Cheese on the trail.Cheese has always been a favorite trail snack, but did you know it’s also a great backpacking food. Even though it’s generally refrigerated at home, it’s one of those foods that can actually travel well for several days without refrigeration. You can pull it out as a lunch snack or use it in prepared dinner dishes.

The best backpacking cheeses are some of the harder cheeses like Parmesan or medium hard cheeses like Gouda, Ementhaler (Swiss) or Jarlsberg. Soft cheeses like brie, or oily cheeses like Cheddar are the least packable, but still make a nice treat for the first day or two.