Photo of the Day

Ridge upon ridge in the Smokies

Sunday 20 September 2026

Wooded mountainsides in pale spring green, a darker ridge of pines in the middle and a hazy blue ridge fading behind — Photograph · Date not recorded

Forested ridges fading into the haze in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. The "smoke" the mountains are named for is a natural haze given off by the trees themselves.

Fun facts

It is the most visited national park in the United States, with around 12 million visits a year. source ↗
The haze comes from vapours the plants release, which scatter blue light; the Cherokee name for the range means "place of the blue smoke". source ↗
The park has more than 1,500 kinds of flowering plants and around 30 species of salamander, more than anywhere else its size. source ↗
Unlike most big national parks, it charges no entrance fee, a condition of the road that runs through it. source ↗

Image: National Park Service
Licence: Public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons