Trail running shoes that are good in mud and ok on the road

I’ve found Salomon Sense Ride 4s to cover that particular running need pretty well, if you can get on with the long, narrow foot shape

I've just replaced my previous new balance vongos road shoes with a pair of inov-8 parkclaw g280 to deal with the Chilterns mud. The inov-8s appear to be faster on the road and far grippier in the mud. Win all round for me.

If you get on with Altra shoes the Olympus 5 might be worth a look. I like mine for mixed running and they're OK in anything other than proper manky mud. Seem to wear OK too.

I think you could be onto a bit of a loser though. Something that's good in mud will need wide spaced tread which will get destroyed on the road. Unless it's made out of hard rubber, which would be lethal on wet rocks. I have a 2nd pair of shoes for muddy runs.

Not Parkclaw 260’s. Not sure what they’ve done to the sole to make it so greasy.

I guess you might have to compromise to some degree as you're looking for something that excels in two very different surfaces. The challenge would increase as the depth and consistency of mud worsen. If you've a short road to your mud then a dedicated fell shoe might be best as you'd get more enjoyment in the mud against a little discomfort on road on knobbly tread. Maybe explore the likes of Sportiva or Scott/innov8.

I use Saucony Peregrine 11s for exactly what you describe - although they are quite snug, so might not be good for really wide feet.

Mizuno wave harrier used to be this shoe. Might be worth a look at their lineup to see if they do something similar now.

Yeah, this is a challenge. Mud means king lugs that bite into soft group. Tarmac means short, almost flat lugs that don’t. And that’s before you look at cushioning for road and lack of for mud. There’s a compromise to be had, and you need to decide what that is.
Your best is to find a sticky sole compound and accept it might be a bit sketchy and wear more quickly on the road. For that I’d look at the Innov8 graphine shoes, Gxxx in whatever flavour suits.
The other way is a road to trail shoe like a Nike Pegasus Trail 4. They’re great on the road, good for drier trails and are not horrendous in the mud but are certainly not great either.

Another vote for saucony peregrine, good grip and fine on the road to and from the mud.

I likewise use Saucony Peregrines for this (although I'm not quick on either surface).

I think the issue I've found is that the 'trail' shoes I've used are barely any better than road shoes in wet mud, no different on grass/dried mud, and obviously worse on the road. I'm not bothered about lugs wearing down quickly, I won't be doing big miles (or running quickly). I would like some cushioning though, which I guess probably discounts proper fell running shoes (I also won't be doing anything akin to fell running in them). The More Mile Cheviots I had were amazing in mud, but awful everywhere else due to having zero cushioning. They were also far too narrow, which probably rules out Salomon based on experience.
I'll have a look at some of the other recommendations above though👍.

Try some La sportive mutants, seem surprisingly good in slippery conditions, although probably due to quite soft rubber so may not last. Look to have some cushioning compared with a fell shoe.

I use Brooks Cascadia for such a mix- very good on rock/light mud although a bit hit and miss in mud more than an inch deep.

Another happy Parkclaw G280 user here. Run a mix of road, farm track, field edge and bridleway.

Try some La sportive mutants, seem surprisingly good in slippery conditions, although probably due to quite soft rubber so may not last. Look to have some cushioning compared with a fell shoe.

Yep, Mutants are a pretty good compromise for me - sort of a good mid-way point between fell shoes and trail shoes with the bonus of a higher ankle cuff that keeps grit out well - quite toothy, grippy rubber, enough cushion not to batter you on harder surfaces without turning the shoe into a wobbly barge. I've found them reasonably durable too.

It depends a bit on how you define 'okay on the road' I suppose and how much road you're actually covering. My runs tend to be in the 75/25 road/off road sort of ratio and I find them fine, Peak District based so a mix of harder rocky stuff plus some grass and softer surfaces. Then again some people run with barefoot shoes on pavement and some like Hokas off road.

I use these On Cloudventure shoes which are exactly that. Big flat tread knobs and lots of cushioning so fine on the road but deep channels between the knobs which give good mud grip.

I came here to recommend the Mutants also.

Been running for 15+ years and have always avoided Nike (because.... well just because!)

Shop convinced me to try some Pegasus trails and have to say they are the best trail shoes I've ever had. Light, comfortable, work for my creaky knees, great on road\trail\light mud (but not great in heavy mud). durability seems decent so far (350k in)

NB I also have dodgy achilles so generally go for cushioned with a reasonable drop

I'd try the Pegasus trails and just accept the reality that anything that works on the road will be compromised in deep med (where you want track spikes with 15mm spikes in...).

But whatever, try them before you buy as personally there's a lot of shoes recommended on this thread that are pretty abysmal i.m.o. to run in...

Other choices Hoke Torrents or Zinal - I like the latter a lot