Some 25 million years in the making, the spectacular geologic uplift known as Vasquez Rocks is one of the most famous movie locations in the world—and it’s less than an hour’s drive from Los Angeles. It looks like a land suspended in time, which is exactly why Hollywood fell in love with it.
Embraced by moviemakers since the 1930s, its skyward-thrusting crags have provided the background for generations of cowboy heroes from “The Lone Ranger” to “Blazing Saddles.” It has been used as a stand-in for prehistoric Earth in “One Million B.C.” and “The Flintstones,” as well as the future worlds of “Star Trek.” Captain Kirk even has his own rock.
