What are the Best Cheap Hiking Boots for New Zealand?

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For Short Hikes or Day Hikes

For most of us travelling New Zealand, a pair of low-cut hiking shoes is more than enough to experience New Zealand’s awesome landscapes by foot. They are by far the most affordable kind of hiking footwear.

Low-cut hiking shoes provide the same durable material and deep outer sole tread of hiking boots, yet don’t come with the same hefty price tag. Hiking shoes are ideal for walking New Zealand’s day hikes and short walks. Because they don’t have the high-top design of a hiking boot, there is very little ankle support but this won’t really be an issue, as the vast majority of short walks in New Zealand are on well-defined tracks that are maintained by the Department of Conservation.

Best Cheap Hiking Shoes for New Zealand

All of these hiking shoes have been chosen with durability, tread, effective waterproofing technology and cheap price in mind.

• The First Outdoor Men’s First-Tex Hiking Shoes – NZ$95 / US$66
• First Outdoor Women’s First-Tex Hiking Shoes – NZ$100 / US$70
• Hi-Tech Men’s Hiking Shoes – NZ$125 / US$85
• Columbia’s Women’s Hiking Shoes – NZ$135 / US$90

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For Mostly Day Hikes and the Occasional Multi-day Hike

If you’re planning on tackling a few day hikes and even a multi-day hike on your trip to New Zealand then consider choosing a mid-rise hiking boot. The main advantage of a hiking boot, rather than a shoe, is that they provide ankle support which shoes lack. Ankle support is essential when hiking with heavier backpacks weighing up to 12kg (26lbs), which will be the case when hiking any of New Zealand’s multi-day hikes.

You may also want to get a mid-rise hiking boot if you have weak ankles or simply if you are unsure what kinds of activities you are going to be doing in New Zealand.

All in all, a mid-rise hiking boot is a safe hiking boot option. On the downside, they are usually a little more expensive than hiking shoes when looking in outdoors stores. However, we did find these very cheap mid-rise hiking boots on Amazon.

The Best Cheap Hiking Boots for New Zealand

• Columbia Men’s Mid Hiking Boots – NZ$150 / US$100
• Nevado’s Women’s Mid Hiking Boots – NZ$90 /US$60
• Hi-Tech Men’s Mid Hiking Boots – NZ$90 / NS$60
• Hi-Tech Women’s Mid Hiking Boots – NZ$90 / US$60

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For Mostly Multi-day Hiking

If multi-day hiking is what you’re mostly going to be doing on your trip to New Zealand, then choose a pair of high-rise hiking boots. This type of boot will give you sufficient ankle support for carrying heavier loads (usually up to 14kg/31lbs). While a good pair of waterproof high-rise hiking boots are not “cheap”, we have found some affordable pairs that will do the job if tackling multiple multi-day hikes in New Zealand.

The Best Cheap Hiking Boots for Multi-Day Hikes in New Zealand

• Vasque Men’s Hiking Boots – NZ$190 / US$130
• Otah Women’s Hiking Boots – NZ$89 / US$60
• Hanagal Men’s Hiking Boots – NZ$140 / US$95
• Mountain Warehouse Women’s Hiking Boots – NZ$75 / US$50