A trailer hitch guide for ball-and-socket type hitches has an upright rod visible through the rear window of a towing vehicle, a base adapted to be magnetically attached to a socket-forward portion of the trailer-side hitch socket, and a lever arm that extends below the hitch socket to be tripped by the ball portion of the hitch as the towing vehicle is backed up toward the trailer. The socket-forward mounting of the base places the lever arm forward of the trailer socket, such that the guide rod is visibly tripped before the hitch ball is vertically aligned with the trailer socket.
