Trail Tested, City Approved: Brooks Brings New Life to the Cascadia Legacy
From rocky ridgelines to subway stairs, no terrain proves too treacherous for Brooks’ highly decorated Cascadia 1, not even the world’s most unforgiving trail: New York City. On May 2, the latest reimagined silhouette from the famed running brand took a bold detour from its usual red-dirt tracks to host a hike and forage session, a stone's throw away from Manhattan.
With the help of exclusive partner Hatchet Outdoor Supply Co., Brooks invited a group of outdoor enthusiasts to embark on a curated adventure through Brooklyn Bridge Park. The urban-meets-nature outing was a community initiative marrying education, curiosity, and wellness, helping even the busiest New Yorkers connect with the nature that exists right under their fingertips.
For two hours, the city’s urban-dwellers traded concrete-slabbed streets for slivers of greenery, led under the encyclopedic guise of naturalist–author Steve “Wildman” Brill—NYC’s go-to-guy for foraging. Wildman Steve taught avid hikers the ins and outs of the ancient practice, as they traversed through nature’s very own urban oasis, identifying the edible plants, herbs, and greens that quietly flourish in plain sight, all while sporting the beloved Cascadia 1 on foot.
Brooks introduced the Cascadia 1 to the world in 2004. Designed with decorated ultra-runner Scott Jurek, the complex silhouette was intended to be worn by those brave enough to venture off the beaten track and onto the path less-traveled. Now, two decades later, the Cascadia is back—revived, reimagined, and ready to tread new terrain, trading the familiar burnt-sienna trail for the obstacles of the everyday. The city hike and forage with Wildman Steve in Brooklyn served as a christening of this new Cascadia chapter, representing the shoes' malleability and reaffirming its long-standing mission of challenging tradition and breaking new ground.
The new ground in question is a far cry from the mudslide-prone and moss-stricken trails the Cascadia’s grew used to. Rather, it's closely reminiscent of the uneven concrete sidewalks that dominate the lifestyle category. Bridging everyday wear with trail-inspired versatility, this iteration of the Cascadia 1 speaks to the city’s most active; the multi-hyphenates, and multitaskers who may not spend their days scaling mountain faces, but instead, hike to-and-fro from their own urban-basecamp.
But venturing onto the path less traveled is not unknown territory for Brooks. When the brand debuted the Cascadia, it was navigating a new frontier in the wild world of trail running. It was Scott Jurek, the living legend and ultramarathon extraordinaire, who solidified the Cascadia 1 as the shoe to be reckoned with. Fueled by innovative technology and a trailblazing design, the shoe carried Jurek across thousands of miles, earning him a medley of awards over decades spent on the run.
With its reincarnation into a city-first sneaker comes a slew of revisions, including upgraded foam cushioning for ultimate comfort and a ballistic rock shield equipped for seamless transitions from off-road trails to urban streets. The Pivot Post stabilizing suspension technology, roll bar, crafted overlays, and the HydroFlow hydraulic shock absorber were also restored, a nod to the OG innovations that contributed to the novelty of this groundbreaking shoe when it first hit the market in the early 2000s.
To determine the future, Brooks mirrors the past. By tapping into the vault, it’s able to pay homage to the legendary styles that have shaped the storied brand to date, while simultaneously carving out a bold shift into a new era, one strongly rooted in nostalgia and curiosity. With two new colorways, a classic moonbeam with hints of Black and Camellia, and an adventurous yellow with black accents, a modern face-lift on the OG Y2K design.
To kick off the city-trek, hikers adorned in a myriad of weather-proof shells, GORE-TEX trousers, and of course, the Cascadia 1, gathered at Hatchet Outdoor Supply Co.—the afternoon’s designated basecamp for a compulsory fuel session (a.k.a coffee pit-stop). Alongside style and comfort, was harvest and sustainability; two core sensibilities that speak to Brooks’ synchronicity with nature, as an innovative outdoor brand at the helm of the industry since 1914.
Downtown New York’s very own Erewhon, Happier Grocery, provided a nourishing selection of protein-packed snacks and refreshments to pair well with the afternoon’s agenda. Guests were gifted Brooks-branded toolkits filled with all the Foraging 101 essentials, vital for digging up the wild fauna nestled between ancient tree roots and sidewalk cracks, among the nooks and crannies of the city’s backyard. The Brooks-branded wax bags proved to be helpful for storing snacks and any other goods collected along the way.
With the revival of the Cascadia 1, Brooks proves that innovation doesn’t necessarily mean forging ahead. For some, it means circling back to revisit the past before they embark on an entirely new journey. The New York hike and forage session is a living and breathing metaphor that encapsulates what the new Cascadia 1 represents—movement, curiosity, and reconnection—from right where you are.
By reintroducing a legendary trail icon through the lens of urban life, Brooks reminds us that exploration doesn’t require altitude; adventure is in the everyday, and sometimes, all it takes is stepping out onto the sidewalk, the rest might surprise you.
Enter the Brooks vault here for more on the Cascadia 1.
