23 Best Hiking Snacks for Your Next Day Hike

Whether you’re tackling a challenging summit or enjoying a casual trail, the right hiking snacks can make all the difference! This post is filled with trail-tested snack ideas that provide lasting energy without weighing down your pack.

Ever hit that dreaded mid-hike wall? You know the one—where your legs feel like lead, your energy tanks, and that summit view suddenly seems a lot less appealing. We’ve all been there, desperately digging through our daypacks only to find crushed granola bars or warm, melted trail mix. Getting your hiking snacks wrong can turn an amazing day on the trail into a serious struggle.

Here’s the thing: trail snacks aren’t just food—they’re fuel that can make or break your hiking experience. Packing the right snacks will keep you powering up those switchbacks and keep your spirits high.

We’re sharing our tried-and-tested list of the best hiking snacks, based on hundreds of trail miles and plenty of snack-related trial and error. No complicated recipes or hard-to-find ingredients—just practical, tasty options that actually work on the trail!

Homemade trail mix

Trail mix is a great on-the-go snack that can be super customizable. We like to keep a small bag somewhere easy to reach so we can grab a quick handful whenever we stop for a water break. Some of our favorite homemade recipes have been this classic GORP mix, and our Maple Glazed Trail Mix and Sweet & Spicy Trail Mix. Or, check out this post for more trail mix recipes!

*If you are going hiking in warmer temperatures, we would advise against trail mix that contains chocolate, yogurt dipped raisins, or anything else that can—and ultimately will—melt.

Favorite Day Snack Mixes

If you’re more of a sweet snack kind of person vs. savory trail mix, these snack mixes are worth checking out: Cookie Dough Trail Mix, Peanut Butter Chocolate Trail Mix, and S’mores Trail Mix.

Nut butter

Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter—whatever your preference, nut butter is a great hiking snack. Spread it on crackers or fruit, use it to make a sandwich, or just eat it plain. Nut butter is very calorie-dense, so you get a lot of energy for the weight.

If you’re doing a big group hike, a full jar might be the most economical option. But if you want to snack as you hike, you might want to pick up some of the smaller squeeze pouches. We’re big fans of Justin’s and RX Bar packets. (The RX Vanilla Almond Butter is our favorite!)

Crackers

Crackers are a great building block for lots of different hiking snacks, but if they’re too delicate they’ll just get pulverized in your pack. Look for sturdy crackers that have some structure to them. Trader Joe’s make some delicious “crips” with flavors like Fig & Olive and Mango & Ginger that hold up well. If you want a protein boost, pack along some instant hummus — just add water!

Sort of in the cracker category are those mini peanut butter or cheese cracker sandwiches. Ritz Bits were one of my all-time favorite snacks as a child. I would eat an entire box myself if left unattended. They’re also a great hiking snack. The filling binds the crackers together to make them pretty durable, but storing them in a hard-sided container would be a smart idea.

Dried fruit & nuts

Every hike we’ve been on in recent memory has featured some type of dried fruits and/or nuts. Nuts are loaded with long-lasting protein and fat while dried fruits offer a quick pop of energy.

We are very partial to the nut and dried fruit selection at Trader Joe’s because of their prices. If you don’t have a TJ’s nearby, check your grocery store’s bulk bins to keep the price down.

If you have a dehydrator, it’s easy to make dried fruit snacks like pineapple, mango, and apples at home.

Energy Gummies

Gummies like Honey Stinger Energy Chews or even regular old gummy bears are a great high-energy hiking snack. Some of the Honey Stingers even have caffeine in them for an extra boost!

Fresh fruit

While fresh fruit isn’t a great multi-day backpacking food because of its low calorie-to-weight ratio, for a short day hike, a nice piece of fresh fruit can be really refreshing.

We suggest going with something that won’t bruise easily (peaches) and aren’t messy to clean up (oranges). Apples, pears, pre-peeled oranges, or berries that are stored in a hard-sided container are all good choices.

Fruit leathers

Fruit leathers are a great way to bring the flavor of fresh fruit on the trail without the weight and clean up.

You’d be surprised how easy it can be to make your own fruit leathers at home using a food dehydrator. Some of our favorite recipes include our Strawberry Fruit Roll Ups, Pear Fruit Leathers, and these Tie Dye Fruit Leathers.

Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels

These snack-sized peanut butter-filled pretzels are one of our favorite snacks. Salty, crunchy, peanut buttery… these have it all!

Jerky

Shelf-stable and loaded with protein, homemade jerky is a fantastic hiking snack. Unlike a lot of other snacks, which can skew towards the sweet side of the spectrum, the savory flavor of jerky can be a nice change of pace.

Making your own beef jerky at home is a lot easier than you might think and once you learn how you’ll save tons of money. Some of our favorite recipes are our Teriyaki Beef Jerky, Spicy Peppered Beef Jerky, and our Simple Beef Jerky recipe.

If you don’t have a dehydrator, no worries! There are plenty of amazing brands out there producing some incredibly tasty jerky. Some of our favorites include:

↠ Louisville Vegan Jerky
↠ Stryve Jerky
↠ Brooklyn Biltong

Meat bars

Along the same lines as jerky, meat bars are another portable snack that packs a lot of protein. Epic Bars and Wild Zora are a few of our favorites brands. These can be a great keto alternative to traditional “energy bars”, which typically contain a fair deal of sugar and carbs.

