Best energy bars for hiking (UK): 7 bars compared

Written by James Frost, founder of Flaming Phoenix. Updated October 2026. Flaming Phoenix makes Phoenix Bars, one of the seven bars compared here.

The best energy bars for hiking carry at least 4 calories per gram, so 1,500 calories of trail food weighs under 400g, and stay edible on a frosty summit or in a hot rucksack. On UK labels checked in October 2026, my top pick of the seven is Phoenix Bars: up to 557 calories in a compact, 120g bar, so three bars cover a 1,500-calorie day where the other bars here need six to eleven.

Between proper bars, the difference in weight works out at under 90g on a full day. The count is what changes: three wrappers or eleven. For most walkers the real question is which bar you will still want at four in the afternoon, in the weather you walk in, without stopping to dig through your pack.

Which hiking bar suits which walk?

• Best overall, and for long and multi-day walks: Phoenix Bars, up to 557 calories in a compact, lightweight 120g bar, three bars for a full day (our own bar).
• Most protein per bar: Phoenix Bars again, up to 19g.
• A small bar for cool day walks: Eat Natural, 191 calories in a 40g bar.
• A crunchy oat bar: Nature Valley Crunchy Oats & Honey, 196 calories a twin pack.
• An everyday flapjack: Trek Protein Flapjack, 227 calories and 9g of protein in a 50g bar.
• The familiar one every outdoor shop sells: Clif Bar, 258 calories and 38g of carbohydrate in 68g.
• Short walks and a short ingredient list: Nakd, dates, cashews and raisins at 138 calories a bar.
• A sugar lift for the last steep pull: Romney's Kendal Mint Cake.

How did we compare hiking bars?

I compared seven bars you can buy in a UK supermarket or outdoor shop on the things that matter on a hill: calories per 100g (the weight on your back), calories per bar (how many wrappers you open with cold fingers), how the bar copes with cold and heat, and whether you can eat it in pieces while walking with poles. Calories and weights come from each brand's own website or from Tesco and Go Outdoors listings, checked October 2026.

Flaming Phoenix makes Phoenix Bars. Of the seven, they come first on calories per bar and protein per bar, and they are my pick for most hill days.

What makes a good energy bar for hiking?

A good hiking bar gives you 400 calories or more per 100g, stays chewable in a cold or hot pack, and can be eaten in pieces on the move.

Weight carried. On a full hill day you might carry 1,000 to 1,500 calories of snacks. At 400 calories per 100g that is 250 to 375g; at 380 per 100g, the same food weighs about 5% more. The differences between proper bars are small. The bigger saving comes from making dry food, not watery food such as fresh fruit, your main fuel.

Cold and heat. Chocolate-coated and nut-butter bars are the usual offenders in heat, softening in a rucksack on a July afternoon. Date and fruit bars are the usual offenders in the cold, firming up on a winter top. Crunchy oat bars do not care about temperature but turn to crumbs at the bottom of a pack. Phoenix Bars won't freeze or melt, so they stay soft on a winter top and on a July afternoon. In winter, keep the day's bars in an inside pocket where body heat keeps them chewable.

Eating on the move with poles. With a strap round each wrist you want food you can eat one-handed. Break the day's bars into pieces at breakfast, put them in a small bag and keep it in a hip-belt or chest pocket. Soft bars break cleanly. Crunchy ones shatter, and a stiff wrapper is a gloves-off, two-handed job.

Steady fuel. Oats, nuts and fat digest more slowly than glucose, which is what bar brands mean by sustained energy: a flapjack carries you further than a slab of mint cake. Eating a little every hour works better than one big bar at lunch. The Ordnance Survey hill-walking safety guide, written with Brecon Mountain Rescue Team, also says to carry enough food for the planned walk "and a bit more in case". For winter routes and long trips, my guide to the best energy bars for expeditions ranks bars on density and cold performance.

How many calories do you need on a hike?

A 75kg walker on a steady hill day uses about 450 calories an hour, so a seven-hour walk costs roughly 3,150 calories. The working: the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities rates cross-country hiking at 6.0 METs, and one MET is roughly one calorie per kilogram per hour, so 6.0 × 75kg × 7 hours = 3,150. Climbing hills with a pack of about 10 to 18kg is rated 7.5 METs, which takes the same walker to about 560 an hour.

Nobody eats all of that on the move. Breakfast and dinner do much of the work, and 1,000 to 1,500 calories of trail food is a sensible amount to carry between them on a full day. To get your own figure from your weight, pace and time, use the walking calorie calculator.

The best energy bars for hiking, ranked

Ranked on the four tests above: calories per bar, weight carried, how the bar copes with cold and heat, and how easily it eats in pieces on the move. Figures are per bar as sold, taken from the label, checked October 2026.

1. Phoenix Bars: best overall, and the fewest wrappers for a day on the hill.
Phoenix Bars carry up to 557 calories in a compact, lightweight 120g bar (441 to 464 per 100g, depending on flavour), with up to 66g of carbohydrate and up to 19g of protein, the most calories and the most protein per bar of the seven. They are soft, break cleanly into pieces for a hip-belt pocket, and won't freeze or melt. Three bars cover 1,500 calories. £5.25 a bar. Philip Hanson, on a 24-mile Yorkshire Three Peaks training run, wrote: "I broke each bar into around six pieces and ate them throughout".

