They're usually a little stiffer and not as 'cushy' under your heels, so they may not feel as comfortable off the bat but your feet will be less tired at the end of the day. Hiking shoes/boots differ from tennis/running shoe in the amount of foot support/protection they provide. without a pack) you can usually wear your 'tennis' shoes. When you say 'canyoneering', I'm assuming you're not really talking about technical canyoneering with rappels, harnesses, ropes, etc., right? My experience is that serious canyoneers have a completely different gear mindset than your everyday hiker.įor day hiking in the southwest (i.e. Our trip is in mid-August, so something that keeps our feet cool would be a bonus. What do you normally wear when canyoneering or general hiking? :) Still, are these the kind of shoes I should be considering, and are there less expensive alternatives? I've been looking at shoes like the Teva Omnium or Keen Newport H2, but wow these suckers are expensive. Since we'll have multiple destinations, I'm not really considering renting shoes for Zion.

We have some nice sandals that we have hiked in, and work well for wet conditions, but I've heard the open toed design may not be a wise choice for hiking up Zion narrows. Right now we have your basic 'tennis' style walking shoes, but these wouldn't work very good for hiking up streams or through deep puddles. So, it occurred to me I should probably consider what kind of footwear we should have.

We are hoping to to hike up Zion narrows, around Bryce canyon, maybe Willis canyon, peek-a-boo and spooky canyons, calf creek falls, and probably other trails along our trip. I'm planning our first trip to the southern Utah area.

Water slot canyon southern utah