Exploring the jaw-dropping filming locations for ‘Into The Wild’
Few films inspire quite such a profound sense of wanderlust as 2007’s Into The Wild. Directed by Sean Penn and based on Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name, it tells the story of a bright, sociable and amicable college student called Chris McCandless, who shocks his parents by announcing that he intends to donate his trust fund to charity and hike off into the American wilderness.
Krakauer’s book is itself an expansion on a 9,000-word article the author wrote about the death of McCandless in 1993 titled ‘Death of An Innocent’. Born in California and raised in the suburban town of Annandale, Virginia, Christopher graduated from Emory University with high grades in the spring of 1990. Shortly after, he cut off all communication with his family, donated his trust fund, and began his great adventure.
Today, McCandless has taken on near-mythic status. Where the transcendentalist and naturalist Henry David Thoreau had merely flirted with simple living, Christopher committed to it wholeheartedly, sacrificing friends, family, wealth and his life in the pursuit of genuine freedom.
In this guide, we’ll be visiting the locations Penn used to bring Chris’ journey to life. From California to the Black Hills and beyond, the director captured some of the most jaw-dropping spots in the USA and Mexico.
The filming locations for Into The Wild:
Lake Mead, Arizona
Having destroyed his credit cards and donated his savings to Oxfam, McCandless drives his Datsun 210 all the way to Lake Mead, Arizona, where it’s caught in a flash flood and promptly abandoned. America’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead was created by the construction of the Hoover Dam and boasts 750 miles of shoreline, making it the perfect place for sailing, surfing, cycling and hiking.
A serene spot, the severe droughts affecting Lake Mead recently led to a series of eerie discoveries. From May to October 2022, water levels reached historic lows. A couple boating on the lake came across a human body trapped inside a barrel near a harbour. A few days later, two sisters found a jawbone lodged in the sound. Then, in July, a family having a picnic on the beach unearthed a skeleton encased in mud. So far, at least five sets of human remains have been found.
Pacific Crest Trail, California
From Lake Mead, Chris travels to northern California, where he hikes the Pacific Crest Trail and encounters hippie couple Jan Burres and Rainey near Lake Tahoe.
Also known as the PCT, the Pacific Crest Trail is America’s second longest trail and stretches from Campo, a tiny town on the US-Mexico border, through California, Oregan and Washington before reaching its northernmost point on the US-Canada border in British Columbia. That huge range of climates and terrains makes the PCT one of the toughest long-distance hikes in America. Walk it today, and you’ll undoubtedly come across a few travellers on Chris McCandless’ same journey of self-discovery.
Beard’s Hollow, Washington-Oregon border
Chris decides to travel with Jan and Rainey for a while and winds up in Beard’s Hollow, located in the brilliantly named Cape Disappointment State Park on the Washington-Oregan border.
The site was initially dubbed Bahia de La Asuncion (Bay of the Assumption) by Spanish Explorer Bruno Heceta in 1775. When a British fur trader (of course he was British – we basically invented disappointment) called John Meares arrived in 1788, he renamed it Cape Disappointment, having mistakenly believed that the mouth of the Columbia River was a mere bay.
Carthage, South Dakota
Having helped rekindle Jan and Rainey’s fractured relationship, Chris arrives in Carthage, South Dakota, where he takes up a job at a contract harvesting company and does a lot of drinking in bars with his colleagues.
Located in Miner Country, Carthage is an incredibly small town with a population of around 127, according to the 2020 census. Surrounded by the vast expanse of the great plains, it’s a reminder of a way of life now largely forgotten.
Hoover Dam, Arizona-Nevada Border
When we next see McCandless, he’s trying to convince a park ranger to let him paddle down the Colorado River. “There’s a waiting list to paddle down a river?” he asks, bemused. “Well, how long do I have to wait?” 12 years too long, it turns out. Chris subsequently takes things into his own hands, launching off Lee’s Ferry in Coconino County, Arizona.
Seeking permission to kayak the Colorado River really is as tedious as Into The Wild makes out, but it’s more than worth it. If it’s whitewater you’re after, then the Grand Canyon rapids will not disappoint you. That being said, it’s best to go with an understanding that the majority of paddling through the canyon is done on flat water. That is, except for the ten-mile stretch known as the “Roaring Twenties” and the 20-mile passage known as “Adrenaline Alley.”
Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, South Dakota
During Chris’ long kayaking journey, we see him chasing wild horses in the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, an 11,0000-acre conservation area nestled southwest of Hot Springs, South Dakota.
Forming a great stitch across the mid-west, the Black Hils lie between the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche rivers, rising about 3,000 feet above the surrounding flatlands and culminating in Black Elk Peak. Amongst these forested slopes, the valleys contain multitudes of rivers, creeks, and waterfalls. The Wild Horse Sanctuary is currently home to 350 wild Mustangs.
Golfo de Santa Clara, Mexico
Four hundred miles later, Chris finds himself in the Sea of Cortez. He stays in a cave in the Golfo de Santa Clara for three weeks, during which time his kayak is destroyed in a dust storm, leaving him no choice but to cross back into the US on foot.
Home to some of Mexico’s most beautiful stretches of coastline, Golfo de Santa Clara can also lay claim to some truly astonishing wildlife. Here, Pelicans with bioluminescent heads can be seen lighting the way for fishing boats. Having plunged their heads into the water in pursuit of fish, the birds get covered in the bioluminescent dinoflagellates algae found there, giving birth to one of the strangest sights in the Southern Hemisphere.
Slab City, Colorado
After a short but grim spell in Los Angeles, Chris decides to flee the city for Colorado, where he finds himself in Slab City surrounded by fellow “snowbirds” seeking warmer climes from the North and Midwest. During his stay, he’s introduced to a young folk singer called Tracy, the daughter of one of the many families staying in this squatter’s paradise.
Slab City has a year-round population of around 200, but that number swells with the arrival of the snowbirds, many of whom are drawn to the 640-acre settlement because it isn’t subject to the rules and regulations of other American towns. For this reason, it is tenderly referred to as “the last free place in America.” It even has a golf course – though there isn’t much in the way of grass.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California
Having found a new family with Jan and Rainey, Chris can’t help but feel the pull of the wild. Leaving them behind, he travels to Salton City, where he meets Ron Franz, an old man who lost his family in a car accident while serving in the US army.
In one of the movie’s most heartwarming scenes, Chris encourages Ron to follow him to the top of a hill, where they gaze out at a stunning panorama of the wide Salton Sea. The scene was captured in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, a cactused valley home to desert bighorn sheep, rattlesnakes, golden eagles, iguanas, natural springs, and Native American petroglyphs.
Denali National Park, Alaska
Chris and Franz spend two months together, but eventually, McCandless leaves for Alaska. Ron sends him off with his old camping gear and an offer of adoption, which Chris says they’ll discuss on his return from the far north.
Having abandoned yet another person who might’ve saved him, Chris makes a home in the Number 142 ‘Magic Bus’ on the Stampede Trail in Denali National Park, Alaska. While the bus is a site of pilgrimage for fans of Jon Krakauer’s book, the actual location of the magic bus was too remote for Sean Penn and his team to reach. Instead, they reconstructed the bus around 80km south, near the town of Cantwell.