Epic Travel → North America → Mountain States → Utah → Kanab → Johnson Canyon Movie Set

Location: Kanab area, Utah

Time Required: 1 hour

Red Tape/Notes: Located around 10 miles east of Kanab off US 89 – turn north onto Johnson Canyon Road and drive around 5 miles and you’ll see the remains of the film set on the right. The most accurate information on this site seems to be available online here, including some historical photos and a filmography.

What’s Nearby?:  Paria River Valley, ⊗ Catstair Canyon (Complete), Upper Catstair Canyon, Toadstool Hoodoos

Generally advertised as the setting for the series “Gunsmoke”, this location was undoubtedly built and used as a film set, but as far as I can tell, it never was used as Dodge City in Gunsmoke (although it was used to film some episodes). The main location for Gunsmoke was Melody Ranch in Placerita Canyon, California (at least, it was until the movie town burned down in 1962), and various locations around the American Southwest were used for filming, including several ranches in Kanab. In any case, the Johnson Canyon set predates Gunsmoke by many years; the earliest record I could find of filming here was in the 1930’s, but I haven’t found anything definitive regarding when the set was originally built. It does appear that the set was expanded and specific buildings were built and added to site for various films, however, and also that several of these buildings have been removed. The existing buildings are largely in rough shape, and a heavy snow could probably collapse them, so if you want to see it while it’s still standing, you should probably hurry up.

Epic Travel → North America →Mountain States → Utah → Kanab → Johnson Canyon Movie Set