Trail Mix — Build Your Own for Hiking and Camping

Trail mix (or scroggin if you're a serious bushwalker) is the original on-the-go fuel — nuts, seeds, dried fruit, sometimes chocolate. Done well, it's the perfect hiking/camping snack: dense calories, no refrigeration, no spoilage, infinitely customisable to taste and budget. Done badly, it's just a bag of dusty supermarket shrapnel. Make your own from quality ingredients and it transforms a hike. Here's the practical guide. Recipe Card Serves 8 portions Prep 5 min Cook — Method No-cook / assembly Difficulty Easy Best for Camp specialist Photo by Maksim Shutov on Unsplash 1. The five components Five base food groups make up almost every great trail mix: Nuts — dense protein and fats, slow-burn energy Seeds — protein, fibre, micronutrients Grains/cereals — fast-burn carbs and crunch Dried fruit — natural sugars, vitamins, chewy contrast Sweets/chocolate — quick sugar boost + morale The art is balancing these for the trip type. Day-walking with kids = more sweets, less raw nuts. Multi-day endurance hike = more nuts, less sweets, more dried fruit. 2. Nuts — the base Nuts are the energy density champion — high in fats and protein, slow-burning, satiating. The Aussie favourites: Almonds — versatile, mild flavour, holds up well to summer heat Cashews — sweeter, softer texture, kids love them Macadamias — rich and buttery (and Australian!) Walnuts — slightly bitter, brain-friendly omega-3s Brazil nuts — dense, selenium-rich, large pieces Pistachios — fun shells but messy at camp; pre-shell at home Peanuts — technically a legume, but they're the cheap workhorse Avoid salted or roasted-in-oil versions — too much salt accelerates dehydration. Plain or dry-roasted is better. Some lightly salted in the mix is fine for taste. Photo: Marcos Paulo Prado / Unsplash 3. Seeds — small but mighty Pumpkin seeds (pepitas) — high in zinc and magnesium, mild flavour, great chew Sunflower seeds — cheapest, light, good filler Sesame seeds — small but calorie-dense, easy on digestion Linseed/flaxseed — high omega-3, but ground or whole work differently — whole adds texture Chia seeds — nutritional powerhouse, but tiny so they sink to the bottom Seeds are excellent fibre, vitamin E, and protein sources. Use sparingly though — too many seeds make for a dusty mix. 4. Grains and cereals — the carb hit Rolled oats — slow-release energy, low GI, cheap Granola/muesli clusters — sweet, crunchy, kids love them Roasted soybeans — high protein, satisfying crunch Pretzel sticks — salty contrast, surprisingly good in trail mix Mini rice crackers — light, gluten-free option Wheat puffs / spelt puffs — light, airy, fills volume For sustained energy, lean toward low-GI options (oats, soybeans). For quick boosts, sweetened cereals are fine but treat them like sweets — small amounts. Photo: Gerardo Ramos / Unsplash 5. Dried fruit — natural sugars and chew Sultanas/raisins — classic, cheap, sweet, slow-release Dried cranberries — tarter, more interesting flavour Dried apricots — sweet, chewy, high vitamin A Dried mango — tropical and addictive (Aussie kids' favourite) Dried apple, pear, pineapple — light, kid-friendly Dates — sugar bomb, very dense calories, great for hard climbs Dried banana chips — crunchy alternative to chewy fruit Mix sweet (mango, dates) with tarter (cranberries, apricots) for balance. Avoid candied fruit (cherries, mixed peel) — too sweet and lose nutrition. 6. Sweets — for morale, not nutrition M&Ms or Smarties — the candy shell stops them melting (mostly). The classic addition Dark chocolate chunks — better nutrition than milk chocolate. Won't melt unless above 30°C+ Yoghurt-coated almonds/raisins — adult favourite Mini marshmallows — sugar bomb but kids love them Crystallised ginger — surprising and excellent for nausea Hot weather warning: chocolate melts. In summer hiking, either skip chocolate or carry it separately and add to the mix at break time. M&M-style candy-shelled chocolate is more heat-resistant. Avoid: caffeine pills, energy bars, anything with artificial sweeteners. The natural-sugar boost from dried fruit is more sustained. 7. Two foolproof recipes Hiker's Endurance Mix (high protein, sustained energy): 1 cup almonds 1 cup cashews ½ cup pumpkin seeds ½ cup sultanas ½ cup dried cranberries ¼ cup dark chocolate chunks (skip in summer) Family Day-Trip Mix (kid-friendly, sweeter): 1 cup peanuts 1 cup pretzel sticks (broken) 1 cup granola clusters ½ cup dried mango pieces ½ cup banana chips ½ cup M&Ms Mix in a big bowl, store in airtight containers (mason jars at home, snap-lock bags or reusable silicone pouches for the trail). Decant into a sandwich bag for the day's pocket portion. Keeps 4-6 weeks at room temperature. Our take Pre-mixed trail mix from supermarkets is fine in a pinch but it's twice the price for half the quality. Buy nuts and dried fruit in bulk from health-food stores, mix to your taste, and you've got a year's worth of hiking snacks for the cost of a few weeks of supermarket bags. And the kids actually love being involved — let them choose the ratios for their own bag. Suddenly hiking becomes about THEIR mix, and the snack break becomes a highlight, not a forced ten minutes of complaining. Shop Hiking Food & Cooking

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