Best Wool Socks For Happy Hiking Feet

If itch-free comfort, warmth, and high impact-absorption are your thing, then the SmartWool Trekking Heavy Crew Socks might just be the perfect option for you. These socks’ high merino wool content and chunkiness make them ideal for three-season conditions, keeping you warm when temps are low and wicking well when you’re working up a sweat.

The SmartWool Trekking Heavy Crew are made with 70% merino wool and 29% nylon, making them both super soft and comfy and highly durable. The 1% spandex content is a little lower than others in our review, but provides enough stretch for different foot sizes and for the socks to maintain their shape long term.

A heavy crew cut, this sock is ideally suited to hiking or backpacking in rugged terrain in cooler conditions. Its thickly cushioned sole also makes it highly efficient in absorbing impact, while the high merino content fends off odors and wicks amazingly well for such a beefy sock.

All that merino also makes this sock an excellent insulator that will keep your feet warm on winter/shoulder season hikes without compromising on breathability. 

While these socks don’t dry as quickly as others in our review, they do include one highly endearing, non-standard feature – arch support. While not a deal-maker, this add-on helps your gait and posture, keeps the sock in place, and provides additional support when carrying heavy loads.

If you’re planning on going on long backpacking trips and want optimal support for your feet, the Icebreaker Hike + Compression OTC should be on your shortlist. These socks offer all the benefits of merino wool while throwing in the added benefit of a compression-style fit and a more anatomical design. 

The socks’ fabric is a combo of 49% merino wool, 44% nylon, and 7% lycra. This blend makes the Icebreaker Hike + Compression OTC far stretchier and more durable than other socks in our review and provides a snug, tighter fit around your feet all the way to the calf.

What we love most about these socks is their “graduated compression” design, which helps encourage good circulation and enhances recovery whenever you stop for a rest. 

The padding is a little on the light side, but this minor failing is made up for by a unique anatomical design that provides ample support in all the right places without ever being too bulky.

Let’s not forget that the sock is still able to retain significant qualities of merino wool so it is still highly breathable and warm. It is also outstanding in moisture-wicking and good at preventing odor.

The Darn Tough is a versatile sock that can be worn year-round in varying conditions. It combines comfort, style, and performance as well as providing plentiful cushioning in all the right places.

The Darn Tough MC is made from 61% merino wool, 36% nylon, 3% Lycra spandex. This blend delivers on all fronts, bringing outstanding breathability, durability, support, and shape-maintaining stretch to boot.

Though classed in the lightweight category, this sock offers good cushioning from the toes all the way up to the calves. This, simply put, translates into simply oodles of comfort, and makes it ideal for day hiking, thru-hiking, and trail running alike. 

The thinner fabric used in this sock means it’s more capable of shifting sweat and keeping feet cool in warmer weather, even in intensive activities like fastpacking or trail running. This thin construction also provides decent ventilation in the underfoot area and gives the sock the ability to dry quicker than most woolen competitors.

The Injinji 2.0 Midweight Crew’s unique toe-sock design might not be to everyone’s liking, but it’s ideal for feet prone to blisters and avoiding chilly toes. 

This sock is made with 64% NüWool, 33% nylon, and 3% lycra. Although marketed as a midweight, its thin design and lack of padding actually makes it closer to the lightweight. Performance-wise, however, this thin design is a winner for warm temps, making the Injinji 2.0 highly breathable, quick-drying, and among the highest-wicking in our review.

In terms of durability and drying speed, this sock rank slightly above average, with only a few pilling problems a few months down the line detracting from its otherwise “steady-seven” report card.

And the downsides?

Well, the NüWool fabric used in this sock provides decent comfort but is not quite as soft to the touch as merino. Also, the Injinji 2.0 is not a warm sock. Though the individual toe pockets do bring added insulation to this frequently cited cold spot, they’re just a little on the skinny side to keep the rest of your foot warm in cooler conditions in the shoulder seasons.

The People Socks Merino Wool Crew is the perfect option for hikers looking to stock up on their supply of high-performing woollen socks without breaking the bank. 

This cozy crew sock offers all the best things that merino brings to the table with very few of the downsides. It’s high-wicking, fast-drying, breathable, and just about as comfortable as they- come.

