When you’ve finally found a pair of hiking boots that’s comfortable, lightweight and protective, there’s nothing worse than winter rolling around and forcing you to haul out your stiff, heavy old boots again. That’s why Keen says it's taken one of its popular new models and winterized it, so you can hike in lightweight comfort no matter the season.
The Keen Hightrail Polar hiking boot, available now, keeps the sporty profile of the brand’s fast and light hiking range, but winterizes it, adding insulation and a new outsole to help you stay on the trail as the weather turns.
The Hightrail line launched this spring, featuring a town-to-trail vibe focused on speed, stability, and style. The boots are made using ethically sourced leather for robustness, but sport a trainer-like design. Adventure Staff Writer Will Symons gave the Keen Hightrail EXP nearly perfect marks, rating their comfort, grip, waterproofing and flexibility.
Meet the Keen Hightrail Polar
The most comfortable hiking shoes, however, do tend to lack the reinforcements needed for winter and the Polar edition is ready for icy blasts thanks to 200g of KEEN.WARM insulation (made from recycled P.E.T. plastic) that the Portland-based brand says will keep your feet warm in temperatures as low as -25ºF (-31ºC). That’s reinforced with what Keen calls Heat Trapolator technology: three layers of heat-trapping materials between your foot and the ground.
For slippery conditions where you don’t quite need traction devices, the KEEN.FREEZE outsole has multi-direction lugs for better traction on ice and snow and is made with a rubber compound that’s built to stay flexible when it gets below freezing.
If you’re trekking through slush or deeper snow, the D-ring makes it easy to attach a gaiter and, like other Hightrail models, it’s waterproof and has the same Eco Anti-Odor for pesticide-free odor control and is PFAS-free.
The Keen Hightrail Polar Hiking boots are available now in both men’s and women’s sizing in black for $165 / £145 from Keen.
