Parking
Little Stony Man Parking is on the west side of Skyline Drive near milepost 39.1. The lot has about eight spaces, and availability varies. The Skyline Drive entrance fee applies.
Overview
About Little Stony Man Hike
Why go
- Wide valley views for a short walk from Skyline Drive.
- Several rocky outcrops make the viewpoint worth lingering at.
Heads up
- The lot is tiny, with about eight spaces.
- Steps and uneven rock make this more than a flat stroll.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Shenandoah map
Full mapElevation3,213–3,468 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Shenandoah alerts
- ClosureOld Rag Trailhead main lot closedThe Old Rag Trailhead main parking lot is closed to vehicles and pedestrians for infrastructure improvements; use the existing overflow lots. - Work is expected to be completed by November 2026.Official details
- ClosureBackcountry camping and zone closuresBackcountry camping is prohibited on the Appalachian Trail from Lewis Mountain to Big Meadows, and the Naked Creek backcountry zone is closed.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Shenandoah Tour Guide
Your drive to Little Stony Man Hike, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Shenandoah National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Shenandoah audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Little Stony Man: A Short Climb Above Skyline Drive0:00 / 0:22
“You're approaching the Little Stony Man trailhead, a good choice for a short climb to open valley views. Allow about an hour for roughly a mile out and back, with steps and uneven rock leading to exposed ledges.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Shenandoah Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Stony Man Mountain Overlook: The Roadside View
- Hemlock Springs Overlook: The Missing Hemlocks
- Stony Man: Keep Going to the Higher Viewpoint
- Corbin Cabin Cutoff: A Steep Walk to a Log Home
- 146 audio storiesacross Shenandoah’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Bald Eagle, White-tailed Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 163 trails, 142 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Little Stony Man Hike
A short climb with an open viewLittle Stony Man Hike is about a 1.0-mile out-and-back from the milepost 39.
Little Stony Man Hike is about a 1.0-mile out-and-back from the milepost 39.1 parking area to the cliffs and back. It's an easy choice for a proper valley overlook without committing to Stony Man's longer summit route; allow about an hour. Published gain estimates range from 190 to 270 feet. Terrain elevations along the mapped walk rise about 255 feet from parking to the viewpoint, so expect a real climb for such a short hike.
Follow the white trail, then blueTake the connector from Little Stony Man Parking to the white-blazed Appalachian Trail and turn…
Take the connector from Little Stony Man Parking to the white-blazed Appalachian Trail and turn left. Follow it about 0.4 mile to the blue-blazed Passamaquoddy Trail, turn right, and continue to the Little Stony Man viewpoint. Then retrace the same way. The park map lists a 0.9-mile round trip; tracing its directions and the mapped trail from the parking area comes out just about a mile. The longer Passamaquoddy Loop and the Stony Man summit are different hikes.
Look out over Page ValleyRock outcrops open toward Page Valley and the Blue Ridge, with Skyline Drive winding across the…
Rock outcrops open toward Page Valley and the Blue Ridge, with Skyline Drive winding across the nearer slopes; Lake Arrowhead is visible on clear days. Shallow pools sometimes collect in the rock after rain. For a photo, leave a little ledge in the foreground so the valley and road give the view scale. Skyland visitors were already walking these trails in the late 1800s and early 1900s, before Shenandoah became a national park.
Parking, pets, and footingStart from the small parking area on Skyline Drive's west side near milepost 39.1.
Start from the small parking area on Skyline Drive's west side near milepost 39.1. It has about eight spaces, and parking pressure varies. The Skyline Drive entrance fee applies. Dogs are allowed on this route on a physical leash no longer than six feet. The opening climb has steps; watch your footing on uneven rock and stay back from the cliff edge.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Shenandoah
325 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
21 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
1,036 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
167 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
93 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
24 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Shenandoah. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