This sock is made with 71% merino wool, 21% nylon, 7% polyester, and 1% spandex. This combo makes it not only soft and stretchy, but also a little more hard-wearing than many of its more expensive competitors. 

As a midweight sock, the People’s Socks Crew provides decent underfoot cushioning, while the concentration of elastane material near the arch and the heel ensure that it maintains its shape over time and isn’t prone to slipping around inside your shoe. 

The sock also excels in terms of warmth, packing more than enough insulation for three-season hiking in most parts of the globe. It doesn’t dry quite as quickly as other socks in our review, but this is a very minor failing given its solid performance in other metrics and friendly price tag.

The Danish Endurance Men’s Wool Socks provide the perfect combo of breathability, comfort, and wicking capacity needed for hiking in higher temps.

The sock’s fabric consists of 33% merino wool, 33% acrylic, 33% polyamide, and 1% elastane. This lower merino content means these socks aren’t quite as soft to the touch as others in our review. It does, however, make them far more durable, rugged, and more likely to keep their shape in the longer term.

This sock’s mid-calf length makes it ideally suited to hiking, backpacking, and even warmer-weather adventures above the snowline. It also boasts plenty of cushioning and compression along the arch and calf areas and has enough stretch to cling to your skin and prevent falling while you’re on the move.

One of the most appealing features of this sock is the integration of “breathing” panels on top of the foot and along the front of the legs. This means that, even though it’s beefier than other mid-weights on our list, it still provides plenty of breathability and ventilation on warm days.

The Hike Light Margarita Crew Sock is a high-quality, high-performing sock that’s ideally suited to summer and shoulder-season hikes and backpacking adventures.

This sock uses a blend of 62% merino wool, 36% nylon, and 2% elastane content. It is very soft to the touch and has an elasticized arch brace that ensures a nice, snug fit.

While it has the word ‘light’ in the name, the Margarita is a fraction thicker and heavier than others in its weight class, meaning it’s perfectly well-suited to summer, spring, and hall hiking alike.

While a little light on padding and cushioning, the Margarita is a very comfy sock that scores highly in every other metric. It breathes and wicks well, offers outstanding durability, and dries just as quickly as any other sock in our review.

The KOLD FEET Women’s Wool Socks are a highly versatile option that work well in a wide variety of weather and trail conditions.

With a fabric blend of 57% Polyester, 19% Acrylic,12% Wool, 11% Nylon, and 1% Spandex, one might argue that this sock is more of a synthetic than a woolen product. But don’t be fooled by the specifics of the blend. Although low in merino content, this sock brings all the benefits inherent to merino—breathability, wicking, warmth—while adding the durability and resilience of non-natural fabrics.

One of the things most likely to endear buyers to this sock is the super-soft, terry-cloth feel to the interior fabric. It also provides plenty of cushioning throughout the sole and ankle area and is beefy enough to feel vaguely slipper-like in terms of both comfort and insulation.

There, are, however, a few downsides. The KOLD FEET’s low merino content might not detract from its performance in most respects, but it does mean it’s a little slower-drying than other socks in our review, and also less odor-resistant.

If you want to have a sock that offers both immense comfort and impressive durability, then it’s hard to go wrong with the PhD Pro Light Crew. 

The PhD Pro Light Crew are made with a combination of 62% merino wool, 36% nylon, 2% elastane. The synthetic-natural blend makes it very elastic and allows it to hold its shape well. The merino wool, as ever, gives it a soft texture that feels great against your skin and regulates foot temperature well throughout your hike.

Despite the name, the cushioning in this sock approaches the midweight level. It’s very plush, pillow-like, and covers a wide area from heel to toe. It also features a compressive elastic band around the arch to help keep the sock in place and prevent any slippage.

The Pro Light uses less material over the top of the shaft to promote ventilation in high temps. It also wicks well and provides more than enough insulation for three-season hiking in most locations.

While this sock continues to insulate when wet, however, it does take a little longer to dry. As such, it’s not the best bet for hiking in heavy rain or backpacking trips where you’ll be hanging your socks in your gear loft to dry overnight.