Why Are the Smoky Mountains Smoky? Are They Always Smoky?

What Causes the “Smoke” in the Smoky Mountains? When is the Best Time to Visit for a Clear View?

I was driving west through the mountains to cover a football game. I crested a hill and found myself awestruck by the beauty below. The sun was behind the mountaintops which stood out dark against the strokes of yellows, reds, oranges and pinks in the sky. There was no time to stop for a picture, I couldn’t miss the kickoff. But in retrospect, stopping probably would have been worth being a couple of minutes late to the game. I’ve been back up there a few times, trying to catch the perfect moment again. But while it’s always beautiful, it’s never quite the same.

IN THIS ARTICLE

Why Are the Smokies Called the Smokies?

Why are the Smoky Mountains called Smoky? It’s the smoke. Although they’re really more of a mist or fog. But yeah basically the Smoky Mountains are, well, smoky. The Cherokee called the mountains Shaconage – the place of the blue smoke.

Why Do the Mountains Look Hazy?

I always assumed the smoke rose from the many creeks and streams running through the mountains. But that’s not the case. The rising mists are produced by the forest itself. Water is pulled from the soil up into the plants and trees. It eventually rises from the leaves, evaporating into the air. The water cools and forms the blue-tinged mists you see rising over the mountains, eventually forming clouds and falling back to the earth to repeat the cycle. Through time, however, the mountains’ mists have been supplemented by man-made smoke and smog.

Are the Smoky Mountains Always Smoky?

For generations, coal-fired plants and pollution made it harder to see the same mountain views. Additionally, air stream patterns often brought pollution to other areas and deposited it in the mountains. You can somewhat tell the difference between the natural mist and the smog because the mists are blue and the smog tends to be white or gray.

The mountains, in many ways, retain the charms that made them attractive to the National Park Service, and steps that have been taken to reduce air pollution have been effective. Some studies indicate that air pollution in the mountains has been cut in half from previous decades.

What Is the Best Time To Visit the Smoky Mountains?

Still, if you want to see the Smokies the way they were prior to the industrial age, there is one trick we can recommend. Nearly every hurricane season, around Aug. through Oct. a storm from the gulf winds its way across the mountains. The high winds will carry whatever isn’t in the air naturally away with them. The result is clean air in the Smokies in their immediate aftermath. Coupled with fall foliage, this makes late summer through early October a great time to visit the Smoky Mountains if you want to see some amazing views.

What are your best tips for viewing the Smoky Mountains? Let us know in the comments.