Brooks Cascadia 19 Review: Slimmer, Faster, and More Fun

Introduction to the Brooks Cascadia 19

JOHN: When I received the Cascadia 18 last year, I was extremely disappointed. It made me want to listen to Morrissey, mainly because the Cascadia 17 was already a bit weighty, but the 18 got even heavier. I just couldn’t really run in it, and that’s a lot coming from a guy who runs long distances in pretty much any shoe out there. I had such a bad taste from that shoe that I wasn’t looking forward to the 19 at all. Even when it came in the mail, I was like, whatever. I’ve often said that the Cascadia is like a good friend. When a friend screws you over it’s deep. It hurts.

When I finally pulled the Cascadia 19 out of my closet, I was quickly reminded that Brooks, of all companies, tends to listen to its runners. Simply, it’s one of the things that I think keeps people coming back year after year — it’s what makes them great.

I can’t wait to discuss this incredible comeback story.

MICHAEL: After lagging behind Nike, Saucony, and others a little in the road racing shoe arena, it seems as though it’s also taken a while for some of Brooks’ top-tier tech to trickle down to its steadier, more beloved models on both the road and trail sides. Even when it debuts new technology, it seems hesitant to introduce it to its mainline models like the ever-popular Ghost or Cascadia. It’s understandable, given that with every new version of these fan-favorites, an army of online warriors is ready to pounce and criticize every little change, screaming, “Why did they ruin it?”

To avoid all that, Brooks has instead started launching entirely new models to test its new and ever-improving nitrogen-infused midsole foams, primary examples being the road-racing Hyperion and trail-racing Catamount. Once it’s had success with the brand new stuff, it seems to have slowly started rolling it into previously less popular models like the Caldera, much to the success of every shoe line it touches.

It’s an interesting strategy from Brooks, as some brands like to use their most popular mainline models to debut new technology, usually in a “spin-off” model to carry over as much pre-established marketing clout as possible while also presumably ensuring that if a fan of, say, the Hoka Mach series has a bad experience with the Hoka Mach X, they won’t stop buying the Mach 6.

The same thing goes for the Nike Pegasus versus the Pegasus Plus, Pegasus Premium, Pegasus Turbo, or whatever. The point is that the Cascadia 19 marks the first time we have really seen a change in the materials, construction, and even use case for this stalwart trail shoe of legend, of which John and I have been fans for generations (with a few hiccups, naturally).

Interestingly, this new update comes right on the heels of the release of the first Ghost model to feature a nitrogen-infused midsole as well. Lucky for us, by taking this comparatively conservative approach to rolling out new tech, Brooks has graced us with a real gem here, debuting all-new materials and lighter weight construction without soiling the Cascadia name. Read on to get the details on this all-new, do-it-all trail machine.

SAM: Unlike Michael and John, I’m entirely new to the Cascadia line. It took 19 iterations, but with my highlighter yellow test pair on my feet and a heap of leftover goodwill for Brooks after my time in the fantastic Caldera 8, I took off down my local trails ready to cast judgement with all the confidence of a white dude new to something he feels like he should know a lot about.

That’s me, overconfident and here mostly for flavor. I’ll use my time here to give the outsider’s perspective. It’s a credit to the Cascadia 19 that, as you’ll see, it’s not too far off from what John and Michael think.

What we like about the Brooks Cascadia 19

JOHN: The main thing is the Cascadia 19 went from 11.3 oz to 10.5 oz. Boom, thank you, Brooks! Yes! It feels like an actual running shoe again. Also, it just doesn’t feel as clunky since it’s utilizing DNA Loft v3 and an updated Trail Adapt System. Also, Brooks switched from an 8 mm drop to 6 mm. We’re so back.

The fit is perfect, true to size, and oh so comfy. I like it so much compared to the 18 that I don’t want to take it off. Furthermore, it’s tough to even review this shoe because I had the lowest expectations after being so hurt and broken by the previous version.

Lastly, the look of the 19 is better than that of the previous pair I received. In the last review, I believe I said the blue colorway looked like a bad Trapper Keeper that would ensure a beatdown in school. The Sunny Lime Cascadia 19 is a good-looking shoe. It’s flashy, it breathes well, drains water well, and is an extremely versatile trail shoe that I would use to tackle pretty much any level of trail. I’m so happy — Brooks made the Cascadia the Cascadia again with this update.

SAM: So, what does a newly updated Cascadia feel like? Well, for starters, the upper of this shoe is wildly comfortable to step into. While the rest of the team and I complained about the tongue design, there’s more padding around the heel collar, making for a comfortable cradle to nest your Achilles in. I had no issues with lockdown, and found that the rest of the upper breathed and performed adequately.

