One of the most satistfying things is watching a movie and realizing that the setting is somewhere you’ve been before. It’s no surprise that several of our cult classic favorites have scenes set in some of the most beautiful places on Earth. Here are 8 U.S. National Parks that make an appearance in beloved films.
Arches National Park is known for it’s unique red sands, red rocks and yes, red arches. Due to the desert-like qualities, it’s no wonder that this national park would be the perfect setting for the rough-and-tumble adventures of Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade and the wily escapades of Thelma and Louise. In the former, the national park can be spotted at the very beginnin of the film, while alternatively appearing toward the end of the latter film.
Xxx Th National Parks842 / Trevor Hughes via Imagn Content Services, LLC
As one of the most photographed national parks in the United States, Grand Teton National Park creates a maginficent setting for scenes in movies such as Rocky IV, when the boxer trains in Siberia (AKA Grand Teton National Park) for his fight against Drago. The Teton Mountain Range also makes an appearance as the figurative poster child for the western romance, Brokeback Mountain.
Although novel The Shining was originally set in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the beginning of the film adaptation of the book begins with an aerial view of the iconic Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier National Park, Montana. In addition, the film The River Wild also has scenes shot on the Flathead River with the jaw-dropping cliffs of the mountain range as the backdrop.
Going To The Sun Road 3 / Melissa Yeager/The Republic via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Death Valley National Park is perhaps the most well-known park that makes a cameo, as it depicts the planet Tatooine in the Star Wars franchise. Appearing in Return of the Jedi (1982) and A New Hope (1977), the deserts of California make a perfect backdrop for the dry, sandy dunes of the otherworldly planet.
This one goes out to those 80s kids whose favorite movie was E.T. Parts of this blockbuster film take place in the lofty forests of Redwood National Park. The dark shadows of the famous redwood trees are spotted when the main character spots the man with the keys. In addition, Redwood National Park depicts the planet of Endor, home of the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi.
The 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a well beloved western, that takes place in none other than Zion National Park. The dastardly plans of Butch Cassidy and his compadre, the Sundance Kid, take place as they ride across the red deserts and into the canyons on their horses and visit ghosttowns in surrounding areas. In fact, although it isn’t featured in the film, Robber Roost happens to be a canyon where the real life butch cassidy would spend time hiding out from law enforecement and many hikers and backpackers still visit today.
Stg 0507 Rockville 20 / Chris Caldwell / The Spectrum & Daily News / USA TODAY NETWORK
Bonus: Although these two bonus features aren’t necessarily national parks, they are nationally recognized and make unique landscapes for films.
This national forest is home to the dystopian land of the Hunger Games. The forests of North Carolina brought the film adaptation of the book to life, the thick forest of trees being the perfect hideouts for our favorite tribute.
Devil’s Tower is a unique geological feature that protrudes in the middle of the otherwise flat plains of north eastern Wyoming. Hundreds of vertical cracks running up the cliff faces make it the perfect location to film parts of the extra terrestrial themes of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.