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Travel & OutdoorsDiscover the New American West

3 Western Movie Backdrops That Stun Off-Screen

Allison Williams
Author: Allison Williams
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Monument Valley’s buttes in Navajo Nation.

Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona

The iconic rockscape was director John Ford’s favorite backdrop, but a visit to the buttes within the Navajo Nation is as much American history education as a Stagecoach (or Back to the Future III, nerd) pilgrimage.

Kanab, Utah, aka “Little Hollywood.”

Kanab, Utah

The southern Utah town famous for appearing in The Outlaw Josey Wales and Planet of the Apes earned itself the nickname “Little Hollywood,” though its silver screen history museum is currently for sale.

Ghost Ranch remains a popular backdrop.

Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

If you can’t find something that fascinates on these desert acres—City Slickers filming location, Georgia O’Keeffe outdoor studio, and dinosaur fossil dig site—the problem might be you. 

Published in the Greetings from The New West issue of Seattle Met.




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Allison Williams
Allison Williams
Since joining Seattle Met in 2011, Allison Williams has overseen the magazine’s travel and outdoor coverage, including deep dives into Olympic National Park, the Columbia River, and a Burger King drive-thru in Canada. She edits the travel-focused blog Tripster and contributes service, news, interview, and narrative pieces to the magazine, including long-form features about mountain mysteries and puppies in prison. She’s earned awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and been nominated for a City and Regional Magazine award.  Allison was raised here in Olympia and studied writing at Duke University, Oxford University, Columbia Journalism School, and University of Alaska. She began her career in New York City in the newsrooms of Metro newspaper and Time Out New York, then hightailed it back to her native habitat so she could write guidebooks and climb mountains.