The comfort doesn’t just stop up top, however, as the real talking point of this shoe comes from the newly updated DNA Loft v3 midsole. For those not already familiar, this is a nitrogen-infused midsole foam first debuted in Brooks’ trail lineup to much critical acclaim in the Caldera, and now it’s here to shine in the Cascadia. The ride is butter smooth, and compared to the Caldera, the tooling features a much more subdued bathtub construction and forefoot rocker, resulting in a more nimble feeling underfoot.

All that, and the shoe still remains super stable from the characteristically wide platform underfoot and under the heel – a silhouette carried over from the Cascadia 18. The midsole concoction itself is seriously comfortable without being too soft, and the nitrogen-infused design leads me to believe this feeling is going to last for hundreds of miles.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — TrailTack Green continues to be one of the premier “in-house” outsole formulations. With everyone going to Vibram these days (a move I’m not really complaining about per se), it’s nice to see an in-house brand have an outsole or two stick as well. (Pun intended, of course)

While everything I mentioned above is wonderful, of course, I can’t help but save the best for last. The weight of the Cascadia, which was a looming pain point since like the dawn of trail running itself, has finally dropped down to a very respectable 10.5 oz for a US M9, putting it in contention with crowd-favorite do-it-all shoes such as the Topo MTN Racer 4 at 10.4 oz. I think this is an absolutely huge move for this shoe, and will no doubt result in it being returned to a spot near the top of my recommendations list after a several-year hiatus.

With a respectable weight, solid outsole, comfortable upper, and a pretty solid price point (especially for the longevity the shoe offers), the Cascadia suddenly becomes a shoe I would recommend to just about any runner looking for versatile comfort without the gargantuan stack of something like the Caldera.

SAM: Brooks is a company known for its comfortable uppers. We bring them up in almost every review. The Cascadia 19 takes this to another level with a veritable pillow of padding around the heel, collar, and tongue. It fits true to size, and there’s plenty of room in the toebox. With the (also very comfortable) DNA Loft V3 underneath, this whole package screams comfort as much as the highlighter yellow colorway screams “look at me, I’m running!” The mesh is soft and decently breathable, and any overlays are unobtrusive.

I think Brooks’ high-stack Caldera 8 has come up so far in this review about as many times as the Cascadia 19 has. We’re not without our reasons there. Both the Caldera 7 and the Caldera 8 are near-perfect multi-use trail shoes that take the long miles comfort of a big chunk of foam underfoot and provide enough security to take on more technical pursuits. The central component of that is Brooks’ nitrogen-infused DNA Loft V3 foam. It’s cushioned, responsive, and fun, and very stable. These are all things that make a great trail midsole, and Brooks has rolled it out to great success.

Like Michael and John mentioned above, the Cascadia 19 is the first of its name to get DNA Loft V3, and man, is it a winner. Underfoot, it feels like a slimmed-down Caldera, and that’s far from a bad thing.

I recently talked about my headcanon of outsole rubbers in our VJ Ultra 3 review, so I’m right there with Michael when he suggests that we need to formalize our trail outsole rankings. Brooks’ TrailTack Green would be near the top of that list. It’s sticky on any surface, which is a must for any good trail outsole, but the really special thing about Trail Tack Green is its durability. The stuff just sticks around (see, Michael? I can do puns too).

All of these elements together give the Cascadia 19 a secondary use that I think it might just be even better at than trail running. I think this is as close as you can get to an ideal hiking and backpacking shoe. That world is ruled by Altra and Topo, but the Cascadia has a slim presence, and one I can see growing with this model. It’s so comfortable and it has such an accommodating toebox that it hits the fit marks, and the slimmer rockplate, narrower platform, and lower stack height (relative to the Caldera) are right the the zone for a great distance hiker. I’m not going to repeat myself too much on the TrailTack outsole, but let’s say it fares much, much better than the major player in the backpacking shoe game.

What we don’t like about the Brooks Cascadia 19

JOHN: This is really difficult because I expected the worst and was blown away by just a few fixes that have really made the Cascadia shine. So, I’m really nitpicking, but I wish the tongue were thinner; it’s not terrible, but a little thick. But that’s my only real complaint. I’ve reviewed the shoe for the last three years, and this is the best of the updates I’ve reviewed. Oh, slight nitpick: The price went up 10 dollars. It’s not that bad, but I don’t like that.

MICHAEL: First things first, I am going to have to agree with John about the tongue. It’s about to be summer here in ‘Bama, and that means one thing and one thing only. SWEAT. And while it’s entirely unavoidable, I would prefer not to have to squeeze out the tongue like an actual sponge after every run, let alone after a rainy run.

While I share much of John’s enthusiasm for this update, I will challenge one thing: that the Cascadia 19 is a return to the Cascadia heritage of old. In my experience, a few key design choices for this iteration resulted in some weakened technical capability for the really, really gnarly trails out there, a capability for which the Cascadia was kind of known.

