Three Best Women’s Hiking Leggings

After hiking for the past decade, I’ve gone through a ton of women’s hiking leggings. I’ve tried leggings from Lululemon, Alo, Outdoor Voices, Nike, Gap, Kuhl, Zella…you get the picture. And through it all, three clear winners have emerged.

Read on to see how I evaluate leggings. I value four things in a pair of leggings: fit, performance, fabric, and style.

Leggings are evaluated across four traits:

1. Fit

   How well do these leggings fit? Are there weird amounts of fabric bunching somewhere? Is it too tight at the ankles? At the waistband?

2. Performance

   How well do these leggings hold up as you’re moving? And in this case, how well do these leggings hold up when hiking?

3. Fabric

   How well do these leggings wick sweat? If these are meant to be warm hiking leggings, how well do they insulate?

4. Style

   The aesthetics! How nice do these leggings look? If something is high quality but has a loud print, it may not be for me. This is subjective though, so take this with a grain of salt and make the best decision for you!

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Three Best Women’s Hiking Leggings

1. Lululemon Wunder Under High-Rise Tight 25″

   

   I used to be on the fence with Lululemons – are any pair of leggings truly worth triple digits? And the answer is, yes, yes they are. These leggings are so comfortable that you will forget that you’re wearing them, yet they can handle hiking with ease. One of the things I truly appreciate about these leggings is that they don’t roll down at the waistband and they are form fitting without having any slack. They can easily go from sitting in a car on a road trip to then hiking miles out in Yellowstone National Park.

   I am wearing a size Small in the color Black. For reference, I am 5’4″ and 125 pounds.

   Fit – 5/5
   These leggings get a 5 out of 5 for being so dang comfortable, hitting at the right length, and providing just enough coverage since they’re high waisted.

   These leggings do not offer tight compression but they still manage to hold you in and provide the type of support you’d need for hiking.

   Performance – 4/5
   I appreciate how these leggings could go from athleisure to hiking to yoga. However, if you’re looking for something with stronger compression for more high intensity exercise, these may not be the leggings for you.

   Fabric – 5/5
   These leggings are sweat wicking and do hold their shape well over the years. They have a good amount of stretch to them and feel cool to the touch.

   Style – 4/5
   This is a well designed pair of leggings. It is cut well and thoughtfully designed for the woman’s body. I docked a point because there are no phone pockets in this style, so it is not the most convenient. However, they do offer a waistband pocket, which can hold your key or card.

2. Outdoor Voices Springs 7/8 Legging

   

   These Outdoor Voice leggings are stylish, offer a high degree of compression, and are great at wicking away sweat. Every time I wear these leggings, a stranger compliments me on the style, and they also make your booty look fantastic. 😉

   I am wearing them in size Small and the color Graphite/Ash/Dove.

   You can get $20 off your purchase of $100 or more by clicking here.

   Fit – 3/5
   I got my usual size in leggings, a size Small. However, I believe these leggings run a tad bit small. When I purchased these a few years ago, their website did not mention that sizing ran small. However, it does now, which is neat for future buyers.

   While the legs fit, the high waisted waistband was a bit tight. The length is also quite long on these leggings, which is nice if you’re on the taller side. At 5’4″ though, the leggings bunched up a bit around my ankles.

   Performance – 5/5
   These leggings are great for doing activities ranging from hiking to yoga to HIIT workouts. The high level of compression in these leggings holds up and is great for outdoor activities as well as more intensive gym workouts.

   Fabric – 5/5
   The fabric has held its shape well over the years and has not gotten any looser (even though I wish it would lol). I have to say though, this fabric is flattering and it hugs, sculpts, and supports your shape. Cannot recommend this fabric enough!

   Style – 5/5
   I love the three tone color of these leggings! They’re so cute and it gives your leggings such a distinctive look. You can even get a matching top here.

3. Kuhl W’s Toasty Transcendr Legging

   
   These leggings by Kuhl are the best warm leggings for hiking that I’ve ever tried! The warm fleece lining on the inside of the leggings kept my legs toasty and warm during a hike with my doggo, Hyori, who is pictured above. These leggings are two-tone, which gives the leggings a slimming effect. They are high-waisted and compress, which I love because it holds you in and doesn’t feel flimsy. There are some leggings that I’ve tried which don’t compress and feel a bit too thin, which makes my legs feel wobbly while I walk. These leggings don’t!

   The leggings are thoughtfully designed and have a right hand pocket with a protective flap to hold in your phone. The flap was a nice feature. I’ve owned other leggings that have side pockets for your phone and one of the worries I have is that my phone will fall out as I’m moving. This protective flap makes the phone feel more secure.

   

   I got these leggings in a size Small, 29 inch inseam, and the color Inkwell. You can see more of their women’s hiking leggings here.

   Fit – 4/5
   I give these leggings a 4 out of 5 since the ankles were a tad bit tight. I expect these to get looser with more wear but it was a bit uncomfortable at first. Otherwise, I appreciated how the fit was. As someone who is 5’4″ sometimes leggings can be a bit too long, but these fit perfectly length wise!

   Performance – 5/5
   These leggings held up well during the hike and I appreciated how they provided compression without feeling too tight. They were easy to move in and comfortable to wear for an extended amount of time while hiking uphill and downhill.

   Fabric – 5/5
   These fleece lined leggings kept me warm throughout my hike and well insulated. Sweat wicking wasn’t a factor because it was too cold but they have weather protected softshell, which shields wind and sheds precipitation.

   Style – 5/5
   The two tone color of these leggings is awesome. The way that the colors are blocked gives your legs a slimming effect, which is a nice cherry on top of the great functionality of these leggings.

This concludes the three best women’s hiking leggings list!

If you’re interested in learning more about where to hike in the Bay Area, check out our “Best Bay Area Hikes” post here.

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What are some of your favorite women’s hiking leggings? Leave a comment below!