Shenandoah Valley from the Blue Ridge. "Carving southwestward, the Blue Ridge Mountains stairstep their way into the Central District of the Shenandoah National Park. Here you see the first Appalachian peaks south of the Catskills to rise above 4000 feet. Along the mountain crest, the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway wind over 550 miles to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park."