What to Wear Hiking in Australia – Head to Toe Guide 2024

When considering hiking in Australia, what you wear is as vitally important as the supplies you take with you.

From stunning rugged scrub to potentially deadly… well everything in the bush really… Australia presents a whole other level of challenges you need to think about when considering what to wear hiking.

For this reason, we have compiled a list of ‘must-haves’ to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.

So if you plan to make hiking part of your outdoor experience, which we hope you do, here are some things to think about.

What to Wear Hiking in Australia: Think About Conditions

In order to make an informed decision on what to wear hiking on your next adventure, the following questions need to be considered:

Once these questions have been answered, it’s time to look at your clothing.

Fabrics Matter When Hiking

As clothing is vitally important when heading out on a track, there are some big do’s and don’ts to choosing what to wear hiking.

DO’s

Merino Wool – Superior fabric, excellent for wicking away moisture, dries fast and has a fantastic knack for regulating temperature. Merino wool is also soft and comfortable, not itchy like other wool on the market. Pricier, but well worth it!

Nylon and Polyester – Wicks water away from the skin, dry quickly and both are very sturdy fabrics. This means your clothes are less likely to rip.

DON’Ts

Cotton and Denim – Avoid these fabrics as much as possible. They both absorb water which means they stay wetter for longer.

This makes them vulnerable to being heavy and cold for long periods of time.

Which, as you can imagine, is especially dangerous in colder weather or if you slip into deep water.

So let’s take a closer look.

Clothing

1. Underwear / Socks

It stands to reason that underwear and socks are essential as the first layer of protection for your body.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that merino wool underwear is best. The fabric is soft, breathable, great at expelling odour and wicks sweat away from your body.

This is especially true for socks as merino wool helps prevent socks from soaking in sweat and gives extra comfort while walking.

For winter hiking, something to consider is thermal underwear, as they regulate temperature for optimal warmth.

🧭 For women’s underwear and thermals, we recommend Icebreaker Merino. Purchase on Amazon here!

🧭 For men’s underwear and thermals, we recommend Icebreaker Merino. Purchase on Amazon here!

🧭 For socks, we recommend Darn Tough Merino Wool Socks. Purchase on Amazon here!

2. Tops

When considering what shirt to wear hiking, we generally wear layers.

A t-shirt in warmer months is sufficient, but in cooler months we add a long sleeve top for extra warmth.

When it comes to fabrics, as mentioned before, we recommend steering clear of cotton. It absorbs water and sweat which means you stay wetter for longer.

It also means once you begin to cool down, you will start to feel wet and cold which can be dangerous in cold conditions.

And although synthetics are recommended, we find they trap body odour and smell after a long day of hiking.

So for this reason, we swear by merino wool blend t-shirts and long-sleeve tops, they don’t smell and are excellent at moderating body temperature and keeping you dry.

And while merino wool is pricier than synthetics, it lasts longer. I’ve had to throw synthetic shirts out after a handful of washes due to sweat stains and ingrained body odour.

🧭 For women’s tops, we recommend Merino Protect Tee. Purchase on Amazon here!

🧭 For men’s tops, we recommend Icebreaker Merino Tech Lite. Purchase on Amazon here!

3. Pants

As the Aussie bush is unrelenting, we recommend wearing long pants, but more specifically, hiking pants.

Nylon and polyester are very durable and dry quickly which makes them popular fabrics in good-quality hiking pants.

We also recommend pants with stretchy spandex or elastane to make mobility optimal. Especially when scrambling over rugged terrain.

Cotton / Denim: As mentioned earlier, we recommend giving cotton and denim a miss as they absorb water rather than repelling it.

So although we love our jeans, we limit them to short walks to protect our legs, where we are unlikely to run into water. But for all other hikes, we ensure we have good-quality hiking pants.

🧭 For women’s pants, we recommend Salomon Wayfarer Pants. Purchase on Amazon here!

🧭 For men’s pants, we recommend Navekull Men’s Lightweight Tactical Hiking Pants. Purchase on Amazon here!

Pants vs Shorts

Although shorts are comfy and lighter than pants, when considering what to wear hiking in Australia, we believe long pants are best.

Our reasoning: They offer an extra layer of protection against painful scratches and possible run-ins with any dangerous plants or wildlife. Which, if you know Australia, then you know we have copious amounts of both!

But if you are absolutely opposed to long pants, we suggest hiking shorts in the same fabrics as pants.

We also recommend wearing ‘Gaiters’ for extra protection of the legs, especially in warmer months when snakes are around more.

🧭 We recommend Frelaxy Leg Gaiters. Purchase on Amazon here!

4. Jacket

Our Aussie climate can change quickly, so we recommend always packing a lightweight water-resistant/windproof jacket to wear hiking in Australia.

Temperatures can drop rapidly here, especially while walking through our coastal rainforests and inland canyons, so it’s very important to have that extra layer on-hand if and when needed.

🧭 We recommend Kathmandu Federate Women’s Lightweight Puffer Jacket. Purchase on Amazon here!

🧭 We recommend Kathmandu Federate Men’s Lightweight Puffer Jacket. Purchase on Amazon here!

5. Raincoat

We also recommend investing in a good quality raincoat, because who wants to let a little (or a lot) of rain stop you from enjoying the outdoors, right?

🧭 We recommend Kathmandu Isograd Women’s Jacket. Purchase on Kathmandu here!

🧭 We recommend Kathmandu Isograd Men’s Jacket. Purchase on Kathmandu here!

Footwear

Closed-in shoes are definitely essential when considering what to wear hiking in Australia.

We highly recommend wearing waterproof hiking boots as there is usually mud, water and rocks along the trails.

When we started out, we only had sneakers and quickly found ourselves slipping over rocks and getting our feet wet.

Not to mention how uncomfortable it is hiking with muddy feet.

When hiking in Australia there is also a chance you could come across dangerous wildlife and plants.

Hiking boots add an extra layer of protection, making you less vulnerable to scratches, stings and bites.

In addition, when our ankles are exposed, they are more prone to inviting unwanted blood-sucking insects like leeches and ticks.

🧭 Karol-llyn’s favourite boots: Kathmandu Tiber ngx Women’s Hiking Boots. Purchase on Amazon here!

🧭 Nae’s favourite boots: Merrell Women’s Moab 2 MID GTX-W Moab 2 Mid GTX. Purchase on Amazon here!

NOTE: If you would like an in-depth look at the best hiking boots on the market right now, we highly recommend checking out our Top 10 Best Hiking Boots Australia 2024.

Conclusion: What to Wear Hiking

As outdoor lovers, we can’t guarantee we won’t run into hurdles while out in the Aussie bush. But as we have learned, there are some things we can do to make our hiking experience even better.

So to recap – When thinking about what to wear hiking:

👉 Do your research thoroughly on the weather and the track.

👉 Make sure you have to best fabrics for temperature control and moisture wicking.

👉 And dress according to your environment.

If you put the hard yards in first, you are bound to have a great time out on the tracks… so enjoy!