By Sebastian Madlangbayan, founder of Cleonse: the world's cleanest 3-ingredient organic electrolyte.
The best electrolytes for hiking give you enough sodium to replace what you sweat out, a little real carbohydrate to fuel long climbs, and a clean label with no dyes or fillers you have to squint at. They also have to be easy to carry. Cleonse fits that: 500mg sodium, real cane sugar for fuel, three ingredients, in a stick that lives in your pack.
I'm Sebastian Madlangbayan. I played competitive tennis for years and built Cleonse because I got tired of drink mixes that read like a chemistry set. Hiking isn't tennis, but the hydration math is close enough that I want to walk you through it honestly. This is a practical guide, not a ranking of brands with a fake number-one. By the end you'll have a checklist you can use on any label, including mine.
Why hiking dehydrates you more than you think
People underestimate hiking because it feels gentle compared to sprinting. You're just walking, right? But a long day on trail stacks up several things that pull water and sodium out of you at the same time.
Heat and sun exposure
You're outside for hours with no shade breaks between rooms. On an exposed ridge or a summer valley, your body sweats steadily to stay cool. That sweat carries sodium out with it, and you keep losing it the whole time you're moving.
Elevation
The higher you climb, the drier the air and the harder you breathe. You lose more water through your breath than you notice, and higher altitude tends to increase how much you urinate early on. Neither of those feels dramatic in the moment, which is exactly the problem.
Long duration
A hard interval workout is over in an hour. A hike can run five, six, eight hours. Small losses per hour don't matter much for twenty minutes. Over a full day they add up to a real deficit, and the fix has to be steady, not one big gulp at the trailhead.
Sweat you don't notice
In dry air or cold wind, sweat evaporates before you feel wet. You'll swear you're barely sweating while you're steadily draining your tank. Cold-weather hikes fool people the most. You're bundled up, you don't feel hot, and you forget to drink at all.
What to look for in a hiking electrolyte
Forget brand loyalty for a minute. Here's what actually matters on the label when you're picking something to carry up a mountain.
Enough sodium
Sodium is the electrolyte you lose the most of in sweat, and it's the one most worth replacing on a long day. A mix with a token pinch of sodium isn't doing much for you when you've been sweating for four hours. Cleonse has 500mg of sodium per stick, which is a meaningful amount for hydration without going to the extreme end of the category.
Some carbohydrate for fuel
This is where hiking differs from sitting at a desk sipping electrolytes. On a long climb you're burning through energy, and a little carbohydrate helps in two ways. It gives you fuel, and glucose actually helps your body pull sodium and water across into your system. That's not marketing, that's how absorption works. Cleonse uses real organic cane sugar on purpose for this reason. One stick has 100 calories, 26g of carbohydrate, and 24g of sugar. On a hard climb, that's training fuel, not junk.
Easy to carry
The best electrolyte in the world does nothing if it's sitting in your kitchen. Single-serve sticks win here. They're light, they don't leak, and you can stuff a few in a hip pocket and forget about them until you need one. A big tub of powder and a scoop is a non-starter on trail.
A clean, honest label
You don't need dyes, artificial flavors, or a list of gums and anti-caking agents to hydrate. When I'm three hours from the car, I want to know exactly what I put in my bottle. Cleonse is three ingredients: organic lemon or organic strawberry powder, organic cane sugar, and French grey sea salt. That's it. No stevia, no artificial sweeteners, no preservatives, no fillers. It's vegan and gluten-free. If you want to go deeper on what "clean" should actually mean, I wrote about what the cleanest electrolyte actually means.
Trace minerals, honestly framed
The French grey sea salt in Cleonse brings 85+ trace minerals along with the sodium. I want to be clear about scale: those are trace amounts, not mega-doses. They're a nice byproduct of using real sea salt instead of plain sodium chloride, not the headline. The sodium is the headline.
A hiking electrolyte checklist
Here's the whole thing in one place. Run any product, including mine, against it.
| What to check | Why it matters on trail | Where Cleonse lands |
|---|---|---|
| Meaningful sodium | Sodium is your biggest sweat loss on long days | 500mg per stick |
| Some carbohydrate | Fuels long climbs and helps drive sodium and water in | 26g carb, 24g sugar, 100 cal (real cane sugar) |
| Portable format | Has to fit in a pack and not leak | Single-serve 30g sticks |
| Short, clean ingredient list | Know what's in your bottle miles from the car | 3 ingredients, no dyes or fillers |
| No artificial junk | You don't need dyes or preservatives to hydrate | None; vegan, gluten-free |
| Easy to mix | You're standing at a creek, not a lab | One stick into 16 oz (473 ml) water |
How much should you actually drink?
