Best Hiking Pants for Women
OutdoorGearLab named the Outdoor Research Women's Ferrosi Pant its best overall women's hiking pant, and the table shows why: $110, 255 grams, 14 percent stretch and UPF 50+ in a fabric that blocks wind and sheds a passing shower. For less money, the Eddie Bauer Women's Guide Pro High Rise costs $85, sits high enough that a pack belt will not drag it down, and comes in regular, plus, tall and petite.
These pants run from light stretch nylon to heavy trekking cloth. Eight of the nine with a published weight fall between 236.5 and 301 grams; the ninth, the Fjallraven Keb Trousers Curved, weighs 584 in G-1000 fabric built to outlast the rest. Stretch varies just as much, from 4 percent elastane in the Patagonia Quandary to 18 in the Fjallraven Abisko Trekking Tights, and that number is what you notice on a high step or a scramble.
Our picks
- A hot approach where nothing should bind: Mountain Hardwear Women's Dynama Pant. The lightest full pant here at 236.5 grams, with UPF 50+ and a water-repellent finish, for $99.
- Rough ground and years of wear: Fjallraven Keb Trousers Curved W. G-1000 across the seat, knees and cuffs, waxable for more weather resistance, with long vent zips down the legs; it weighs 584 grams.
- Cold mornings that turn into warm afternoons: Outdoor Research Women's Ferrosi Convertible Pant. The Ferrosi with zip-off legs you can remove without taking your boots off, for about 46 grams and $20 more than the standard pant.
- Hiking in leggings, with real pockets: Fjallraven Abisko Trekking Tights W. 18 percent elastane, the most stretch in the table, a high waist and four pockets including a map pocket, at 256 grams.
- A pack belt that keeps pulling pants down: Eddie Bauer Women's Guide Pro High Rise Pants. The highest rise here and the broadest size run, at $85, with forward-zipping cargo pockets sized for a phone.
At a glance
| Option | Price | Style | Fit | Weight | Sun protection | Stretch content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $110source | Pantsource | Standardsource | 255source | UPF 50+source | 14%source | |
| $130source | Convertiblesource | Standardsource | 301source | UPF 50+source | 14%source | |
| $105source | Joggersource | Standardsource | 296source | UPF 50+source | 14%source | |
| $99source | Pantsource | Standardsource | 283source | UPF 40+source | 4%source | |
| $200source | Pantsource | Slimsource | 300source | 12%source | ||
| $169source | Pantsource | Standardsource | 278source | 15%source | ||
| $250source | Pantsource | Curvedsource | 584source | |||
| $175source | Tightssource | Standardsource | 256source | 18%source | ||
| $98source | Pantsource | Standardsource | UPF 50+source | 5%source | ||
| $99source | Pantsource | Standardsource | 236.5source | UPF 50+source | 6%source | |
| $109source | Roll-upsource | Relaxedsource | UPF 50+source | |||
| $85source | Pantsource | Standardsource | UPF 50+source | 5%source | ||
| $95source | Pantsource | Standardsource | UPF 40+source | 7%source |
Softshell stretch, light woven nylon, or G-1000
The stretchiest pants behave most like a softshell. The Black Diamond Alpine Light, at 15 percent elastane, is the stretchiest woven pant here, and the three Ferrosi pants sit at 14. The Arc'teryx Gamma, at 12 percent, is a true double-weave softshell with a brushed backer, the one to take into cold wind and wet rock, at $200.
At the other end, the Quandary (4 percent), the prAna Stretch Zion Halle and the Eddie Bauer (5 each) and the Mountain Hardwear Dynama (6) give less on a high step. The Keb stands apart: its G-1000 wear zones have no elastane at all, with separate stretch panels where you need to move, and its summary warns it dries slowly once soaked.
Zip-off, roll-up, jogger or tights
Nine of the thirteen are plain full-length pants, but two of those still shorten. The Quandary's hems roll up with a cord and button, and the Halle has roll-up snaps. The KUHL Women's Freeflex Roll-Up goes further, snapping to capri length, and the Ferrosi Convertible zips off entirely.
