This One Shoe Is All You Need to Tackle Any Trail

When it comes to running shoes, I have an ongoing case of choice paralysis. There are just too many to choose from. We’ve got shoes for everyday runs, shoes for racing, shoes for speed work, shoes for long runs — and that’s just for the road. Head to the trail side and you’ll see shoes for every type of off-road path, from endless gravel roads covered in pine straw to near-vertical mountain trails that are way more sharp rock than dirt. It can be difficult to figure out exactly what you need.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Having a multitude of options for hitting the trail is good for everyone. But sometimes I just want a shoe that can do a little bit of everything. I don’t want a dozen specialized pairs of running shoes in my closet, I want a couple options that can take me from the mountains to the local park and maybe even be laced up on race day. But luckily, just as my brain was about to explode with indecision, I found a cure for my overly-stimulated prefrontal cortex: the Hoka Mafate 5.

Hoka Mafate 5

Cushion Is (Now) King

Last month I ventured out to Chamonix, just 100km (60 miles for us Americans) from Hoka’s original hometown of Annecy, France, for ultra running’s biggest event, the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB). Hoka, along with its duties as the title sponsor of the event, spent the week celebrating the launch of two new trail running shoes, the aforementioned Mafate 5 and their new trail racer, the Rocket X Trail. (The Rocket X Trail is a great shoe, but that’s a story for another day.) The Mafate 5 is the fifth iteration of Hoka’s first ever trail running shoe, which was released way back in 2009. At the time, it was an outlandish offering with a dizzying amount of foam and a bloated profile — a sharp departure from the minimalist trail running shoes of the day.

Now, 16 years and millions of pairs later, Hoka has led the way in making heavily cushioned running shoes the standard. The Mafate 5, with its considerable 45mm stack height, looks perfectly normal in 2025, which shows just how much of an impact Hoka has had on running and what we’ve come to expect from a running shoe. But the Mafate 5 is more than just a plush trail running shoe: It’s a shoe made for any off road adventure—and that’s why I love it.

All-Terrain Testing

My first run in the shoe was a short 5k shakeout on the roads around downtown Chamonix. Maybe not the best use of the versatile, Vibram-soled trail runner, but this run helps illustrate my point; I found the shoe to be extremely comfortable from my very first steps even on the road. Sure, the lugged sole didn’t get much use on that first run, but I knew right away that I was going to be wearing the Mafate 5s for a lot of miles in the future.

My next run was a 5-mile jaunt along the Petit Balcon Sud, a shady trail that, after a short, lung-busting climb, meanders along a ridge just above Chamonix, offering views of the towering Mont Blanc Massif and the towns in the valley below. This gave me my first opportunity to tackle rocks, roots, and mud in the Mafate 5, and the shoe was easily up to the task.

The real test, and the reason I’m confident in touting the Mafate 5 as not just a running shoe, but an all-around trail monster, was a run high up above Chamonix on the steep, sharp, scrambly terrain of the Col du Brévent. It was one of the most challenging routes I’ve ever encountered, with steep, rocky switchbacks, sketchy footing, and multiple instances where the route was so impassable that ladders had been installed to help traverse the trail. Just another day in the Alps, eh?

In spite of the tricky footing, the Mafate 5 managed just fine. The shoe’s high stack meant I had to watch my ankles a bit, but the grippy soles gave me confidence on damp rocks while the dual-density foam midsole kept me upright and comfortable when I found myself off-piste (which, thanks to the rocky terrain and sometimes difficult-to-follow trail markings, was often).

Flipping the Script (and the Foam)

The foam is one of the key features of the Mafate 5. Where most dual-density midsoles utilize a firmer foam on the bottom of the shoe and a softer foam directly underfoot, Hoka did a 180, putting the softer foam on the bottom of the shoe to absorb rocks and roots while the firmer foam sits under the insole for more support to the foot. And after putting half a dozen runs and hikes into my pair of Mafate 5s, I can say they are definitely some of the most comfortable trail runners I’ve worn.

The shoe’s comfort comes from more than just the foam, though. The upper has plenty of space, which makes a huge difference for my high arches, high instep, and wide forefoot. The shoe has a ton of protection on the upper, as well, which lends further confidence when scrambling or trying to move quickly through technical terrain; I had no fear of banging my toes or scraping the side of my foot when traversing the harsher sections of the trail. My feet also tend to swell quite a bit on long trail runs, so I appreciate the Dynamic Vamp, a stretchy bit on top of the toes that allows your forefoot to expand without the need for lace adjustments. This extra room also comes in handy on technical descents where the foot tends to smash into the front of the shoe. All-in-all, it’s an incredibly versatile shoe that made light work of the varying Alpine terrain.

Beyond Mont Blanc

Unfortunately, we don’t all get to live in the Alps, but that’s okay—because since I’ve been back home in Los Angeles, I still find myself opting for the Mafate 5s for local trail runs and hikes. The dusty, rocky chaparral of the Angeles National Forest is no match for the shoe, and I’ve done a few laps of Griffith Park with no issues whatsoever. And when I need to take the shoes on the road, an inevitability when trail running or hiking in LA, the shoe feels just as peppy as any of the road running shoes in my closet.

If you’re on the hunt for a trail runner that is capable, comfortable, and durable, I have 100% confidence that the Mafate 5 will be a great choice. At $185, it isn’t cheap, but since it has the potential to replace a couple different pairs of shoes in your closet, I think the price is worth it. Buy just one pair, and you’ve got trail runs, hikes, backpacking trips, and weekend jaunts to the farmer’s market or the movie theater sorted.

Hoka Mafate 5