There's no perfect universal number, because it depends on the person, the weather, and how hard you're going. But the practical habits below keep most hikers out of trouble.
Start hydrated. Drink water before you leave the trailhead rather than trying to catch up at mile four. Then sip on a schedule instead of waiting until you're thirsty, because thirst lags behind your actual need, especially in dry or cold air.
A rough working habit a lot of hikers use is somewhere around one bottle of water every hour or two when it's warm and you're working, and pairing an electrolyte with your water once you're past the short-and-easy range. One Cleonse stick goes into 16 oz of water, so it's simple to fold into whatever bottle rhythm you already have. On a long, hot, or high-elevation day, adding sodium and a little fuel matters more than on a flat stroll.
Don't overthink it, but don't ignore it either. If you finish a big hike and you never peed and your head hurts, you were behind the whole time.
Signs of low sodium and cramping
Cramping is the classic one. That sudden seize in a calf or hamstring on a climb often shows up when you've been sweating hard and only drinking plain water, which can dilute your sodium further. Other things to watch for: a nagging headache, unusual fatigue that doesn't match the effort, dizziness when you stand up, and nausea.
If you feel those coming on, back off the pace, get in some shade, and take sodium with water rather than water alone. This is general guidance, not medical advice. If symptoms are severe or don't improve, treat it seriously and get help. Cleonse supports hydration; it isn't a treatment for anything.
Where Cleonse fits, and where it doesn't
Cleonse is built for exactly this situation: a long, sweaty effort where you want real sodium and a little fuel from a clean, portable stick. 500mg sodium, real cane sugar, three ingredients, and it drops into your existing water bottle. That's the whole pitch, and I'd rather be straight with you than oversell it.
So here's where it's honestly not your pick. If you're doing a short, easy, shaded stroll of an hour on a mild day, plain water is probably plenty. You don't need to buy anything.
And if you specifically want zero sugar, Cleonse isn't for you. It has 24g of sugar per stick by design, because on a long climb I want that fuel. A very high-sodium, no-sugar mix in the LMNT-style category would suit you better there. Same goes for potassium and magnesium: Cleonse does not add them. If your priority is a big dose of those specific minerals, look elsewhere. I'd rather tell you that than pretend Cleonse is everything to everyone.
For most people doing real hikes, though, the sodium-plus-fuel combination in a clean stick is exactly what the day calls for. You can read the full Cleonse facts if you want every number in one place.
Picking your flavor and pack
Cleonse comes in Organic Lemonade, Organic Strawberry, and a Duo Assortment if you can't decide. Pricing is straightforward: $33 for a 10-pack, $66 for 30, and $110 for 60, one-time, with free shipping and a 30-day guarantee. For hiking, I'd grab a 30-pack so you always have a few sticks staged in your pack.
If the checklist above matches how you hike, the easiest thing to do is keep some on hand before your next trip. You can grab the Cleonse electrolyte drink mix at cleonse.com, toss a few sticks in your pack, and stop thinking about it. That's the whole point: simple fuel you actually carry.
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Shop CleonseFrequently Asked Questions
Do I really need electrolytes for hiking, or is water enough?
For a short, easy hike on a mild day, water is usually enough. Once you're going long, climbing, or sweating in heat, replacing sodium alongside your water helps you feel better and cramp less. The longer and hotter the hike, the more it matters.
Why does Cleonse have sugar when other mixes don't?
It's intentional. On a long climb you're burning energy, and the real organic cane sugar gives you fuel while helping your body pull sodium and water across into your system. If you specifically want zero sugar, Cleonse isn't the right pick and a no-sugar mix will suit you better.
How much sodium is in one Cleonse stick?
500mg of sodium per 30g stick, from French grey sea salt. That salt also brings 85+ trace minerals, but in trace amounts, not big doses. The sodium is the part doing the hydration work.
Does Cleonse have potassium or magnesium?
No. Cleonse does not add potassium or magnesium. If getting a large dose of those specific minerals is your priority, a different product will serve you better. I'd rather be upfront than imply something that isn't on the label.
How do I mix it on trail?
One stick into 16 oz (473 ml) of water. Sticks are single-serve, light, and don't leak, so you can carry a few in a pocket and mix one whenever you refill your bottle.
What's in Cleonse?
Three ingredients: organic lemon or organic strawberry powder, organic cane sugar, and French grey sea salt. No stevia, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, dyes, preservatives, gums, fillers, or anti-caking agents. It's vegan and gluten-free.
Editor's note: The hydration guidance here is educational and general. Individual needs vary with your body, the weather, and how hard you're hiking, so use your own judgment and talk to a professional if you have specific concerns. Cleonse supports hydration and is not a medical product; it isn't intended to diagnose, treat, or cure anything.