Trail Mix and Gorp Recipes

When on the trail or a long walk, take along a snack with protein, carbohydrates, and salt replacement. Trail mix or gorp ("good old raisins and peanuts") is the natural answer. The nuts provide protein and salt while the raisins provide carbohydrates. It doesn't need any refrigeration and is food-safe for weeks.

Trail mix is energy-dense, meaning there are lots of calories in a smaller portion, making it lighter to take along to get the replenishment you need. But that means you need to use portion control so you don't end up with too many calories. On average, trail mix has 140 calories and 9 grams of fat per ounce.

While you can buy pre-packaged trail mix, it is easy and cheaper to make your own and portion it out for use. The ingredients are easy to find in the bulk bins at the supermarket, and you can be creative in finding the mixture you enjoy the most.

Basic Trail Mix Recipe
Equal parts of nuts and various dried fruits with additions of chocolate or coconut or salty snacks like pretzels or breakfast cereal.
Let's use a cup for an example.
• 1 cup salted peanuts
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup M&Ms (preferred to chocolate chips because they won't melt in your pack or pocket.)
Mix and portion out, remembering that 1 ounce provides 140 calories. Adjust the proportions to taste.

Common Additions to Trail Mix:
• Dried fruit: raisins, dried apricots, date nuggets, banana chips, apple chips, dried papaya, dried cranberries, dried cherries.

• Nuts and seeds: peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds.

• Chocolate and more: M&Ms, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, carob chips, dried coconut.

• Salty stuff: Pretzels, sesame sticks, oriental rice crackers, salty "party mix" cereal.

• Cereals: Any breakfast cereal, granola.

More Trail Mix Recipes from our Guides:

• Low Carb Trail Mix
• Nut-Free Trail Mix
• Gorp Balls
• Kids' Trail Mix
• Honey Nut O's Mix
• Quick Energy Hikers' Bars

More Recipes
• Sports Drink Recipes
• Healthy Recipes - Walk of Life Program