“Anyone (such as desert hikers) have recommendations on good hiking footwear for sand?”

We have a state park in IL, Sand Ridge State Park, that has 44 miles of pure sand trails. It’s mostly flat, but it’s an incredible workout. One step forward is one half step back. I backpack there a lot as they have some nice pine tree backcountry camp sites and cactus (yes cactus and Pine trees in IL).

No matter what you do, you will get sand in the shoe and you’ll need to dump it ever so often.

And you know my answer :): open toe sandals. They can’t be closed toe because those are a pain with sand. The tricks that help me keep the sand out from underneath my feet are:
1. need a slight ridge around the sandal (I use terra fi2 teva).
2. thick cushy sock; preferably coolmax for fast drying (not wool or cotton).
3. cinch the straps tight. This prevents sand from enveloping your foot; but not so tight as to cut off blood supply .
4. 3/8” to 1/2” extra in the front (I buy one size big)
5. This is critical: The less material, the better--- for collecting and holding sand. It sounds counter intuitive doesn’t it?

All this minimizes sand entrance. I, very seldom, had to dump the sand out of my sandals--- around 10x less than the shoe guys. Also the sandal loves getting wet--- perfect for the beach. Hiking in wet slushy sand is hard on sandal straps. Cheap ones will fail (rip out). The sandal allows the foot to be very airy and minimizes if not eliminates prune feet from wet sand hiking.

Some hardened beach walkers can do sandals w/o socks, but I can’t (I’m talking hiking 10 miles).

Good luck with your foot zen.

-Barry