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

I was driving west through the mountains, going to cover a football game.

Then, I crested a hill and found myself awestruck by the beauty below.

The sun was behind them. The mountaintops stood out dark against the strokes of yellows, reds, oranges and pinks in the sky.

The valleys were blanketed in thick blue mists.

The glorious splendor of the Smoky Mountains sprawled out ahead. They were begging to be explored.

And begging for their beauty to be documented as one of the world’s true wonders.

I was lost in my thoughts as I sang along to the radio. I was paying little attention to the world outside except for the highway’s curves and bumps.

There was no time to stop for a picture, I couldn’t miss kickoff.

I think about that, occasionally, the shock of natural wonder breaking the routine of a fairly mundane day.

Stopping and getting a pic, 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 beautiful every time, it’s never quite the same.

Why are the Smokies called the Smokies?

You might wonder why they are called the Smoky Mountains.

Well, amazingly, it’s not why you’d think. In fact, there’s a really compelling and surprising way the mountains got their name.

Read Also: Smoky or Smokey Mountains: How it is really spelled?

Here it comes. Wait for it. Yeah. Ok. It’s actually exactly why you’d think. It’s not surprising at all.

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 – place of the blue smoke.

Read Also: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 3 spots you don’t want to miss 

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 and 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 and the air stream patterns often brought pollution for 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 the air pollution in the mountains has been cut in half from previous decades.

Read Also: 10 things you didn’t know about Clingmans Dome

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 pretty good trick we can recommend.

Nearly every hurricane season, around August through October, a storm from the gulf winds its way across Tennessee and over the mountains.

Those high winds will carry whatever isn’t in the air naturally away with them, creating the cleanest 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.

Read Also: What is the best time to see fall colors in the Smoky Mountains?

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

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