Trail mix is a popular snack food for hikes, because it is lightweight, easy to store, and nutritious, providing a quick energy boost from the carbohydrates in the dried fruit or granola, and sustained energy from fatty nuts.

The combination of fat nuts, raisins and chocolate as a trail snack, dates at least to the 1910s, when outdoorsman Horace Kephart recommended it in his popular camping guide.

[2] In Australia, the term "scroggin" is used almost exclusively, although in more recent years, "trail mix" has been imported into the jargon from the US.

Some claim that the name stands for sultanas, carob, raisins, orange peel, grains, glucose, and nuts or alternatively sultanas, chocolate, raisins and other goodies including nuts; but this may be a backronym.

"[4] The Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1913 reference to the verb gorp, meaning "to eat greedily," so the acronym may be folk etymology or a backronym.