The Kaha 3 GTX, mid and low, men's and women's, about $220 to $240, and what owners say about the fit.
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As cushioned as waterproof hiking boots get. Mind the fit, and skip it if your feet are wide.
Wide feet? Merrell Moab 3 Mid GORE-TEX · $201.88
Wide feet? Merrell Moab 3 Mid GORE-TEX · $201.88
The mid boot, as cushioned as hiking boots get and dry through creeks and snow, about $220. It runs narrow and can run short, so check the sizing notes.
The Hoka Kaha 3 GTX is the boot to buy if your feet are what hurts at the end of a hike. I know that feeling from the long descent off Cold Mountain at the end of the Art Loeb, the balls of my feet burning a mile before the trailhead. The Kaha has about as much cushioning as a hiking boot gets, a stiff heel cup that keeps your foot from rolling, and a GORE-TEX leather upper that its owners say stays dry through creeks, slush and snow. Several owners bought it for plantar fasciitis or long shifts on concrete, and kept wearing it on the trail.
Get the Kaha 3 GTX, the mid, at about $220, and go half a size up if you're between sizes. Fit is the part to get right: it comes in one width, and the most common complaint by far is a toe box too narrow for wide feet. If yours are wide, the Moab 3 Mid GORE-TEX comes in a wide for no extra cost and runs about $40 less.
The mid boot, as cushioned as hiking boots get and dry through creeks and snow, about $220. It runs narrow and can run short, so check the sizing notes.
20 oz per shoe, as listed GORE-TEX Medium width only
Also on Amazon:Women's
The same sole under a low-cut upper, about 3 oz lighter per shoe. Owners say it runs small too.
17.1 oz per shoe, as listed GORE-TEX Medium width only
Also on Amazon:Women'sHoka keeps it simple: one sole, one membrane, one width, and two heights. The mid covers your ankle and is the one most owners and reviewers wear. The low puts the same platform under a low-cut upper, about 3 oz lighter per shoe and about $20 cheaper at full price. If you carry a pack or hike on loose ground, take the mid.
The women's versions are the same boot, lighter (Hoka lists 16.8 oz for the women's mid), and they run small too.
| Weight | About 20 oz per shoe for the men's mid as Hoka lists it, 16.8 oz for the women's. RunRepeat weighed the men's at 19.4 oz |
|---|---|
| Drop | 7 to 8 mm as listed, 11.5 mm as RunRepeat measured it |
| Cushioning | Dual-density midsole with 30% sugarcane-based EVA, 41.9 mm thick at the heel by RunRepeat's measure |
| Outsole | Vibram Megagrip, 4 mm lugs listed, 3.2 mm measured by RunRepeat |
| Upper | Waterproof nubuck leather, GORE-TEX Invisible Fit membrane |
| Widths | Medium only, men's and women's |
| Full price | $240 for the mid, $220 for the low |
Width is where the Kaha loses people. Of the 17 unhappy reviews of the men's mid, nine say the boot is too narrow or ask Hoka for a wide. One buyer who wears them for work went up a full size and still felt them squeeze across the base of the toes. Another, training for the Camino, 560 miles in a month, sized up a full size after hearing that Hokas run narrow, and still had to switch brands. Even some happy owners mention a tight toe box. A few others, though, call it roomy, and OutdoorGearLab's tester found it a little wide. The pattern is that average and narrow feet are fine, and wide feet aren't.
Length is the second problem. Owners who size up half a size and owners who wish they had keep turning up, and almost nobody finds it big. One buyer's husband, a size 15 for years, would have needed a 15½ or a 16.
Water almost never gets in. In 171 reviews across the mid and the low, I found one owner who got wet, in light rain, a few miles from the car. The others describe creeks, slush and snow, and one owner who lives and works at 4,000 feet in the Appalachians came home dry and warm from a muddy 36°F hike. Every reviewer I read who stood in a creek in it came out dry.
Durability looks good so far, with two exceptions worth knowing. One owner had a hole in the lining after six months and says Hoka refused the 12-month warranty as normal wear, and another saw part of the sole peeling after a couple of outings.
Kaha 2 owners don't agree. One who owned two pairs found the 3 pinched the top of the foot and gave up after a week. Another calls it a big improvement. A woman who wore her Kaha 2s all over the world says the 3 in the same size is shorter and narrower.