The Ferrosi Joggers use the same fabric with a cuffed ankle, which Outdoor Research pitches as activewear. That cuff traps more heat than an open hem and is harder to push up over a boot, so they suit the trailhead-to-dinner day more than a long hike. The Abisko tights are warmer than a woven pant in still heat, since they sit close to the skin.
Fit, rise and size range
Ten of the thirteen are cut standard. The exceptions are deliberate: the Gamma is slim so a climber can see her feet, the KUHL is relaxed and the roomiest here, and the Keb's curved cut is shaped through the hip and seat.
Size runs differ too. Eddie Bauer offers regular, plus, tall and petite; Black Diamond stops at size 12, the narrowest run in the table; Mountain Hardwear sizes the Dynama XXS to XL rather than by waist. The Quandary's 30-inch inseam runs long unless you order the short.
The options in detail
Outdoor Research Women's Ferrosi Pant
The Ferrosi is the pant the rest of this list gets measured against, and OutdoorGearLab picked it as their best overall women's hiking pant. The stretch nylon face fabric is light and quick-drying, blocks wind on an exposed ridge, sheds a passing shower, and carries a UPF 50+ rating. At 255 grams it disappears into a daypack, and the drawcord hem lets you cinch the leg out of the way at a creek crossing. The trade-off is fabric weight: this is a light softshell, not the armoured trekking cloth you get from Fjallraven's G-1000 further down the table.
Outdoor Research Women's Ferrosi Convertible Pant
This is the Ferrosi with zip-off legs, for trips where the morning starts cold and the afternoon does not. You get the same wind- and water-resistant stretch nylon and the same UPF 50+ rating, plus the option to walk out of the zip as shorts without taking your boots off. The zips and extra fabric add about 46 grams over the standard Ferrosi and twenty dollars to the price. Worth it if you genuinely switch mid-hike; dead weight if you know you never will.
Outdoor Research Women's Ferrosi Joggers
Same Ferrosi fabric, cut as a jogger with an elastic waist, an exterior drawcord and a cuffed ankle. Outdoor Research pitches it as an activewear piece rather than a trail pant, and that is the honest framing: it is the one here you would wear to the trailhead, on the plane and out to dinner. It still carries UPF 50+ and the same wind and water resistance as its siblings. The cuffed ankle is the catch, since it traps more heat than an open hem and is harder to push up over a boot.
Patagonia Women's Quandary Pants - Regular
Patagonia's long-running hiking pant, now cut with a mid rise and a slimmer leg. The face fabric is 96 percent NetPlus recycled nylon spun from discarded fishing nets, with a PFAS-free water-repellent finish and a 40+ UPF rating. A cord and button on each leg roll the hem up out of mud, which is a quieter version of what the convertibles here do. Only 4 percent spandex, so it gives less than the softshell pants above, and the 30 inch inseam runs long unless you order the short.
Arc'teryx Gamma Pant Women's
The Gamma is a true softshell rather than a light woven pant, built from Arc'teryx's Fortius DW 2.0 double weave with a brushed backer, and it is the one here you would take into cold wind and wet rock. The waistband uses a low-profile adjuster that sits flat under a harness or a hipbelt, and the cuffs cinch with a drawcord to keep scree out. It is cut trim, which Arc'teryx does deliberately so you can see your feet while climbing, and it is the second most expensive pant in this table. Arc'teryx publishes no UPF rating for it.
Black Diamond Women's Alpine Light Pants
Black Diamond builds this one for mild-weather climbing, and the details follow from that: articulated knees, harness-compatible front zip pockets and cord-lock hems you can pull tight over a boot. The fabric is a four-way stretch nylon-elastane with a DWR finish, and at 15 percent elastane it is the stretchiest woven pant in this table. At 278 grams it sits right in the middle on weight. Sizing stops at 12, which is the narrowest size run here, and Black Diamond publishes no UPF rating.
Fjallraven Keb Trousers Curved W
The Keb is the heavy-duty end of this table and a genuinely different kind of garment: G-1000, a tightly woven polyester-cotton, across the seat, knees and cuffs, with stretch panels where you need to move. You can rub it with Greenland Wax to make it more weather resistant, and long mesh-backed ventilation zips run down the legs for when you overheat. The curved cut is shaped through the hip and seat rather than cut straight. At 584 grams it is more than twice the weight of the Ferrosi and it dries slowly once soaked, which is the price of fabric that will outlast everything else here.
