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Smoky Mountain Living Magazine

SML is a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to the history, culture, beauty, outdoors, literature and arts Each issue brings the Appalachians to life.
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Smoky Mountain Living magazine covers the southern Appalachians and celebrates the area’s environmental riches, its people, culture, music, arts, literature, history, and special places. Published six times a year, Smoky Mountain Living is a magazine for those who want to learn more about where they live and those who want to stay in touch with where they love.

03/13/2026

Happy Friday!

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03/11/2026

A murder. A flooded valley. A past that won’t stay buried.

In Dead Man Blues, Kentucky writer Silas House steps into the world of historical mystery. Set in 1955 at a lakeside fishing camp on the Kentucky–Tennessee border, the novel follows disgraced former sheriff Dave Hendricks as he investigates a killing tied to corruption, displacement, and the Tennessee Valley Authority dams that reshaped Appalachia.

Read more:
🔗 https://www.smliv.com/stories/sins-of-the-father/

03/09/2026

Spotted a spider in your home or on the trail? You might want to think twice before reaching for the fly swatter.

Discover why these often-misunderstood creatures are some of nature’s most important allies — and what to do the next time you encounter one.

Read more:
https://www.smliv.com/outdoors/spiders-protect-from-disease/

03/06/2026

What's the first hike you're planning this spring?

03/04/2026

There really is a Rocky Top — and it’s not the one from the song.

High on the western shoulder of Thunderhead Mountain along the Appalachian Trail, the real Rocky Top delivers some of the most breathtaking views in Great Smoky Mountains National Park — if you’re willing to earn them.

Nearly 12 miles round trip from Cades Cove, with more than 3,000 feet of elevation gain, this hike isn’t for the faint of heart. But the payoff? Sweeping vistas of Kuwohi, Mount Le Conte, Gregory Bald, and distant North Carolina ranges stretching to the horizon.

Writer Ben Anderson takes us step-by-step along Lead Cove and Bote Mountain trails to one of the Smokies’ most spectacular lookouts — and makes the case that, for a moment at least, it just might feel like “home sweet home.”

🥾 Ready to take on one of the park’s most rewarding climbs?

Read more:
🔗 https://www.smliv.com/outdoors/rocky-top-on-the-appalachian-trail/

03/03/2026

Fresh off the press.

The February/March issue of Smoky Mountain Living is here — featuring Cherry Traditions, a century of sweet and sour at Levering Orchard, the hike to Rocky Top, downtown Louisville’s revival, wild nature in the heart of the city, and stories that warm cold winter days.

Pick up your copy and savor the season.

02/28/2026

Some things we keep. Some things we lose. 💙

In “Her Favorite Coat,” a daughter remembers closets filled with decades of dresses, bell bottoms, and wedding lace — and the sky-blue wool coat her mother never stopped mourning after it burned in a mill fire. A tender story about memory, loss, and the clothes that carry our lives.

Read the full piece:
🔗 https://www.smliv.com/stories/her-favorite-coat/

02/26/2026

Sweet? Sour? Both. 🍒

Step into a century-old mountain orchard where Montmorency reigns, Balaton bites back, and a third-generation cherry grower keeps tradition alive in the thermal belt of Virginia’s Blue Ridge. From pie-ready tartness to eat-out-of-hand Jubileums — plus can’t-miss recipes — this is cherry season at its finest.

Read the full story (and bring a bucket):
🔗 https://www.smliv.com/food/blue-ridge-sweet-and-sour-cherries/

02/20/2026

From a sold-out 2020 drive-in show in Waynesville to Madison Square Garden, Goose has been building something special — one jam, one fan, one “you had to be there” moment at a time.

In our latest feature, we sit down with Rick Mitarotonda ahead of the band’s return to Western North Carolina to talk improvisation, connection, and the fine line between proficiency and pure joy.

Read Chain Yer Dragon at the link:
🔗 https://www.smliv.com/arts/chain-yer-dragon/

02/18/2026

They hike nearly 2,000 miles a year. They dismantle illegal fire rings. They pack out half a ton of trash.

Meet the small but mighty backcountry ranger team working behind the scenes to protect the Great Smoky Mountains — and the people who explore them.

In our latest Word from the Smokies, Holly Kays follows rangers into the backcountry to see what it really takes to care for 850 miles of trail.

Read the full story at the link:
🔗https://www.smliv.com/outdoors/backcountry-rangers-hike-to-help/

02/16/2026

Address

144 Montgomery St
Waynesville, NC
28786

Telephone

+18664522251

Website

http://www.smliv.com/

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Our Story

Smoky Mountain Living Magazine celebrates wilderness adventuring and urban exploration in Southern Appalachia. Each issue brings the Appalachians to life with a focus 0n its people, culture, music, arts, history and special places. Published six times each year, SML is a magazine for those who want more about where they live and those who want to stay in touch with a place they love.