Hiking is a favorite pastime of the Smoky Mountains. With 150 official trails in the Smoky Mountains, you are bound to always find a new adventure during your visit. The majority of the Smoky Mountains hikers come during the warmer months, but what they don’t realize is how absolutely wonderful the Smoky Mountains are in the winter. Winter in the Smoky Mountains is a magical time with beautiful snow covered mountains, frozen waterfalls, and giant beautiful icicles. It is an experience that you don’t want to miss. Though winter hiking in the Smoky Mountains is a beautiful experience, it is still very important to be prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws your way. Here are some tips on how to prepare for winter hiking in the Smoky Mountains.
1. Make a Plan
The first thing you need to do in order to prepare for hiking in the Smoky Mountains is to make a plan. With 150 official hiking trails in the Smoky Mountains, it can be hard to decide which trails you want to explore during your visit. So before you set off into the woods it is important to make a plan on where you will be and what you will be visiting during your trip. You can make this easier by ruling out the trails that can’t be accessed during the winter months. Then, with the remaining trails consider how difficult of a hike you are looking for, how long of a hike you want to do and what do you want to see along the way. Once you narrow all those things down you are guaranteed to find the perfect hiking trail for you and whoever else will be accompanying you.
2. Tell Someone Where You Are Going
This may seem silly, but it can actually end up saving your life. No matter what time of the year you go hiking it is important to inform someone from the outside world where you will be going and what time you expect to be back. So just in case something does happen, you can be found or contacted during your hike.
3. Stay Warm
Staying warm is probably the most important thing you can do while hiking in the Smoky Mountains. It may seem like a warm and comfortable day at the lower elevations, but that does not mean it will be the same at the higher elevations. This makes it very important to be prepared. It is always better to have to shed layers than not have enough.
4. Bring Water and Food if Needed
Depending on how long you decide to spend in the woods of the Smoky Mountains it is important to bring food, like snacks or even a lunch. There is nothing worse than being hungry on the trail. That brings us to the next point, bringing water. You may think, I am hiking in the Smoky Mountains in the winter I won’t need water, but just because it is cold outside does not mean you won’t need water. It is important to consume water no matter what time of the year it is, especially when you go hiking. Even though you may not feel thirsty take a nice long drink of water because your body might be thinking different.
Winter hiking in the Smoky Mountains is a ton of fun and is something that you don’t want to miss out on this winter season. To not miss out on winter hiking book one of our Smoky Mountain cabin rentals today.
