When someone starts living barefoot or going barefoot most of the time, their soles will, over time, get thicker and tougher, and there will likely be some additional tolerance to some very warm or hot surfaces that may not have been possible before without discomfort.
Skin on soles will burn
Regardless of how thick or tough soles can become, the fact remains that human skin will start to burn at a certain threshold temperature within a short period of time, and skin can never adjust to withstand that.
The National Institute for Standards and Technology (part of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce) has stated that at 118°F (48°C), human skin can sustain first-degree burns; and second-degree burns can occur at a skin temperature of 131°F (55°C).
Most pavement materials can get much hotter than the ambient temperature
How hot certain types of pavement get relates to both their color and their thermal mass. Thermal mass is the innate ability of a material to absorb, store, and release heat, depending on its composition as well as density. Higher density generally means higher thermal mass. Thermal conductivity (how easily the heat travels through the material) is also a factor in thermal mass. These various factors can become somewhat scientifically complex, with the specific details being beyond the scope of this article.
As a practical matter as related to walking barefoot, we know that asphalt, concrete, bricks, sand, and similar materials can easily absorb the heat of the summer sun and become much hotter than the ambient air temperature.
Asphalt and concrete, common paving materials, can get very hot
Asphalt and concrete, probably the most common types of pavement barefooters may walk on, each easily absorb heat from direct sunlight and retain it for a long period of time, causing the surface temperature of each to usually be much greater than the air temperature.
Asphalt, generally due its darker color, absorbs the most heat and retains that heat for a long period of time. Concrete is usually a lighter color and therefore doesn’t absorb quite as much heat as asphalt.
How much heat is absorbed into surface materials and how hot they will get also depends upon the angle of the sun. The closer a location is to the equator, the higher the average sun angle is, and the more heat is absorbed into surface materials from the summer sun.
In the southeastern United States, for example, it’s been estimated that the surface temperatures of concrete on a clear day in the middle of summer can be as high as about 30°F (17°C) greater than the air temperature. So at 85°F (29°C) air temperature, for example, most sidewalks would likely measure around 115°F (46°C) – quite hot, but probably tolerable for bare feet.
Asphalt temperatures in the same area under the same clear sunlight conditions of summer have generally been estimated to reach as much as 45°F (25°C) hotter than the surrounding air temperature. Some isolated reports have shown asphalt even up to 60°F (34°C) hotter. So if the mid or late day air temperature on some cloudless day is 85°F (29°C), an asphalt parking lot could potentially be 130°F (54°C), or even higher – well above first-degree skin burn temperature and approaching second-degree skin burn.
An interesting chart showing those potential temperatures can be found in this recent article “How hot does pavement get in the summer.”
Determining how hot some surfaces are can be easily estimated
Of course, most people don’t go around carrying an infrared thermometer designed to measure surface temperatures. And that isn’t necessary to determine if certain pavements are just too hot to walk on barefoot. You just have to feel of it with your feet.
Or if you know the air temperature, you could estimate the temperature of pavement in the hot sun of the summer by adding about 30°F (17°C) to that for concrete or adding about 45°F (25°C) for asphalt. That could vary, of course, depending on your location’s proximity to the equator – in other words, how direct the angle of the sun is in your location.
Dirt or sand can get almost as hot as concrete
Sometimes even “natural” surfaces like dirt or sand can absorb so much heat in mid-summer that they become intolerable to walk barefoot on. How hot sand can get depends upon its color, but its capacity to heat up in the direct sunlight of summer approaches that of concrete.
I remember an experience I once had where my being barefoot on hot sand became very problematic.
Back in July of 2011, my wife and I spent a few days with family at Myrtle Beach (SC). On one day, we decided to spend all day on the beach. It was stifling hot, but the water felt great. I was the only one of the bunch that had walked out to our canopy on the beach with no footwear on.
So at about mid-day, we decided to go back to the condo for a quick lunch. We had to walk about maybe 150 feet in the hot sand, which immediately began to burn my feet. I told the others I had to run, so I took off. It was almost unbearable. When I got to a place about halfway there where there was a grassy area, I stopped, thinking it might be cooler. It wasn’t. It was even worse. So I sprinted as fast as I could to the wooden area next to the condo building where there was a shower to rinse off sand.