Tuna or chicken packets

Ready-made tuna and chicken salad packets are a great shelf-stable option for a more substantial hiking lunch. You can find a variety of flavors like Buffalo Chicken or Herb & Garlic at your local grocery store. These are great spread onto crackers or rolled into a flour tortilla wrap. We ate these extensively during our John Muir Trail hike and would still recommend them.

Olives

We love to take olives with us when hiking. Similar to the hard cheeses above, olives can really class up a trail-side lunch spread.

Obviously, you can pick up a jar of your favorite olives, drain the liquid and repack them into a resealable, watertight container like a ReZip bag. Brands like Poshi also make convenient on-the-go packets.

Cheese

A nice hard cheese can really class up your next hiking snack break! Hard cheeses like smoked gouda, aged cheddar, or even some varieties of gruyere are plenty dense and durable enough for the trail. To prevent oils and smells from permeating anything else in your backpack, place it in a resealable bag or container.

Babybel makes wax-wrapped cheeses that are perfectly sized for personal consumption. Tillamook and Cabot also make excellent cheese sticks which are great options for kids.

Cheese crisps

Oven-baked cheese crisps are another great option. They’re lightweight, super durable, and filled with calories. You can find them in most gocery stores and Target.

Homemade granola bars & bites

You’d be surprised how easy it can be to make your own granola bars and energy bites.
Here are a few of our favorite granola bar & bite recipes from our site:

• Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
• Cherry Garcia Energy Bites
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
• S’mores Granola Bars
• Trail Mix Bliss Balls

Store-bought bars

We are living in the golden era of energy bars. There are just so many of them we can hardly keep up. Our strategy is to mix and match the brands and flavors so we don’t get burnt out. Some of our favorite go-to’s are:

• Kate’s Real Food Bars
• Bobo Bars
• GoMacro
• Clif Nut Butter Bars

Stroopwafel

A Dutch pastry (literally “syrup waffle”) is a wafer cookie made from two thin layers of baked dough joined by a caramel filling. They are super calorie dense, very durable, and actually taste better when they’re a little warmed up. You can find them at Trader Joe’s, most grocery stores, and online.

Fig Bars

Fig Newtons and Nature’s Bakery Fig Bars are another halfway healthy but convenient snack, filled with fruit and whole grains.

Sandwiches

Simple and satisfying, sandwiches are a great snack to stash in your backpack–just keep it in a hard-sided container to keep from getting squished! A good ol’ PB&J or Peanut Butter Honey & Banana are two of our favortes.

Candy bar (Summit Snickers!)

While we wouldn’t necessarily recommend a candy bar as a go-to hiking snack, we’re big fans of the summit celebration. Basically, once you reach the summit (or the high point) of your hike, it can be fun to have a little something special to celebrate the moment. The “summit Snickers” is definitely a thing, but you can substitute it with any extra treat you like.

If it’s going to be hot out, make sure you have it buried somewhere in your pack so it doesn’t melt!

Nuun

A strenuous hike in warmer weather can quickly turn into a sweat-fest. All that sweat can cause your body to lose a lot of natural salts and electrolytes. Your body will naturally replenish itself with a balanced diet, but to speed up the recovery process you can dissolve a Nuun tablet into your water. The result is a fizzily, bubbly drink that helps your body recover faster.

Clif Bloks

Containing a quick hit of sugars and electrolytes in a chewy gummy form, Clif Bloks are designed to keep you from “bonking”. If, after prolonged exertion, you find yourself feeling faint or weak out on the trail, there is a good chance you’re experiencing a drop in glycogen in your muscles – a.k.a “bonking”. Shot Bloks provide you with quick and easy energy to get your back to normal.

How to pack your hiking snacks

Where it makes sense, we recommend repackaging your hiking snacks into reusable containers. The less disposable trash you take out onto the trail, the less chance there is of accidentally dropping a torn wrapper or plastic cap.

We’re big fans of reusable plastic bags like (re)Zip. These are perfect for storing your trail mix, jerky, fruit leathers, hard cheeses, etc. They come in fun colors, are easy to clean, and replace single-use baggies.

For snacks that are a little more delicate, a hard-sided reusable container is the way to go. We prefer ones with a rubberized gasket and locking sides to ensure the top doesn’t pop off if things shift around in our day packs. This kind of hard sized container is perfect for fresh berries, sandwiches, and wraps.

If you want the ability to keep food and drinks cold, you can even bring a soft-sided cooler. You’ll probably want to use a reusable ice pack, which will add weight of course. But pulling out an ice-cold LaCroix at the summit will be a real treat!

Also, think about the food you’re packing and try to anticipate the type of trash it will generate. It can be a smart idea to pack along a dedicated trash container. Or, plan on converting one of your food containers into a trash container once you consume its contents.

Leave No Trace

The goal is to pack out everything that you packed in during your hike. And we mean literally everything.

Even biodegradable food items like cracker crumbs or apple cores disturb the local ecology and incentivize wild animals to associate humans with food.

When small oversights like this get amplified by hundreds of hikers over many years, it can lead to really unfortunate results.

So be part of the solution by packing smart, and leave no trace. If you’d like to learn more about the central tenants of the Left No Trace philosophy you can read about them here.