Driving south of Bishop on Highway 395 from the wooded Mount Whitney Portal the landscape abruptly changes from forest to desert. Three miles west of the highway you will find Movie Flats.

Located in an area known as The Alabama Hills, the area is part of a 30,000-acre parcel of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Other than all the granite cliffs, the place doesn’t look like it has much going on. But when the cult classic "Tremors" was being filmed there, it was home to huge, man-eating worms (until Kevin Bacon threw dynamite into their mouths).

The terrain forms a sharp contrast between the crispy sculptured ridges of the Sierras.

If the pictures remind you of old westerns it’s because a lot of them were filmed here. Movies such as "Hopalong Cassidy" and later the television series "The Lone Ranger."

Other films with scenes shot here were "How The West Was Won" and in 1993 portions of "Maverick" were filmed with Mel Gibson.

In Advertisement

[ Berry-Bell and Hall Mortuary ] "Gladiator" Russell Crowe rides his horse across the Movie Flats with Mount Whitney in the background.

Every Columbus Day the community of Lone Pine holds a three-day event called the Lone Pine Film Festival with guest speakers from previous films, actors, guided bus tours and more than 120 photo plaques mounted at the original movie site locations for the public to enjoy.

The main drive is paved, but very rocky and rough. Many of the roads are actually dirt trails. The view of the many mountains and peaks, including Mount Whitney, can be enjoyed from Movie Flats Road.

Movie Flats has kept its remote look as there are no facilities whatsoever. You won’t find any food, drink, restrooms or gasoline for miles.

Hikers, rock climbers and sightseers need to be careful or they could end up at the bottom of one of the few remaining mine shafts and tunnels in the general area.

False bottoms might give way or tunnels collapse because of deteriorated shoring timbers.