I have to say, I had walked on hot surfaces before, but nothing like that. It was the worst pain I’d ever experienced on my feet. I was almost sure I’d have burn blisters on my feet, and they’d probably be messed up the rest of the time we were there. But amazingly, after I ran cool water on them (I looked to see if there was skin coming off or something like that), they felt fine. And after that, they still felt fine. There was absolutely no damage at all that I could tell – possibly due to the skin on my soles being so thick and tough, I’m not really sure.
Nevertheless, later walking back onto the beach, I did wear flip-flops. My wife laughed at me and said she was going to take a picture of me walking in flip-flops to show the world (fortunately, she didn’t).
Here are some tips for dealing with unexpected hot surfaces in a parking lot
If you happen to be barefoot in a parking lot or similar place and you find it’s just too hot to stand or even walk comfortably, get off that surface as quickly as you can. Walk quickly or even run from one shady spot to another.
In parking lots or at street crossings, the white painted lines are almost always cooler than the other surfaces, so walking on those lines will usually help you tolerate the hot surface until you can get off of it.
One thing that might be helpful to do if you have no choice but to stand on the hot surface for a few minutes, is to somewhat alleviate the pain by putting your weight on the parts of your feet that have the thickest skin. The heels have the thickest skin, so try standing on your heels with the front parts of your feet up off the surface. The next thickest skin is on the outside edges, so you could rotate your feet so all the weight’s on those outside edges. The front part of your feet and your toes have the thinnest skin, so you’ll want to try to keep those parts off the surface if you can.

Don’t risk getting ‘trapped’ where your feet can be burned
Don’t risk getting “trapped” on some large expanse of surface that may become extremely hot after you are already there (such as in the example I mentioned above at a beach). Having some emergency footwear available when going to such places in the heat of summer may be a wise decision.
I can remember another example where I almost got “trapped” on hot pavement. This took place around July of 2004. My wife and I attended the Orange County Fair in California, one that I had been to many times before, and always barefoot. That particular day, it was so hot that I began noticing it was getting very uncomfortable to walk on the sunny parts of the asphalt, so I tried to stay in shady areas as much as possible.
When we decided to go home later that afternoon, after leaving the gate, we had to walk over a large uncovered asphalt expanse to get to the parking lot. As I walked, I could tell that the pavement was so hot that my feet would likely be burned if I continued.
Luckily, due to the prior weather forecast and potential heat, I had brought along a pair of flip-flops just in case of such an emergency. I donned them to wear for the remainder of the distance to our car. I think sometimes the availability of emergency footwear for such weather related purposes is prudent. I know my feet likely would have had first-degree degree burns had I continued barefoot on such hot pavement.
HEY KRISS! Long time, no hear from! Yes, I get asked that same question too. Sometimes, that blacktop can be uber dangerous, so I too, find markings/lines to walk on. I started keeping “thongs” in my car if I absolutely HAVE to use them. But, yeah. That pavement…whew! I can hardly wait for snow! 🙂
Hey Trissa, thanks for the comment. I hope you’re still doing well.
As I’m sure you know, the only time any kind of footwear is ever needed is due to extreme weather or other conditions where the lack of would do serious damage to feet. And extremely hot pavement sometimes meets those conditions. Extremely hot surfaces have the potential to do much quicker damage to bare feet than extremely cold surfaces.
Hello Kriss! This probably means that here in Hermosillo during a summer daytime, when the air temperature is 40 Celsius or above, I will never physically be able to go barefoot on pavement, without running from shadow to shadow?
