Where Was Tombstone Filmed? Every Real-Life Location Revealed

Known for both its sweeping panoramas and its gritty portrayal of life in the Old West, "Tombstone" was almost entirely shot in Arizona, just a few miles from the actual titular town. While none of the movie's iconic scenes actually were filmed in the city, because it had become too flush with tourists, a lot of the flavor of the place transposes itself into every single shot in the movie. Which is quite remarkable, as several directing snafus caused star Kurt Russell to step in and take over as the movie's director. 

Four different locations plus two studios and their backlots helped bring the dark, violent, yet tender-hearted "Tombstone" to life with authentic and authoritative local color. Where was the film shot? How much of the movie took place on backlots and how much in the wilds of Arizona? Here's a list of every single set and location used in the movie. 

The majority of the film was lensed at Mescal Movie Set in Benson, Arizona, located in Cochise County, which also encompasses the real-life Tombstone. The crew eschewed filming in the real Tombstone since their budget wouldn't allow them to de-modernize the downtown area. Mescal was already designed to look like an old-fashioned Western town, complete with saloons and gambling halls that the actors could enter and exit as they pleased, though the interiors were filmed elsewhere. 

"Tombstone," naturally, isn't the only film that has been shot in Mescal — many Westerns, including Sam Raimi's "The Quick and the Dead," "The Outlaw Josey Wales," "The Big Country" and "Cimarron" have filmed there, and it's been a functioning lot since the 1950s. It's so well-known that, when it isn't rented out for shoots, movie mavens can come and take guided tours (probably the best way to reenact a showdown without having to take a bullet yourself). While Mescal suited the movie's needs, the "Tombstone" crew still constructed or converted more than 80 structures to approximate how the town would have looked during the Old West days.

Minus the exceptions above and below, most of the rest of the exterior shots for "Tombstone" were filmed in Sabino Canyon. Sabino Canyon is a part of Coronado National Forest, which extends over parts of Arizona and New Mexico and is open to the public. This is where the battle between Wyatt Earp's (Kurt Russell) men and the outlaw gang known as the Cowboys was filmed, as well as several other moments that didn't require use of the Western backdrops available in Mescal. 

Like any public park, Coronado National Forest can be hiked, walked, biked and climbed by those who are willing to snag a day pass to the park. There are multiple guided tours that cover all manner of natural flora, fauna, and phenomena. It might not be as dramatic as an old-fashioned Western shootout, but you'll still come away with a lot of treasured memories of the unspoiled beauty of the natural world. 

While the film's exterior scenes were shot in multiple different locales, only one place hosted interior sets for "Tombstone" — Old Tucson Studios in Tucson, Arizona. This is where every single indoor scene was shot, from the insides of various homes and establishments to elaborate places such as the Bird Cage Theater. They also hosted any shot involving Tombstone's railway, as Old Tucson also has its own train depot. 

While all the sets built for "Tombstone" have since been struck and aren't on display here, this is another location that's open for tours. Old Tucson also features children's rides, staged gunfights, train and stagecoach rides, and even a museum that pays tribute to its history as a movie set. You can see costumes, props and posters from a variety of films that were shot there, including "Hombre," "Young Guns," and yes, "Tombstone."

An actual cattle ranch that's been in operation since 1935, Babacomari Ranch in Elgin, Arizona can be viewed during the infamous gunfight between Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) and and everyone's favorite huckleberry, Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer). The exterior shots of Henry Hooker's (Charlton Heston) ranch were also filmed in this picturesque locale filled with trees and a babbling brook. The bucolic nature of the scenery belies the amount of violence that takes place in its pastoral hills. Maybe this still-waters-run-deep dichotomy is why some of the film's extras chose to camp out here to get into character and rough it for awhile. 

Babacomari Ranch is the largest privately-owned contiguous parcel of land in Arizona at 28,000 acres. The wide variety of terrain types contained by its boundaries make it an excellent place to make a movie — it has mountains, deserts, forests, and many other features that gives directors a lot of flexibility for a fixed fee. Tragically, "Tombstone" fans can't tour the property, but they can arrange a function — or a wedding — within the ranch's boundaries.

While the terrain at Coronado National Forest might have provided much of what the production needed, they required a more mountainous set-up for one scene in particular — the playful steeplechase between Wyatt Earp and the feisty, rebellious actress Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany). 

In a relationship-cementing moment, the couple races through the hills and dales of Tombstone together, up and down trails that would trip up any mortal being. Yet the two of them come out smiling. Their playful conversation about what heaven looks like to each of them definitely makes you root for the couple, in spite of the fact that Earp is already married to another woman.

Those beautiful peaks and valleys come from Mount Lemmon and its surrounding area, which is in Tucson and part of the Santa Catalina Mountain range. Visitors are welcome to mountain bike, rock climb, and even go birding and fishing among the stones, grass and trees. And yes, visitors may ride over the trails on horseback, weather permitting.

Douglas Dry Lake is only briefly seen in "Tombstone," but it provides an important atmospheric signifier, emphasizing the heat of the desert, the arid nature of the land, and the denim blue sky. Slowly but surely, the Cowboys approach on horseback, thundering over the dusty and dried-out land. They portend doom — and the scene captures the feeling of the Old West in simple, effective, and moody portraiture. 

Douglas Dry Lake is the only locale in "Tombstone" that isn't part of Arizona in some way. The lake is in Sevierville in East Tennessee. Apparently, the scenes were shot while the area was partially drained, which the state of Tennessee occasionally does to allow for snowmelt and rainfall in the spring. For those planning a journey to Douglas Lake, during the months that it's flooded it's well-known for waterskiing, swimming, and other sports. If you want the full "Tombstone" experience, though, you'll have to go in the late winter or early spring.