HOKA Trail Running – Door to the trail and beyond
With a range of trail running footwear options, HOKA’s winter 2026 line-up of off-road running shoes offers something for everyone. Be it heading from your front door to the park, or to mountain summits, they have shoes built to take you there.
HOKA – Tecton X4 – £260.00
Built to win the world's toughest mountain races, the Tecton X4 is HOKA's flagship trail racer and the shoe I reach for whenever the terrain gets technical and I want to push the pace.
At its core sits the brand's PROFLY X series midsole made with dual-layer PEBA foam, parallel carbon plates and speed-focused MetaRocker built to go all-out on the trail. HOKA has positioned this shoe firmly at the sharp end of trail running, describing it as "podium-chasing propulsion for technical terrain," crafted to lead the pack at the world's pinnacle trail races. That pedigree is real – earlier versions of the Tecton line have already proven themselves on the world stage, with the Tecton X 2 and 2.5 becoming the shoe Jim Walmsley wore on his way to his historic UTMB victory, and the X4 is built to continue that lineage at races like UTMB where technical, high-altitude terrain punishes anything less than a fully dialled-in platform.
On the outsole, the shoe uses a Vibram Megagrip Litebase outsole with Traction Lug built for grip, speed and precision on the trail. On the ground, I found the dual carbon plates gave a genuinely stable, propulsive sensation without ever feeling twitchy underfoot, exactly what I wanted crossing more technical terrain and nerve-testing routes. The upper, a new Matryx Micro textile that enhances breathability during all-out efforts, locked my foot down securely even when I pushed the pace on rougher, uneven singletrack. For anyone lining up at a mountain ultra where the ground refuses to stay smooth, this is a shoe with real race pedigree.
HOKA – Speedgoat 7
The Speedgoat has long been HOKA's do-anything trail shoe, and the 7th edition returns to what made the model so popular in the first place. HOKA rebuilt the midsole around a new supercritical EVA foam, and I noticed the difference immediately; it's a shoe that felt noticeably livelier underfoot than previous versions while retaining that unmistakable Speedgoat protection.
The outsole is where this shoe really shines: equipped with the excellent Vibram Megagrip and Traction Lug technology, it delivered great traction that inspires confidence, whether scrambling over wet rocks or tackling muddy terrain. The Speedgoat 7 features updated lugs with Vibram's Traction Lug technology, with a heart-shaped design that varies in size and orientation throughout the outsole, and it shows on the trail: I found it gripped confidently on everything from loose gravel paths to wet, muddy singletrack.
Underfoot, the stack has grown slightly compared to previous generations, and has now increased by 5mm, moving it well above the current category average. On the trail, that translates to a shoe that soaks up long days without sacrificing the responsive, ground-aware feel the Speedgoat is known for. This has now become my go-to for mixed, technical terrain where I want maximum grip and enough cushion to go the distance, without stepping into full super shoe territory.
HOKA – Rocket X Trail
Where the Tecton X4 and Speedgoat are built for technical ground, the Rocket X Trail is unapologetically a speed shoe for lighter, less technical trails, gravel roads and smooth singletrack. HOKA has taken its road racing DNA and adapted it for trail, using an entirely new foam for the brand: gas-infused A-TPU, which is quickly becoming the gold standard foam for high-end racing models, both on road and trail. Sandwiched inside that high stack is an H-shaped, split, parallel carbon fibre plate, similar to that found in the Tecton X.
The ride is genuinely fast and agile on the right terrain, springy and propulsive in a way that few trail shoes manage. This shoe is a performance trail racing shoe with speed, control, and responsiveness inspired by road racing, finished with zonal rubber in the outsole that saves weight while offering protection, with 3mm lugs that are ideal for navigating gravel, smooth trails, and non-technical terrain. On fire roads and rolling gravel routes, it is perfect, letting me hold a faster cadence than I expected from a maximally cushioned trail shoe.
Take it onto anything muddy or steep, and that shallow lug depth quickly runs out of grip, but that’s where the other HOKA options come into play.
HOKA – Stinson 8
For long, easy days and road-to-trail versatility, the Stinson 8 is HOKA's max-cushion workhorse, and it's the shoe I'm reaching for mostly on recovery runs and easy off-road days. The redesigned midsole pairs a new soft foam layer with the brand's stability system: a softer foam beneath an updated H-Frame midsole for just-right cushioning with locked-in stability through the gait cycle.
On foot, this translates to a genuinely plush, stable ride that never feels unwieldy despite its size. The outsole uses all-terrain rubber with 3.5 mm lugs that are smooth on roads and grippy on trails, and I found that balance held up well across everything from parkland to light trail and singletrack.
For big-mileage and mixed-surface running where comfort and stability matter more than outright speed, the Stinson 8 is an excellent choice.
Key Specs at a Glance
