Visit the Cinematic Old West in Lone Pine

Every Columbus Day weekend Lone Pine, in the towering shadow of nearby Mt. Whitney, hosts one of the world’s most unique film festivals—the Lone Pine Film Festival, which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world.  The 30th annual celebration of western screenings, stars and memorabilia will be held this October 10-13.  The otherwise quiet town, normally a welcome refuge for hikers preparing for (or recuperating from) a trek up the 14,494-foot peak of Whitney nearby, transforms for a long weekend into a western set itself.  Hopalong Cassidy and John Wayne look-alikes walk the streets, horses prevail over cars and western flicks fill the screens. (Photo courtesy Chris Murray, unsplashed.com)

Fatty Arbuckle saddled up in the 1920 movie, The Round Up, filmed here.  Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) starred in dozens of films and eventually made the area home with a cabin on Tuttle Creek Road.  He and Roy Rogers trapped wild horses in Lone Ranger Canyon and Gene Autry made the same canyon the setting for his 1950 movie, Cow Town.  Even modern-day cinema has enjoyed nature’s unique movie set—you may have seen Kevin Bacon wrestle with giant worms here in the movie Tremors.

How the West was formed

A horizon-less sea of golden-colored granite boulders that rise up dramatically from the desert floor make up the Alabama Hills of Lone Pine.  The rounded mounds and twisted, stacked and balancing rock formations came about by the current of thawing Ice Age snow that first sharply chiseled the igneous stone and the pursuant winds that shaped the rough edges into smoothed -over hills with east-west looking archways.  Only nature could create such a perfect movie set ripe for gunfights, bad guy hideaways and long, dusty trail rides. (Photo courtesy Bureau of Land Management)

Just three miles west of Lone Pine, western film devotees may follow the path taken by their western movie favorites up Movie Road.  If you can’t attend the film festival, you can still look up your favorite movie locations with a self-guided map—just be prepared to maneuver through some dusty narrow trails that have challenged more than a few wagon trains over the years.

The 30,000-acre Alabama Hills Recreation Area is filled with exploration possibilities, from canyon hikes to dramatic arches. Find the trailhead for Mobius Arch just over a mile on Movie Road from Whitney Portal Road. Go right at the fork and the parking area is on your left. Make a loop from the parking lot to reach the arch that frames the beauty of Mt. Whitney gloriously.

Visit the Museum

Whether you attend the film festival or not, plan to visit the Museum of Western Film History, filled with fascinating movie props, costumes, saddles and memorabilia from more recent films Iron Man and Tremors, as well as reminders of your favorite old Western films and television shows. Be sure to watch the interesting orientation film.

Exploring town and its mountain

The town of Lone Pine is named after the lonely pine tree that sat at the mouth of Lone Pine Canyon.  Don’t waste time looking for the namesake tree—it has been gone for years, a victim of flooding.  Founded during the 1860s as a supply source to local gold and silver mining communities, the town later became a farming and ranching community.  A major earthquake shattered the town in 1872; adobe wall remnants are visible behind Las Floristas. Today, Lone Pine hosts occasional film crews and those heading to Mt. Whitney or on their way to Mammoth.

When exploring the small downtown with western dud and jewelry stores, you will want take the Chamber of Commerce’s self-guided, 1.5-hour tour of the location filming sites of the Alabama Hills. Be sure to check out the movie stars autographed cedar walls inside the Trading Post across the street and see how many you remember.  Gary Cooper’s 1952 signature appropriately graces the threshold of the entry door. (Photo courtesy of Melanie Mauer, unsplashed.com)

As the gateway to Mt. Whitney, Lone Pine is an outdoor lover’s dream destination in itself without the cowboy lure.  Less than a half hour up Whitney Portal Road from town, past inspiring views of the Sierras and the Alabamas is the beginning of the Mt. Whitney-Portal Trail.  It takes about 15 hours to make the climb to the top, but hikers may structure their own day trip or few hours’ journey along the challenging switchback-laden path that climbs well over 6,000 feet from its beginnings past streams, pines and lakes.  A perfect day hike either begins with a gigantic pancake breakfast or ends with a mouthwatering hamburger and homemade fries lunch at the famous Store restaurant at the trail head.

They Went That-A-Way!

If you are, don’t miss this year’s Lone Pine Film Festival, They Went That-A-Way, October 10-13. The festival will feature invited guests from your favorite western films, including Darby Hinton, Patrick Wayne and Wyatt McCrea.

Find detailed information and tickets here. Be sure to secure lodging first, however, since hotel rooms fill up quickly for the popular annual event.