BEST TRAIL SNACKS (BASED ON YOUR FAVORITE NATIONAL PARK)

Does your favorite national park have a snack? Pick your favorite national park, and we will tell you what trail snacks match the park’s personality.

Capitol Reef National Park

The historic orchards at Capitol Reef contain about 1,900 fruit and nut trees. Relics from the area’s pioneer history. You’re probably a fan of variety, so look to the original homesteaders for inspiration and jazz up your trail mix with dried apple chips, dried apricots, dried cherries, dried peach rings, almonds, pecans, and walnuts.

Great Basin National Park

You go to Great Basin for solitude, starry night skies, and the sweet smell of nature. If you love the intoxicating fragrance of the park’s pinyon pines that reminds you of fresh morning air in the desert, you’ll want to fill your pack with pine nuts. A handful can give you the energy boost you need on the trail.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

The Countryside Initiative began in 1999 to preserve and protect the rural character and agricultural resources in Cuyahoga Valley. To date, the program has restored more than a dozen working farmsteads within the park, including egg producers. To support local farms, enjoy a couple of pastured hard-boiled eggs with your trail snack.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

You’re drawn to the famous smoky haze that gives the Great Smoky Mountains their name and dreamy quality. The “smoke” is fog that comes from the area’s vegetation.

The Appalachian Trail (AT) is one of our nation’s most spectacular hiking trails. It travels 72 miles through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, following the Tennessee-North Carolina border bisecting the park. It’s a spectacular place to get a taste of the AT before you commit to the idea of hiking the entire trail’s 2,181 miles from Georgia to Maine.

We looked at how to eat while walking the Appalachian Trail. Regardless, I bet you’d like smoky treats to hit the trail, like Smokehouse almonds or pecans, which you can candy in your home kitchen. Pecans are a Southern favorite.

Death Valley National Park

Date palms dot the oases in Death Valley. Creating bounty from the otherwise harsh and desolate landscape. Naturally, you can’t get enough dates. The sweet, sticky fruits are delicious, but you can add Medjools, Deglet Noors, or deep purple Dayris to your homemade trail mix, granola, or energy balls.

Hawaii Volcanoes

If you love the vibes and the food of Hawaii spread the aloha with a tropical themed trail mix. Share it with fellow hikers. Try dried tropical fruits, like pineapple, papaya, mango, and banana chips, and macadamia nuts. All of which are found on the Islands in most small markets.