Post By : 2025-05-21"

The best winter boots for women in 2025, tried and tested"

The best winter boots for women we tested

Best winter boots for most women: Xero Shoes Alpine

Best mid-calf winter boots: Baffin Chloe

Best winter boots for walks and hikes: Ugg Adirondack Meridian Leather Shearling

When you wear winter boots during the coldest months, you protect your feet and keep them warm, which helps keep the rest of your body warm, too. In addition to wearing the warmest winter coats and base layers you can find, donning a pair of comfortable winter boots is an important part of being equipped to deal with freezing temperatures and all that snow and slush.

What should women look for when investing in a pair of winter boots? On top of proper insulation, Dr. Bruce Pinker, a foot and ankle surgeon at Progressive Foot Care in New York, says they should also “offer moisture-wicking linings, added ankle support, protection of toes, waterproofing, cushioned insoles and adequate traction on the outsoles.”

So, to help you find the right pair for your cold weather needs, we selected 24 of the most popular and highest-rated winter boots for women from brands like Baffin, Xero, Ugg and more and put them to the test. I tramped through the snow and braved freezing nighttime temperatures in every pair and, in the end, found three winter boots that aced my rigorous testing.

There was stiff competition in this hard-won battle for the best winter boots for women, a title that ultimately went to the Xero Shoes Alpine boots. After all, strong contenders like the Bogs Cedar Quilt Lace and The North Face ThermoBall Lace-Up Waterproof Boots met many of our winter boot needs. (The Bogs and The North Face are even more appealing when you look at their price tags, which are lower than the Alpine’s.)

However, the Alpines snagged our top spot for their impressive insulation and warmth, great traction, effective waterproofing and lightweight design. I loved their spacious toe boxes, which are more important than you might think for keeping your lower extremities warm.

Rated for a temperature of minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 32 degrees Celsius), these winter boots kept my feet warm and comfortable better than The North Face ThermoBall, even after one hour outdoors in below-freezing temperatures in the dead of night. That was thanks to not just their 200 grams of insulation but the fact that, unlike many of the other boots I tested, their toe boxes were spacious, which provided a better fit and allowed proper blood circulation in my feet.

Their lug treads also offered fantastic traction. These boots proved very grippy, whether I was walking on patches of packed snow or smooth surfaces indoors. Admittedly, I almost slipped a couple of times while scaling wet boulders at Yosemite in them, but these weren’t made for such adventures, so that was on me.