First, the rock plate feels much thinner and more flexible this year, allowing for a lot more ground feel of rocks and roots underfoot. Honestly, from my first few miles in the shoe, I had all but concluded that Brooks had done away with the plate entirely, and I had to do some research afterward to ensure it existed at all. On top of that, (or maybe below that, actually) the lug pattern and depth are slightly less aggressive compared to version 18.

While all these changes and their consequences are worth noting, I still feel like this move in a more neutral, versatile direction is an excellent move for the Cascadia line, so I hesitate to even put this in the “bad” section. Ultimately, this shoe will almost certainly appeal to more runners than version 18 did, on account of the fantastic midsole and drop in weight and all that jazz, while performing more than adequately on like 80% of the trails here in Huntsville. So, if you’re a die-hard Cascadia fan, my recommendation would be to resist the temptation to prematurely rant about your favorite shoe being ruined until you’ve had a chance to give this one an honest try. I think you’ll be pleased.

Don’t get me wrong, I love artificial food dyes in my Nerds gummy clusters, just not in my trail shoes. Even when the yellow kind of matches the lovely blooms of springtime I’m surrounded by, something about the highlighter vibe just feels unnatural.

Oh, also, Brooks trail shoes still run a half size large.

SAM: It may be cushy and comfortable, but I don’t love the excess padding in the tongue or around the heel, much in the same vein as John and Michael. It’s bulky, holds moisture, and I often kick it beneath my ankles.

All that padding dampens (no pun intended) the lockdown security in the upper. That, mixed with a subdued rocker and rock plate, causes the Cascadia 19 to feel less inspired on technical sections. I usually try to avoid direct comparisons in reviews, but the divisions in Brooks’ current trail lineup are blurring, and it’s hard not to measure this shoe against the Divide 5 and the Caldera 8. Both those shoes have better technical lockdown, while the Divide 5 doesn’t have the structure or cushion for serious trail use, it’s a whopping $40 cheaper. The Caldera 8 feels zippy, cushy, and highly capable on technical sections, and it’s the same price as the Cascadia 19.

It’s really an afterthought and entirely personal preference, but I’m with Michael. I don’t want to look like I’m about to be used by a college freshman to highlight sentences in a textbook they’ll never read again.

Final thoughts on the Brooks Cascadia 19

JOHN: Thank you, Brooks, for bringing back an old friend in the rotation. Losing a friend is hard, especially one who goes back as far as the Cascadia does. It’s helped me in many races over the years. I love this shoe and plan on using it until it falls apart!

MICHAEL: While it seems to have lost some of its ancestor’s technical trail soul in this year’s flashy glow-up, there’s no doubt this recent update to the Cascadia is a positive move for the line. The beautifully formulated, modern midsole material and lightweight construction will no doubt appeal to more runners than ever before. In my mind, we may even have a legitimate contender here with the Hoka Speedgoats and Topo Athletic Mtn Racers of the world, which is very high praise for any shoe.

Maybe, just maybe, Brooks will spin off a Cascadia Turbo model to debut a slimmer, lighter upper, and then it will really enter into the Speedgoat and Mtn Racer conversation (and to Sam’s point, perhaps differentiate it a little further from the Caldera). Then again, maybe it’s best for the Cascadia to keep charting its own path into the future. No matter how long the updates seemingly lag behind the times, version 19 turned out to be a real gem.

SAM: With the Cascadia 19, Brooks delivers a trail shoe that hews nearly perfectly to its advertised use. You want a shoe that will suck up daily training miles with consistent performance? Here’s the Brooks Cascadia 19. What about an Ultra-distance grinder that will stay comfortable over the long haul? The Brooks Cascadia 19 is for you. You say you need a hiking and backpacking shoe that’s both supportive and forgiving? Well, that’s still the Cascadia 19.

Sure, there are some disappointing colorways, and yes, there’s just too much padding in the tongue and ankle collar, but those are minor gripes that don’t really compromise comfort or performance. The bigger problems with the Cascadia 19 are in comparison to the rest of Brooks’ trail lineup. With the price increase, this shoe will ding your bank account to the same amount as the (in my opinion) superior Caldera 8.

That shoe is more cushioned, more exciting, fits better, and is better on technical trails. The Cascadia 19, though, is slimmer and has a softer upper. It’s a superior hiking and backpacking shoe, and a more approachable shoe for a broader segment of the market. If you want comfort and reliability — yep, you guessed it, the Cascadia 19 is for you.

You can pick up the Brooks Cascadia 19 for $150 on August 1, 2025, from Running Warehouse (featuring free shipping and 90-day returns) by using the buttons below.