Tanners Ridge Overlook

This Skyline Drive pullout sits at 3,465 feet and looks northwest across an open field to the Shenandoah Valley, with Stanley below. Keep it in the plan if you want a low-commitment view stop; the overlook itself is the payoff, so you don't need to budget for a hike.

The field and its wide-branched tree make a foreground for the layered ridges. Include some of the grass or the tree in a phone photo instead of framing only the distant mountains; it shows the character of this particular overlook. Visitors often single out sunset, so it makes a good time to pause if your drive lines up.

Stanley lies below in central Page County. It began when the railroad arrived in the 1880s, grew where two rail lines met, and incorporated as a town in 1900. That story gives you a human landmark to pick out in the valley, beyond the field and folds of ridges.