Page 21 - DreamScapes Magazine | Spring/Summer 2022

The Beehive State is ready
for its close-up
BY KAREN BURSHTEIN
What do so many Hollywood movies have in common? Utah. In countless films, Utah has played other states, countries, planets, and lately as the setting to everyone’s current favourite streaming series, Yellowstone.
The Beehive State (a.k.a. Utah) has become such a part of cinematic history that it’s practically become a pilgrimage place for film nerds.
We’re zooming in on a few celluloid classics and itineraries to show just how much Utah is America’s Film Set:
A Thelma and Louise Road Trip
Much of the seminal 1991 femme film was shot in Utah, making it the ultimate bucket list road trip. So grab your bestie and hit the road (1966 Ford Thunder- bird convertible optional). Drive to Courthouse Towers, one of the 2,000 spectacular natural sand- stone formations in Arches National Park where the police pulled over the infamous duo. Spend a day trekking through ghost towns like tiny Cisco, the film location for the police chase scene. And of course, don’t miss Dead Horse Point State Park. The sublime canyons substituted as the Grand Canyon in the famous final scene. visitutah.com/plan-your- trip/recommended-itineraries/thelma-louise-road-trip
Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid Road Trip
The itinerary following the iconic outlaw film takes you from Salt Lake City or Park City to Zion National Park. Along the way, stop in the ghost town of Grafton, a deserted Mormon community on the Virgin River, where stars Robert Redford and Paul
Newman galloped in tandem on horses. Drive fur- ther past the desolate badlands and dramatic desert, and soak in the views at Snow Canyon State Park, which was the location for another infamous rene- gade chase scene. In this movie-set itinerary, you’ll drive in parts along an All-American Road, Scenic Byway 12, where the open skies, rocky backdrop and the off-the-beaten-path road make it a blissful driving heaven. visitutah.com/plan-your-trip/recom- mended-itineraries/butch-cassidys-west
A Trekkie’s Trek through Utah’s Otherworldly Landscapes
Trekkies, unite! Utah’s surreal and otherworldly scenery has made it the perfect place to film the 2009 Star Trek reboot as the surface of Vulcan. The out-of-this-world film was shot near Three Fingers Canyon, and the huge rock reef and metres-deep gorges of San Rafael Swell. Take a hike there and grab a selfie while you immerse in the planet Vulcan, trudging on terra firma with its 100+ million years of earth history. Meanwhile, the 1999 Star Trek parody Galaxy Quest was filmed at Goblin Valley State Park. The park’s unique Martian-like rocks or “goblins” (known locally as hoodoos) was an ideal stand-in for the planet where the commander bat- tled an alien rock monster!
INSIDER TIP: Have a drink at the Owl Bar, at the Sundance Mountain Resort, owned by film legend Robert Redford. The restored 1890 bar counter is where barkeeps served the real Butch Cassidy and his “Hole-in-the-Wall” gang.
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 DREAMSCAPES 21