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Snacks

Camp Trail Mix: Build Your Own (or Just Buy a Bag)

Snackseasy8 servings· Prep 5 min· Cook 0 min
Camp Trail Mix: Build Your Own (or Just Buy a Bag)

Trail mix — or gorp, as hikers have always called it — is the perfect camp snack: no cooler, no cooking, and it travels in a pocket. Making your own is cheaper and lets you load it with exactly what your crew likes. And to be clear up front: a bag off the store shelf is completely fine. We'd never tell you otherwise. But if you want to mix your own, here's the formula.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups nuts or seeds (peanuts, almonds, cashews — or pumpkin/sunflower seeds for nut-free)
  • 1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, banana chips, apricots)
  • 1 cup something sweet (chocolate chips, M&Ms, or yogurt-covered raisins)
  • 1 cup something crunchy (pretzels, Chex, granola, or cheese crackers)
  • Optional: a shake of salt, or a handful of coconut flakes

Steps

  1. The formula is roughly 2 parts base to 1 part each of fruit, sweet, and crunchy — adjust to taste.
  2. Dump everything in a big zip-top bag or container and shake to combine.
  3. For a nut-free mix (handy on shared trips with allergies), swap the nuts for pumpkin and sunflower seeds and lean on pretzels, cereal, and dried fruit.
  4. Portion into snack bags or one big container, and it keeps for a couple of weeks — perfect to make the night before you leave.

Tips & variations

A store-bought bag is fine

Seriously — grab one off the shelf and you are done. Trail mix is shelf-stable, needs no cooler, and is perfect for hikes and the snack bin. Making your own just lets you dial in what your crew actually eats.

The formula

Roughly 2 parts base (nuts or seeds) to 1 part each of dried fruit, something sweet, and something crunchy. Shake it in a zip bag the night before you leave. For no-cook lunch days, it rides in a daypack without thinking.

Nut-free for group trips

Swap nuts for pumpkin and sunflower seeds, lean on pretzels and cereal, and keep the sweet element — the safe call when someone might have an allergy. More ideas on the camping snacks hub.

Common questions

Is store-bought trail mix okay for camping?
Absolutely. A bag off the shelf is one of the easiest no-cooler camp snacks there is, and there's nothing wrong with grabbing one — we'd never tell you otherwise. Making your own just lets you dial in exactly what your crew likes and leave out what they don't.
What is the ratio for homemade trail mix?
A good starting point is 2 parts base (nuts or seeds) to 1 part each of dried fruit, something sweet, and something crunchy. Taste and adjust — more chocolate for the kids, more nuts and seeds if you want it to actually hold you over on the trail.
How do you make nut-free trail mix?
Swap the nuts for pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and build the rest from pretzels, cereal, dried fruit, and a sweet element like chocolate or yogurt-covered raisins. It's the safe call on group trips where someone may have a nut allergy.
What is gorp?
Gorp is the old hiking name for trail mix — said to stand for Good Old Raisins and Peanuts. It's the same idea: a portable, no-cook mix of nuts, fruit, and a little something sweet that's been fueling campers and hikers forever.

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