“These moments of feeling slightly askew are fairly common, especially among guests who are film buffs,” explained Kam Wixom, Marketing Director of the Moab Adventure Center in Moab, Utah. “They may have watched many a popular film that was filmed right here. They think it’s déjà vu, but visually they have been here before.”
Beginning in the 1940s, close to 80 percent of the movies and advertisements filmed in the Moab area have been shot in the Professor Valley (also known as Castle Valley) where the Colorado River meanders obediently in front of cameras. Think, among many others, Thelma and Louise, Mission Impossible: II and Star Trek. Director Ridley Scott reported that he had “seen more wonderful and varied scenery in a single day in Moab than any other day [he had] ever scouted.”
Coincidentally this valley is also where Moab Adventure Center’s most popular river rafting adventures are staged, providing a virtual topographical journey through filmmaking history.
Wixom suggests that guests planning a Full or Half Day Colorado River Adventure may want to research this film history in advance by exploring https://www.discovermoab.com/
The Moab to Monument Valley Film Commission holds the title of the longest-running film commission in the world. Harkening back to the days of John Wayne and the classic Western, the Moab area has been a popular destination for feature-length films, commercials, and television shows for almost 75 years.
From the ranches of the Old West, to the interplanetary fields of Mars, to mile after mile of classic road-trip journies, scenery here is as endless as the possibilities. Visitors may find the area familiar as they slowly walk to the canyon rim at Thelma and Louise Point, set off in the saddle to follow John Wayne’s hoof prints, or take in the view from Westworld’s Hub Mesa. The Center’s signature Moab rafting trip, the Colorado River Full-Day Adventure, even comes complete with an exclusive BBQ lunch at Red Cliffs Lodge, home of the Moab Museum of Film and Western Heritage.
For suggestions on where to bunk down for a night or two in John Wayne country, please see https://www.
And while tavern shoot-outs between the good guy and the villain are a thing of the past, guests can enjoy a variety of dining action. Please see https://www.
