The Western movie is something that's distinctly American (although Spaghetti westerns prove that they're not just for cowboys) and they've become so iconic that even if you haven't seen a single movie from the genre, you undoubtedly know the cliches that usually go along with them: the shootouts between outlaws and sheriffs with shiny badges, the tumbleweeds rolling through small towns where the streets are lined with saloons that have those swinging doors, the lone cowboy riding off into the sunset...you get the idea. Whether or not you're an expert on the genre or not, who wouldn't want the chance to ride a horse and play outlaws and sheriffs in some of these iconic Western movie filming locations?
Butch Cassidy: Grab your sweetheart and a bicycle because the filming location for the famous "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head" bike scene was Grafton Ghost Town.
Also, there's a pretty epic fight that was shot at New Sheridan Hotel's bar... but I'd suggest behaving yourself when you visit!
The Searchers: Monument Valley makes a pretty memorable appearance in this 1950's John Wayne flick, although it appears in countless Westerns.
The end, where Ethan rescues Debbie, was filmed at Bronson Caves in Los Angeles.
The Outlaw Josey Wales: Lots of Westerns, like this one, were filmed in and around Kanab and its Frontier Movie town, and the best place to see some of the coolest Western filming locations is at the Little Hollywood Movie Set Museum.
The 1976 Clint Eastwood film also filmed at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Lake Powell in Arizona and at Old Tucson Studios, another iconic Western filming hotspot.
High Noon: Columbia Ranch, Columbia State Historic Park served as the film location for the town of Hadleyville.
St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Tuolumne is where Will Kane goes to look for help
The train that outlaw Frank Miller arrives on at (you guessed it) high noon is the famous Sierra No. 3 steam locomotive (which appeared in countless movies and TV shows and is a fascinating thing in its own right), and you can visit it at the Railtown 1897 State Historical Park.
Django Unchained: For being such a bloody, gruesome movie, Quentin Tarantino picked some remarkably pretty filming locations for his super stylized spaghetti Western send-up, including the beautiful Tree Canopy at Evergreen Plantation and the Grand Tetons.
Blazing Saddles: Given the ending of the movie, it should come as no surprise that this Mel Brooks classic was filmed mostly on soundstages, although bad guy Hedley Lamarr gives a speech to his gang of bad guys at the iconic Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park.
The movie premieres (in the movie) at Grauman's TCL Chinese Theatre.
3:10 to Yuma: The Triangle T Guest Ranch served as the backdrop for the 1957 original (and they've left the movie sets standing so you can explore them!).
The 2007 remake was filmed at Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch, Diablo Canyon, and the Santa Fe National Forest.
Tombstone: Okay, so this isn't technically a filming location for the 1993 Western about Wyatt Earp, but why wouldn't you want to visit the real-life Tombstone where the actual gunfight at O.K. Corral went down? You can see a recreation of the battle at Old West Tombstone Gunfighters!
