Visit These Seven Iconic Film Locations

ALBUQUERQUE

NOTABLES: Lonely Are the Brave (1962), Breaking Bad (2008–2013), The Avengers (2012), Sicario (2015), Better Call Saul (2015–2022), Stranger Things (2016–). While most people know about Albuquerque as a primary character in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, the Northeast Heights served as a stand-in for California during the filming of Netflix’s Stranger Things. Rent the four-bedroom Byers home from season 4 on Airbnb or lace up your skates at Roller King, where portions of the Rink-o-Mania set were left behind after filming. DIRECTOR’S CUT: In Ace in the Hole (1951), journalist Chuck Tatum takes a job in the Venetian Gothic–style Occidental Life Building at Third Street and Gold Avenue.

GALLUP

NOTABLES: The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Ace in the Hole (1951), Escape from Fort Bravo (1953), Superman (1978), Natural Born Killers (1994). “Gallup was a huge filming location for years because of Hotel El Rancho,” says Jason Strykowski, author of A Guide to New Mexico Film Locations. Built in 1942 to accommodate film crews, the Historic Route 66 hotel boasts rooms and menu items paying tribute to silver screen legends. DIRECTOR’S CUT: The Superman scene where Lois Lane’s car gets consumed by a crack in the earth was shot in what’s now called Superman Canyon, west of Red Rock Park.

LAS VEGAS

NOTABLES: The Rattlesnake (1913), The Golden God (1914), Convoy (1978), Red Dawn (1984), Speechless (1994), No Country for Old Men (2007), Longmire (2012–2017). The West’s original film mecca still boasts many visual remnants of the town’s film history, including the “Calumet Says Howdy” mural from Red Dawn. Starting in the mid-1910s, Las Vegas was used as a studio by Romaine Fielding and Tom Mix, who collectively made at least 30 Westerns in the railroad town. When Fielding moved Lubin Moving Picture Company to Las Vegas, he leased the Plaza Hotel for production of his silent films Rattlesnake and The Golden God. “The director changed the name of the hotel and put his name on the side of it,” Strykowski says. DIRECTOR’S CUT: The Las Vegas Plaza shows up frequently in Longmire. Look for the Absaroka County Sheriff’s Department sign in the Plaza’s southwest corner.

LOS ALAMOS

NOTABLES: Twins (1988), Only the Brave (2017), Oppenheimer (2023). Los Alamos is where history meets film. Oppenheimer won the Outstanding Locations in a Period Film award from the Location Managers Guild International this year. Visit Fuller Lodge, where J. Robert Oppenheimer foresees the potential danger of the bomb toward the end of the film. Strykowski recommends ordering a pint of Hoppenheimer at Bathtub Row Brewing while in the stomping grounds of the title character. “You can see some film history, walk over to the Bradbury Museum to get the history of the bomb, then have a beer.” DIRECTOR’S CUT: Many of the firefighting scenes in Only the Brave were shot at Pajarito Mountain Ski Area.

SANTA FE

NOTABLES: Easy Rider (1969), Lonesome Dove (1989), All the Pretty Horses (2000), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Crazy Heart (2009), Only the Brave (2017), Dark Winds (2022–), Oppenheimer (2023), Rez Ball (2024). Jeff Bridges must love Evangelo’s Cocktail Lounge, just off the Santa Fe Plaza, where he shot scenes for both Crazy Heart and Only the Brave. “It’s a great bar that has live music frequently,” Strykowski says. DIRECTOR’S CUT: Santa Fe Indian School’s Pueblo Pavilion serves as the home of Rez Ball’s Chuska Warriors.

SILVER CITY

NOTABLES: Salt of the Earth (1954), The Missing (2003), North Country (2005). The pro-union film Salt of the Earth was set and shot in Grant County’s mining district. “They used real people and told a true story about labor struggles in a real mining town,” Strykowski says. Peer into the pit at the Chino Copper Mine Overlook. DIRECTOR’S CUT: The 1870s log cabin replica built for The Missing can be found at the Murray Ryan Visitor Center on the site of Billy the Kid’s family home.

TRUCHAS

NOTABLES: Red Sky at Morning (1971), Pocket Money (1972), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988). On the High Road to Taos, Truchas hasn’t changed much since the 1988 cult classic The Milagro Beanfield War, based on the novel by New Mexico author John Nichols. “You’ll recognize the bean fields that are visible in the film,” Strykowski says. DIRECTOR’S CUT: Northern New Mexico makes a cameo in the 1972 comedic Western Pocket Money, which pairs Paul Newman and Lee Marvin.

Read more: New Mexico has a long history with film and television. Roll the film.