Bronson Canyon
Bronson Canyon is located near L.A. in 4,200-acre Griffith Park–the largest urban wilderness park in the U.S. A stone quarry operation worked in the canyon from 1903 to the 1920s. It left behind a cave, known as Bronson Cave, that attracted early film studios. Filming had to be done at an angle because the cave is not really a cave, just a short tunnel with three openings. Nonetheless, that did not stop it from becoming the Bat Cave! The first photo is dated 1925.
Hundreds of TV shows and movies, mostly westerns and sci-fi, have been filmed there. Here is John Wayne in The Searchers:
and my personal favorite–It Conquered the World.
Boulder Canyon
Boulder Canyon is located eleven miles west of Boulder CO. An easy 100-yard trail leads to 70-foot-high Boulder Falls. In 1914, local banker Charles Buckingham donated the area around the Falls to the City of Boulder. The first photo is dated 1910.
Box Canyon
Box Canyon is located in Ouray CO, 40 miles south of Montrose. It is home to Box Canyon Falls, which cascades 85 feet through the narrow Canyon’s 100-foot walls. The first photo is dated 1901.
Keystone Canyon
Keystone Canyon is located near Valdez, AK. Three miles in length, it is home to 328-foot Horsetail Falls and the spectacular 600-foot Bridal Veil Falls. The first photo is dated early 1900s and the third is ca.1915.
Santa Elena Canyon
Santa Elena Canyon is located on the Rio Grande River in Big Bend National Park, TX. It is eight miles long and 1500 feet deep. The first photo is undated. The middle of the Rio Grande is the border between Mexico on the left and the U.S. on the right in both photos.
