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It’s not quite October, when the time traveling shenanigans of Back to the Future take place, but now’s as good a time as any to rewatch the classic adventure film, which turns 35 this year.
The movie—and its two sequels—are set in the fictional California town of Hill Valley, but it was shot entirely in Los Angeles County, and some of its filming locations (Griffith Park and the Gamble House, for instance) are recognizable LA landmarks in their own right.
Here’s a guide to some of the places seen in the film. As its legion of adoring fans well know, most are around and relatively intact in the future that is the present day.
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In the movie’s opening minutes, Marty McFly hops on his skateboard and grabs onto the tailgate of a pickup truck pulling out of this Burbank Burger King (the venerable diner Lancers can be seen in the background).
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584118/Screen_Shot_2020_03_30_at_4.21.17_PM.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (3)")
Marty quickly arrives at Courthouse Square, the Universal City set where many of the downtown Hill Valley scenes were shot. A long-standing fixture on the Universal Studios backlot, it used to be called Mockingbird Square, because To Kill a Mockingbird was filmed there.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584119/GettyImages_88562509.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (4)")
Hill Valley’s high school was played by Whittier High School, Richard Nixon’s alma mater. The gymnasium where Marty’s “too darn loud” band auditions for Battle of the Bands is Burbank’s McCambridge Recreation Center.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584122/3350951131_05abb31204_o.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (5)")
The McFly residence (built in 1954) still stands on Roslyndale Avenue in Arleta. Roslyndale and several nearby streets stand in for Hill Valley’s somewhat rundown Lyon Estates suburb.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584123/Screen_Shot_2020_03_31_at_9.54.32_AM.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (6)")
Here’s where Marty meets up with Doc and, after a shootout over stolen plutonium, travels back in time to 1955 in the film’s now-iconic DeLorean. Upon arrival in the 1950s, he runs over one of the two pines on Mr. Peabody’s ranch, which somehow does not cause any horrible ripple effect. It just changes the mall’s name from Twin Pines to Lone Pine.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584124/Screen_Shot_2020_03_31_at_10.50.44_AM.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (7)")
The DeLorean lands back in 1955 and Marty crashes it into a garage located at Golden Oak Ranch, which belongs to Disney and was also a filming location for The Waltons and the original Parent Trap.
Here’s where Marty’s mother lives circa 1955, and where the film’s oedipal subplot gets started when Marty interrupts the beginning of his parents’ courtship. Remember, it’s not okay to peep on anyone through binoculars as they’re getting changed, and George should not have been rewarded for it.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584125/Screen_Shot_2020_03_31_at_1.11.36_PM.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (8)")
In the film, Doc Brown loses his family mansion building the time machine, and it’s too bad. He lives in Pasadena’s Gamble House, one of the most celebrated works of architecture on the West Coast.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584126/shutterstock_1062350333__1_.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (9)")
Scenes inside Doc’s house were shot at the Blacker House, another Arts and Crafts mansion designed by brothers Charles and Henry Greene (who also built the Gamble House).
Everyone in 1950s Hill Valley evidently lives in a stunning two-story Craftsman. Lucky them. George and Lorraine’s childhood homes can be found in real life on the very same street in South Pasadena.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584127/Screen_Shot_2020_03_31_at_1.39.13_PM.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (10)")
The Enchantment Under the Sea dance, where the film’s climactic scenes take place, was held in the basem*nt of Hollywood United Methodist Church, just north of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584128/20967762773_8e85152f5a_o.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (11)")
To get back to 1985, Marty has to back up the DeLorean all the way to Griffith Park in order to get up to 88 mph by the time he hits Courthouse Square. The street lamp he parks in front of is across from the Greek Theatre parking lot.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66584129/shutterstock_517747780.0.jpg "The ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ filming locations map (12)")
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In the movie’s opening minutes, Marty McFly hops on his skateboard and grabs onto the tailgate of a pickup truck pulling out of this Burbank Burger King (the venerable diner Lancers can be seen in the background).
Marty quickly arrives at Courthouse Square, the Universal City set where many of the downtown Hill Valley scenes were shot. A long-standing fixture on the Universal Studios backlot, it used to be called Mockingbird Square, because To Kill a Mockingbird was filmed there.
Hill Valley’s high school was played by Whittier High School, Richard Nixon’s alma mater. The gymnasium where Marty’s “too darn loud” band auditions for Battle of the Bands is Burbank’s McCambridge Recreation Center.
The McFly residence (built in 1954) still stands on Roslyndale Avenue in Arleta. Roslyndale and several nearby streets stand in for Hill Valley’s somewhat rundown Lyon Estates suburb.
Here’s where Marty meets up with Doc and, after a shootout over stolen plutonium, travels back in time to 1955 in the film’s now-iconic DeLorean. Upon arrival in the 1950s, he runs over one of the two pines on Mr. Peabody’s ranch, which somehow does not cause any horrible ripple effect. It just changes the mall’s name from Twin Pines to Lone Pine.
The DeLorean lands back in 1955 and Marty crashes it into a garage located at Golden Oak Ranch, which belongs to Disney and was also a filming location for The Waltons and the original Parent Trap.
Here’s where Marty’s mother lives circa 1955, and where the film’s oedipal subplot gets started when Marty interrupts the beginning of his parents’ courtship. Remember, it’s not okay to peep on anyone through binoculars as they’re getting changed, and George should not have been rewarded for it.
In the film, Doc Brown loses his family mansion building the time machine, and it’s too bad. He lives in Pasadena’s Gamble House, one of the most celebrated works of architecture on the West Coast.
Scenes inside Doc’s house were shot at the Blacker House, another Arts and Crafts mansion designed by brothers Charles and Henry Greene (who also built the Gamble House).
Everyone in 1950s Hill Valley evidently lives in a stunning two-story Craftsman. Lucky them. George and Lorraine’s childhood homes can be found in real life on the very same street in South Pasadena.
The Enchantment Under the Sea dance, where the film’s climactic scenes take place, was held in the basem*nt of Hollywood United Methodist Church, just north of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center.
To get back to 1985, Marty has to back up the DeLorean all the way to Griffith Park in order to get up to 88 mph by the time he hits Courthouse Square. The street lamp he parks in front of is across from the Greek Theatre parking lot.