Fjallraven Abisko Trekking Tights W
A trekking tight rather than a pant, for people who hike in leggings but want real pockets and a fabric that survives granite. It is 82 percent polyamide with 18 percent elastane, the highest stretch content in this table, cut with a high waist and four pockets including a map pocket on the right leg. At 256 grams it is among the lightest things here. There is no UPF rating published, and a tight this close to the skin is warmer than a woven pant in still heat.
prAna Stretch Zion Halle Mid Rise Straight Pant
The Halle is prAna's trail pant that reads as normal trousers, which is why it turns up in travel packing lists as often as hiking ones. It is cut from Stretch Zion, a recycled nylon-elastane with a PFC-free water-repellent finish and a UPF 50+ rating, in a mid rise with a straight leg. Roll-up snaps, an interior drawcord and a hidden security pocket are the trail-facing details. Only 5 percent elastane, so it moves less than the softshells here, and prAna does not publish a garment weight.
Mountain Hardwear Women's Dynama Pant
The Dynama is Mountain Hardwear's do-everything stretch pant and the lightest full pant in this table at about 236 grams. The fabric is a plain-weave stretch woven nylon with a water-repellent finish and UPF 50, and the cut is a standard fit that Mountain Hardwear sizes XXS to XL rather than by numeric waist. It is the pant to reach for on a hot approach or a climbing day where you want nothing binding. Light fabric means it is less abrasion resistant than the Keb or the Gamma.
KUHL Women's Freeflex Roll-Up Pant
The roll-up is the middle path between a pant and a convertible: the legs roll and snap to capri length in seconds, with no zips to lose or chafe. KUHL cuts it mid rise and relaxed, which makes it the roomiest pant in this table, and gives it six pockets, a water-resistant PFC-free finish and UPF 50+. It is the pant for people who find hiking pants cut too close. KUHL publishes neither a fabric composition nor a garment weight for it, so two columns here are blank.
Eddie Bauer Women's Guide Pro High Rise Pants
The cheapest pant in this table and the one with the highest rise, which is the point: it sits above the hip so a pack belt does not drag it down. Eddie Bauer builds it from a nylon-spandex with their StormRepel water-repellent finish and a FreeShade UPF 50+ rating, and adds forward-zipping cargo pockets sized for a phone. It comes in regular, plus, tall and petite, the broadest size run here. Only two-way stretch and 5 percent spandex, so it gives less than the softshells, and no weight is published.
The North Face Women's Aphrodite 2.0 Pants
The Aphrodite is the softest and most casual thing here, a herringbone knit-feel fabric with four-way stretch, an elastic drawcord waist and shirred, adjustable leg openings. The North Face rates it UPF 40+ and finishes it with a non-PFC water repellent, and it is triple-stitched at the seams. It is the pant people buy for day hikes, travel and errands rather than for weather. It is also the least technical: no articulated knee, no harness-friendly waist, and The North Face does not publish a garment weight.
How we researched this
These thirteen were chosen to span price, leg style and use rather than to follow one publication's ranking, which is why three Ferrosi versions appear: they share a fabric but cover three different styles. The Columbia Saturday Trail II Convertible would have been the budget convertible, but its page was out of stock with no price shown in September 2026. The REI Co-op Sahara Convertible and Trailmade were left out because REI's product pages could not be read, the Stio Glide Tech and Athleta Trekkie North because their specs were not on the page, and low-cost marketplace pants because their specs could not be traced to a maker.
Weights are in grams because some brands publish only grams. A blank weight means the brand does not publish a garment weight, and a blank sun-protection cell means no published UPF rating, not that the fabric offers no protection. The Keb's stretch cell is blank because it is made of two fabrics, G-1000 with no elastane and a stretch panel at 11 percent. Prices are full list prices; several were on sale in September 2026, the Dynama at $74.25 among them, so check the brand's site before paying list.