2. Eat Natural (Dark Chocolate with Cranberries & Macadamias): a small bar for cool day walks.
191 calories in a 40g bar (477 per 100g). A full day means eight of these small bars, and dark chocolate makes up a fifth of this one, so it goes soft in a warm pack. Best on cool-weather day walks.

3. Nature Valley Crunchy Oats & Honey: a crunchy oat bar.
196 calories in a 42g twin pack (467 per 100g). It snaps into crumbs in a pack and is dry without a drink, so carry it in a lid pocket or a small tub.

4. Trek Protein Flapjack (Cocoa Oat): an everyday flapjack.
227 calories in 50g (454 per 100g), with 9.0g of protein and 22g of carbohydrate. Nearly half its calories come from fat, so it is filling, and it eats like an ordinary flapjack.

5. Clif Bar (Chocolate Chip): the familiar all-rounder.
258 calories, 38g of carbohydrate and 10g of protein in a 68g bar (379 per 100g). Rolled oats are the first ingredient, it is chewy, not crumbly, and nearly every outdoor shop stocks it.

6. Nakd Cocoa Orange: simple ingredients.
138 calories in 35g (394 per 100g), made from dates (42%), cashews (34%), raisins and cocoa. Easy to chew with nothing to melt, but you need eleven for 1,500 calories, and the date base firms up in the cold.

7. Romney's Kendal Mint Cake: the sugar lift.
A glucose-based slab flavoured with peppermint oil, which went on the first successful Everest expedition in 1953. Almost all sugar, it is a quick lift for the final climb and a fix for a dry mouth, not food to last until the next stop. We could not find a nutrition panel on a UK retailer page, so it is not ranked on calories.

How much does a day of trail snacks weigh?

For 1,500 calories of trail food, the six bars with published labels weigh between 320g and 408g, a gap of under 90g a day. The number of bars is where they really differ:

• Phoenix Bars: 3 bars, 1,587 to 1,671 calories, 360g.
• Clif Bar: 6 bars, 1,548 calories, 408g.
• Trek Protein Flapjack: 7 bars, 1,589 calories, 350g.
• Eat Natural: 8 bars, 1,528 calories, 320g.
• Nature Valley Crunchy: 8 twin packs, 1,568 calories, 336g.
• Nakd: 11 bars, 1,518 calories, 385g.

The count changes far more than the weight: three bars or eleven for the same calories. On a cold, wet day with gloves on, eleven small wrappers is eleven chances to put off eating. For food beyond bars, ranked the same way, see the lightest high calorie food for backpacking.

Which fruit and nut bar is best for hiking or travel?

Eat Natural is the better fruit and nut bar when weight matters, at 477 calories per 100g against Nakd's 394. Nakd is the better pick for a hot day or a long journey: there is no chocolate to melt over your fingers, and the ingredients are dates, cashews, raisins and cocoa with orange flavouring.

Are granola bars good for hiking?

Granola bars are good for short and medium walks: Nature Valley Crunchy has 467 calories per 100g, denser than Clif or Trek. The problem is texture. Carry them in a lid pocket or a small tub so they reach lunch in one piece, and drink as you eat.

What are the best protein bars for hiking?

For walking, pick a bar with 9 to 20g of protein and plenty of carbohydrate rather than a low-carbohydrate gym bar. Phoenix Bars give the most per bar here, up to 19g alongside up to 66g of carbohydrate, against 10g for Clif and 9g for Trek Protein Flapjack. On a day walk carbohydrate does most of the work; protein is most useful at breakfast and in the evening on multi-day trips.

Can a bar replace a meal on a multi-day walk?

A dense bar can stand in for breakfast or lunch on a multi-day walk, but not for every dinner. Our high calorie bars can be broken into a mug and stirred into water to make porridge from a Phoenix Bar, or crumbled into trail mix with nuts and dried fruit, which takes pressure off breakfasts when time and fuel are short. For a worked UK example, our guide to Cape Wrath Trail food plans bars and resupply across a 14 to 21 day walk. For no-cook food around the tent, see the best camping snacks. To plan a full day of eating around a route, not only the snacks, use our guide to hiking and trekking nutrition, and for real-food ideas beyond bars, the best food for hiking. A mixed box of bars also makes one of the few presents that never needs a size, which is why food has its own section in my guide to gifts for hikers.

Frequently asked questions

How many energy bars should I take on a day hike?
Plan on roughly 200 to 250 calories of food for every hour on the hill, plus a spare. For a seven-hour day that is three Phoenix Bars broken into pieces, or six to eight standard bars. The spare matters: Brecon Mountain Rescue Team advises carrying a bit more food than the walk needs, in case it takes longer.

Do hiking bars freeze on a winter walk?
Some get very hard. Date and fruit bars set firm below freezing, and chocolate turns brittle, while chocolate-coated and nut-butter bars are the ones that melt in summer. Phoenix Bars won't freeze or melt, so they stay soft in both. In winter, carry the day's bars in an inside pocket and break them up before you set off, so each piece is ready to eat with gloves on.

Are energy gels worth taking hiking?
Rarely as your main fuel. Gels suit running and cycling, where hard effort makes chewing difficult; at walking pace, real food and bars go down easily and fill you up for longer. One gel in a pocket is still useful for the last steep pull of a long day, or if you feel shaky and want something quick.

Sources: 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, walking and hiking; Ordnance Survey hill-walking safety guide with Brecon Mountain Rescue Team; labels on Clif, Eat Natural and Nature Valley; Tesco listings for Trek and Nakd; Go Outdoors for Romney's. All checked October 2026.