waistband in this guide. INNERBUT puts both on a quick-dry short with five pockets and no lining, which makes it the pair to reach for when you're between sizes, layered up, or heading somewhere a belt is just one more thing to lose.

No lining is the reason it dries so fast. There's no mesh holding water against your skin, nothing bunching under a pack belt, and nothing to chafe on a long hot walk. It also means you choose what goes underneath, which is worth a thought before a multi-day trip.

The fabric is light and stretchy, the pockets are generous for a short this simple, and there's a leg pocket that keeps a phone off your thigh. The cut is plain in the best way — these read as regular cargo shorts, not gym wear with ambitions.

So this is the pair we pack when we don't know what the day holds: a waist that adjusts itself, pockets that hold, and fabric that doesn't care whether it gets wet. It won't cover like the Pudolla's 11-inch or offer the SANTINY's length choice, but it's the least fussy short here, and it doubles as swimwear without a second thought.