Thanks for the comment and question, Victor. 40° Celsius is 104° Fahrenheit. Pretty hot, even for air temperature! Without a special infrared thermometer to use, how hot the pavement there will get can only be estimated, and the estimates I mentioned in the article really should only be guidelines, not hard and fast rules. There are just too many variables. You don’t say what kind of pavement it is, but most any kind of pavement is definitely going to be much hotter than the ambient air on a sunny day in the summer. So as to whether you would be… Read more »
Of course, I would not consider myself a true barefooter if I did not experiment trying to walk barefoot around Hermosillo on the hottest days. The result is, if I can find a route avoiding blacktop and certain kinds of tile (this tile can be awfully hot even when it looks light grey, almost white), I could navigate the city in the daytime. However if there is a vast area of black asphalt, I cannot venture there between 10-11 and 16-17 o’clock unless the sky is overcast. The problem is, this heat and direct sun rays make me feel unwell… Read more »
Black asphalt can be very hot during summer but any large areas are typically a parking lot with a lot of white line painted on them to walk on. I live in Daytona Beach and find the worst can be beach sand. For being a light beige color it gets blistering hot! The problem is that it can be 100 feet from the water to the boardwalk with nothing in between to cool off on. The only way to do it, sans flip flops, is to dig your feet into the sand instead of stepping on the top of it.… Read more »
Also, some kinds of pavement tile can be surprisingly hot even when they are light grey in color.
Deliberate heat on the feet becomes a necessity when committing to going barefoot on hot surfaces. If it’s burning hot to stand on, that’s the start of the productive workout on the soles. A good pre-heating standing method once burning soles is felt is to alternate on both heels, both edges, both toes and balls of the foot (don’t forget these, they need heat tolerance too), both edges again, then back to flat foot. Pre-heat the soles several times before standing fully flat foot. Then stand flat foot. Alternate lifting the entire foot while still standing flat foot if the… Read more »
So how come people in hot countries like India, and parts of Africa manage to go barefoot so much?
I’m sure they deal with hot surfaces just like any other barefooter would. Of course, if they live barefoot or are frequent barefooters, their soles are probably thicker and tougher than the shoe wearers of the Western world. But skin still burns at the same temperature all over the world.
I also believe that artificial surfaces like asphalt and pavement are hotter than the natural surfaces. At least that is what my experience tells me.
Hot roads are certainly not my favourite surface to walk on. Metal (such as in cast iron manhole covers) is particularly bad. My feet are actually surprisingly resistant to heat so I have never suffered any burns so severe they would be painful. What I did experience though was the outermost layer of skin peeling off painlessly. Not anything going so deep that nerves got involved. I took that as a warning signal and avoided hot surfaces until the lost layer of skin grew back.
After living thirty years in the desert, you can get used to it. I live in Tucson and blacktop here is pretty hot. I do notice the burn my calluses are pretty thick. A make sure that I keep moving. Standing in one place will hurt. It seems that if you do a brisk walk, the air can cool it down. Similar to a VW bug using air cooling system. I owned one once long ago. I noticed that in desert heat, I would drive at 40mph in 4th gear. Kept it nice and cool. Sitting in traffic in the… Read more »
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Heat is actually my favorite part of going out in bare feet. Asphalt is one of my favorite barefooting surfaces, smooth and dark rather than prickly and gravely. I look forward to county fairs, street festivals, and flea markets in the midafternoon summer heat. I don’t mind if the end of a barefoot day ends up with red and tender soles since this increases heat tolerance by the next barefoot day. I do avoid blisters as much as possible, although I also have to admit that I have found that one good blistering greatly increases heat tolerance when the air… Read more »
Walking quickly will reduce contact time with the surface. There’s probably an optimum step rate where the ratio maximises the soles being off the ground. Increasing stride length over a troublesome hot patch would theoretically mean fewer exposures at the cost of more heel strikes.
Think about those fake ‘mind over matter’ walking on hot coals events. I know that several factors are carefully managed by the organisers but completing the walk briskly is key. As a medic I can tell you people DO get burned at those events sometimes when things are not done right.
Thanks for the comment. Some good points. But I’m not exactly sure what you meant when you referred to “the cost of more heel strikes.”
Walking with an initial heel contact (heel strike) is the natural way humans walk, so I don’t see a “cost” involved.
My bad Kriss, should have written ‘heavier’ or more forceful heel strikes (due to longer stride)?
Could be. But then heels are one part of feet that can tolerate hot pavement much better than the front part can. So a little more time on heels could actually be another advantage of taking longer strides on hot surfaces.