Movies

New Mexico Movie Locations Show Tourists the State Through a New Lens

To see the world, one need only visit New Mexico. At least Hollywood often considers the state a good stand-in for much of it.

Locations statewide have doubled for places ranging from Texas, to Stockholm, to Mars, spanning more than 600 movie and TV productions since 1898. The 121 years of filmmaking has turned the state into a film tourism playground. For both residents and visitors, a self-guided film location circuit can be a unique way to see New Mexico’s cities and outlying areas, while eating, sleeping and shopping in places your favorite stars have been.

Snap a selfie while kicking back at Angel Fire Resort & Flying Horse Ranch in the Northern New Mexico ski town of Angel Fire, one of several spots where Johnny Depp played Tonto in the Lone Ranger. Or, picture yourself in the gaze of George Clooney at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. He walked its grounds while filming portions of The Men Who Stare at Goats.

From Gallup near the Arizona border to Las Cruces down south, every corner of the state and all points in the middle can boast claims to fame on screen. The State Film Office’s online database contains photographs of more than 6,000 locations statewide at https://nm.reel-scout. com/loc_results.aspx. New Mexico’s impressive diversity of backdrops - snow-capped mountains, sandy deserts, urban skylines, Western

The city of Raton is among more than 30 locations highlighted on a userfriendly, self-guided Film Trails map provided by the New Mexico Tourism Department as part of a Film Tourism Initiative. (Photo Credit: Don Gray, contract locations coordinator for the New Mexico Film Office)

ranches, government outposts, lush forests, etc. – enable studios to transform New Mexico into almost any place on the globe. This eliminates the need for film crews to travel far and creates new reasons for the rest of us to plan trips around the state.

Self-guided film excursions

In conjunction with the Film Office, the NM Tourism Department began an official Film Tourism Initiative. Its New Mexico Film Trails website, which identifies production locations for the public, was the first step in programming, said David Griscom, tourism development director. The Trails site categorizes film locations by six state regions. It provides information about specific sites and associated attractions, in addition to a downloadable film trails map with GPS coordinates for the sites listed. (https://www. newmexico.org/places-to-go/true-trails/film-trails/)

The Tourism Department began working last year with communities to create experiences that allow visitors to interact with the locations, Griscom said. Atomic bomb history buffs and fans of the 2014-2015 TV series Manhattan can take their photos in front of a recreated entry gate to Los Alamos National Lab. It is designed to look as it did in 1943, during the Manhattan Project. Las Vegas, NM, has maintained certain elements of the Longmire TV series sets so tourists familiar with the modern Western crime drama can take photos in front of the backdrops.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was partially filmed in Chama, near the Colorado border. The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad departs daily from Chama between late May and October, taking tourists on a 64-mile trip through high desert, mountain canyons and lush meadows. (Photo Credit: Don Gray, contract locations coordinator for the New Mexico Film Office)

8travelnewmex.com | winter 2019

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