What is set-jetting?
Have you ever watched a movie and thought it would be cool to be where it happened? In Utah you can! From the early western greats by John Ford and the daring adventures of Indiana Jones and James Bond to the comedic hits of Dumb and Dumber and City Slickers 2 and the epic blockbusters of Independence Day and Pirates of the Caribbean, you can explore film locations from some of the best movies and television of the last 100 years in Utah in some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. This growing travel niche is known as set-jetting.
When I travel, I love finding places from my favorite movies. When in Prague I took a day trip to Karlovy Vary and the Grand Hotel Pupp to see where Last Holiday with Queen Latifah (one of my favorite holiday flicks) and Casino Royale with Daniel Craig were filmed. Or, when in Morocco, I booked a tour from Marrakesh to Aït Benhaddou, a UNESCO World Heritage ancient fortified village that was used in another of my favorite Christmas movies The Nativity Story, which also happened to be a film location for Game of Thrones. I’m currently planning a grand Harry Potter adventure with my niece this year in London.
As a Certified Utah Tour Guide, I regularly point out film locations during my tours in Salt Lake City and across the state. I even have tour itineraries dedicated to film locations in northern and southern Utah. When a new filmed-in-Utah movie is released, like a recent installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Thunderbolts*), I figure out where it was filmed and go. Even if you don’t join one of my tours, here are a few iconic and easy to visit film locations for you set-jetters coming to Utah.
Arches National Park
Drive where Thelma and Louise drove through the night before locking a police officer in his trunk on the main park road past the Three Gossips. This is also the scenery Indiana Jones’ scout troop rides their horses through before arriving at Double Arch where a young Indy played by River Phoenix found the Cross of Coronado.
Monument Valley Tribal Park
If you head south from Arches and Moab on Highway 191, you’ll drive right into the iconic movie poster from Thelma and Louise that also happens to be the place where Forrest Gump decides he is done running and wants to go home. The spectacular rock formations in the background are Monument Valley Tribal Park. Join a tour of the tribal park, and your local Navajo guide can share more film locations from classic westerns with John Wayne to sci-fi flicks like Back to the Future III. Be sure you join a front country tour that does the 17-mile valley road, not a back country tour, so you don’t miss some of the more iconic film locations like the North Window or Code Talkers Point (formerly Artists Point).
Bonneville Salt Flats and Historic Wendover Airfield
The Bonneville Salt Flats sing their siren song through social media posts and draw visitors from all over the world. However, it is a long drive to the natural wonder that was used as Davy Jones’ Locker in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. So, to make the drive from Salt Lake City even more worth it, add Historic Wendover Airfield to your itinerary. Not only is it a fascinating historic site connected to WWII and the Manhattan Project, but it has also been used in numerous films. You’ll be visiting the place that served as Area 51 in Independence Day, you can go inside a prop plane from Con Air, and you can climb the control tower seen in Amazon’s Fallout series at the headquarters of the Brotherhood of Steel.
Salt Lake City: The State Capital
Climb the grand stairs of the Utah State Capitol Building with purpose just like Elle Woods where she entered the “US Capitol Building” in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde. Inside you’ll find more scene locations from that movie and others. Tip: you can’t enter the capitol building through the front doors, so go in the east doors and enjoy the inside then exit through the front south doors for your Elle Woods moment. And, since you’re already in Salt Lake City, pop over to the historic Deveraux Mansion where Harry and Lloyd were dropped off by carriage for the Snowy Owl Benefit Gala in Dumb and Dumber.
Join Me on a Set-Jetting Tour in Utah
There are so many other fantastic and iconic movie and TV locations across Utah to experience like the ghost town that served as the hideout of notorious outlaws in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the alien planet from Galaxy Quest. If you want to experience the rich film heritage of Utah, join me on one of my specialty set-jetting tours in October through Utah Luxury Tours. On a guided tour, you get more for your money and time. I’ve already found the locations and can help you have a fabulous film adventure with props for photos and insight into the films and locations just as I did with Cassam Looch of Culture Trip last year when I took him on a special Moab-area film locations tour you can read about here.
You can book your spot on the 4-day tour of northern Utah film locations or the 6-day tour of southern Utah film locations or come on both back-to-back. You could even do one this year and the other next year. I also have shorter Utah film location tour options in and around Salt Lake City you can find those on Airbnb Experiences or ToursByLocals.
Even if you don’t join me for a set-jetting tour in Utah, you can still have a great time experiencing the amazing film heritage of Utah in our national parks, state parks, cities, and towns following the Utah Film Heritage Trail.
