Best Backpacking Shorts of 2026

Set these beside our top pick and most of the difference is in the pockets. Hiauspor's six are deeper and better placed, with zips that run cleanly and a right-side pocket that swallows a phone and holds it flat instead of letting it swing against your thigh. If you carry a phone on your body rather than in a hipbelt pocket, that single detail is reason enough to choose these.

The rest of the short keeps up. The fabric is light and quick-drying, the leg opening is trim without being a cycling short, and the hem clears the knee, which is what you want on high steps. Nothing about the cut rubbed or bound over a long day, and the waistband is comfortable enough that you forget it's elastic.

Sizing is the one thing to get right: these run a touch large, so buy your usual size instead of sizing up out of habit. There's less slack to take up here than on the XKTTAC pair, which means the size you order is the size you wear.

Three inseams is the reason to start here. SANTINY sells this short in 5, 7, and 9 inches, which covers the range women actually want on a trail — a short cut for hot, humid climbs, a 7-inch middle for general hiking, and a 9-inch pair that stays put under a pack belt and keeps the backs of your thighs off hot rock.

The fabric is light and dries fast; a morning rinse is wearable by afternoon. Four zippered pockets are generous for a women's short, deep enough that a phone disappears and stays there, and the seat doesn't ride up when you're scrambling. They feel like almost nothing on, which is the highest compliment a hiking short can get.

Of the two women's pairs here, this is the one to buy first — the lengths, the pockets, and the dry time all do their job, and it's the only women's short in this group with a genuine choice of inseam. Sizing is the caveat: the waistband is a simple elastic one and the fit runs large on some frames, so check the size chart against a measurement rather than your usual letter.

The Rdruko shorts are among the least expensive here, and nothing about them feels like a compromise. The elastic waistband sits flat instead of pinching, the quick-dry fabric is light enough to forget, and the zippered hand pockets hold a phone securely while you're moving. They're plain — no cargo flaps, no hardware — which on the trail is a virtue, since there's nothing to snag on a pack strap.

What you give up is structure. The fabric is thin enough to show what's in your pockets, the sizing skews small so go up a size rather than trusting the label, and there's no thigh pocket for a snack or a map. On a summer trip where weight and dry time matter more than storage, none of that costs you much.

The fabric is the first thing anyone notices. Pudolla's shorts are thin — closer to a swim trunk than a cargo short — and a single layer is close to translucent in bright sun. That isn't automatically wrong on the trail, because thin means light and fast-drying, but it rules these out for cold mornings and for any trip where you're pushing through brush.

Length is what they do better than any other men's pair here. The same short comes in a 9-inch, 7-inch, or 11-inch inseam, so you can match the cut to your legs and your route instead of settling, and the leg is cut slim rather than boxy, which keeps the 7-inch version from flaring. All five pockets zip.

The zippers are the part that gives us pause. They're the whole reason to buy a short like this, but pulls and teeth fail on some pairs, so we keep the load light in the pockets and put anything heavy in the pack. The thin fabric also clings when it's wet, which is worth knowing before a river crossing.

Buy these if you know the inseam you want and you're after five secure pockets without a boxy cargo cut. If you want fabric with more body to it, the Hiauspor pair costs about the same and feels more substantial between your fingers.

These come with a nylon belt, which sounds like filler until you've packed for a trip and left yours on the kitchen counter. It isn't a piece of gear you'll treasure, but it holds the shorts where you set them, and it's one less thing to remember.

The shorts themselves are the dressiest pair here — clean lines, no dangling cargo flaps, and a cut that's snug through the hip without being tight. Four zippered pockets keep a wallet and phone secure, the fabric carries a water-resistant finish that shrugs off a light shower, and they're light enough to wear all day without thinking about them.

The belt buckle is the weak link: it's the push-in type that pops loose when a pack strap or a branch catches it, and it's the first thing to swap for webbing you trust. Beyond that, this is the pair for a trip that mixes trail and town, where you want one short that looks deliberate at dinner.

An elastic waist with a drawstring is the whole idea here, and it's a good one for backpacking. The shorts pull on in a tent vestibule, adjust as you eat and drink your way through a trip, and never need a belt. The fabric is thin and parachute-like, which packs to nothing and dries in minutes.

On hot, humid trips these are the women's pair we reach for after the SANTINY shorts, and on comfort alone they might win: nothing binds at the waist, the leg is roomy without being baggy, and the zip pockets hold a phone, keys, and a card without sagging. They come down to just above the knee on most wearers, so you get coverage without camp-short proportions.

The thin fabric is the trade-off. It has no structure, so it clings when you're sweaty and shows the outline of whatever's in your pockets, and the fit is roomy through the leg — comfortable on the trail, less so if you want something tailored. For a week in the heat, roomy is what you want.

Seven inches is the tell. The TBMPOY shorts are cut like a running short — shorter, lighter, and closer to the leg than the cargo-style pairs here — and for fast trips on good trail that's exactly the right shape.

The pockets are the surprise. Deep mesh hand pockets with zips take a phone and keys, which is more security than most athletic shorts offer, and the fabric is light enough to stuff into a pack lid and dry before dinner.

Fit is the variable. These run small and sit snug through the hip, so try your usual size and expect to go up. Wear is the other question: the seams and pocket zips are the first things to give out after a hard season of use.

Buy them as a cheap second pair for hot, fast day hikes, or as a travel short that doubles for runs. If your trips mean scrambling, brush, or a loaded pack rubbing at the waist all day, put the money toward something with more fabric and a sturdier waistband.