Classroom lesson · The Blue Mountains · 🇯🇲 Jamaica

The Blue Mountains

Jamaica's misty peaks and the world's most famous coffee

Misty green peaks of the Blue Mountains rising above a sea of cloud

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The Blue Mountains are a long ridge of tall, misty mountains that run across the north-east of Jamaica. They get their name from the blue haze that wraps around the peaks on most mornings. At the very top, Blue Mountain Peak is 2,256 metres high - the tallest point in the whole country.

Tell me more

From far away, the mountains really do look blue. That colour comes from the mist and the thick forests of ferns, mosses, and tall trees that cover the slopes. It is cool and damp up there - very different from the warm, sunny beaches Jamaica is famous for.

The Blue Mountains are home to some of the world's most sought-after coffee. The cool air and rich, misty soil give the coffee beans a smooth, gentle flavour that coffee lovers around the world treasure. Farmers pick the bright red coffee berries by hand on steep hillsides.

Many rare animals live in these mountains, including the Jamaican Blackbird and dozens of orchids that grow nowhere else on Earth. Hikers sometimes spot the giant swallowtail butterfly, the largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere, fluttering between the trees.

A popular thing to do is start hiking before midnight so you reach the summit just as the sun rises. On a clear day you can see all the way to Cuba, the island country to the north. Imagine spotting another country from a mountaintop!

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why do you think mist makes mountains look blue from far away? What else changes colour depending on how far away it is?
  2. 02Coffee beans grow on this mountain. Can you think of another food or drink that grows somewhere very special?
  3. 03Would you like to hike at midnight to see a sunrise? What would you pack?
Try this

Classroom activity

Draw a cross-section of a Blue Mountain slope, from the warm beach at the bottom to the misty peak at the top. Label what you might find at each level: beach, town, coffee farm, forest, mist, peak. Compare it with a mountain in another country - how are they similar and different?