The praise, and there's a lot of it, is about comfort. About 40 of the 94 happy reviews of the men's mid talk about comfort, several calling it the most comfortable boot they've owned, and two took a new pair straight out for eight or ten miles. Several bought it for plantar fasciitis or after foot surgery and say it's been kind to their feet.
Start with your usual size, and go half a size up if you're between sizes or hike in thick socks. Of the men who answered the sizing question, ten found the mid true to size and four found it small, three of them by a full size. Women answered the same way, four true to size and four small. On the low, every buyer who answered found it half a size small. RunRepeat and OutdoorGearLab both say it runs small.
If your feet are wide, half a size won't fix it. Owners who went up half a size, and even a full size, still felt squeezed. Go to the Moab 3 Mid GORE-TEX or the KEEN Targhee IV Mid, which both come in a wide.
The heat is the con people underestimate. RunRepeat gives it one of the lowest breathability scores in its lab, and OutdoorGearLab's women's tester found about 75°F was where it turned uncomfortable. The upside is the cold: the same boot is warm on a winter hike, and RunRepeat rates it great for cold weather.
The Kaha 3 came out in early 2025. It's taller underfoot than the Kaha 2, a little under 3 mm more foam at the heel according to RunRepeat, with a bouncier midsole and a much stiffer heel counter, so it feels more stable. The heel is narrower, the upper sleeker, and the extra padding the Kaha 2 had behind the heel is gone. RunRepeat measured the lugs at 3.2 mm against 4.9 mm on the Kaha 2, and found the flatter tread sticks well to bare rock. The Kaha 2 is still around in places, often for much less, but it's on its way out.
All three cost less and come in a wide, though the Salomon's wide still runs narrow.
| Boot | Weight per shoe | Drop | Widths | About |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoka Kaha 3 GTXThis review | 20 oz | 7 to 8 mm listed | Medium only | $220 |
| Merrell Moab 3 Mid GORE-TEX | 17.3 oz | 11.5 mm | Medium and wide | $180 |
| KEEN Targhee IV Mid Waterproof | 20.1 oz | 12 mm | Medium and wide | $185 |
| Salomon X Ultra 5 Mid GTX | 16 oz | Not published | Medium and wide | $150 |
Sold in a wide at the same price, about $40 less on Amazon, and about 3 oz lighter per shoe.
Owners call its toe box spacious, and it comes in a wide. About the same weight as the Kaha, on a sole KEEN guarantees won't come unglued.
About 4 oz lighter per shoe and about $70 less on Amazon. It runs narrow too, even in the wide.
I read every owner review on Zappos for the four Kaha 3 GTX pages, mid and low, men's and women's, 171 in all, along with their answers on size and width. RunRepeat's lab measurements filled in weight, stack, lugs and breathability, and the reviews at OutdoorGearLab, Treeline Review, Better Trail, Trail and Kale and Mountaineer Journey showed where reviewers and owners disagree. Prices come from Amazon and update on this page.
Yes, especially for long days, a loaded pack, or feet that hurt by the afternoon. Reviewers and owners agree on the comfort, the stability and the waterproofing. It's less suited to scrambling on rock, where it feels bulky, and to summer heat.
The Kaha 3 has more cushion at the heel, a bouncier midsole, a stiffer heel counter and a sleeker upper. It's about an ounce heavier, its lugs are shallower, and some owners, along with Treeline Review, find it shorter and narrower than the Kaha 2 in the same size.
The pros are the cushioning, the comfort from day one, the stability and a waterproof upper that owners say stays dry. The cons are a narrow fit with no wide size, sizing that runs small, heat in summer, the weight, and the price.
For day hikes in snow and slush, yes. Reviewers kept dry feet in snowmelt and snowfields, owners wear it through Appalachian winters, and RunRepeat found it holds heat well. In deep cold, RunRepeat found the midsole gets noticeably firmer.
Often. Most owners get their usual size, but those who don't almost all found it small, some by a full size, and the low runs small too. Go half a size up if you're between sizes, and pick another boot if your feet are wide.
If long days leave your feet sore, the Kaha 3 GTX mid is the boot to buy, at about $220. Go half a size up if you're between sizes, and if your feet are wide, take the Moab 3 Mid GORE-TEX in a wide instead.