10 Other Times Star Trek Used The Vasquez Rocks

You know, whether it was Bob Justman's huge cyclorama stage drop of shifting planet sky colors in the 1960s or the modern Toronto Trek's AR wall in the 2020s, the physical and filmable off-ship Strange New Worlds of Star Trek over the decades has tended to be ingenious uses of design sets, which is why Star Trek taking cast and crew to shoot on location has tended to be so memorable. You know, for all the years I've led Star Trek fan tourists around greater L.A. to Trek film sites, whether it was the multi-day Geek Nation Tours edition or my own Trekland Treks Day Tours, the most requested location site is, of course, the iconic Vasquez Rocks, a natural formation and a county park in Los Angeles County. Why? Gorn fight! Hmm. What are the Vasquez Rocks, anyway? Geologists would tell you that they are the result of sedimentary layering exposed by later seismic uplift and erosion, thanks to offshoots of the San Andreas Fault 25 million years ago, during the Oligocene Epoch, and again, even more so, during the Lower Miocene Epoch, up to 20 million years later. Historians would tell you that they're named for the 19th century bandito, Tiburcio Vasquez who used the giant rocks northeast of LA as a stash and a hideout 40 years into California's era as a fully American state the invention of the automobile a generation later would end their reclusiveness while the invention of the movie camera made them a scene-stealing star best of all though for the studio bean counters they presented a bleak and wild landscape only 25 miles from downtown LA. Who knows how many silent movies were filmed out there? But since the film office records began in 1928, over 200 films and TV episodes have used the Vasquez Rocks as real-life backdrops. And just like so many of the original series' human stars, they also appeared in Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Maverick, The Wild Wild West, and later, even Kung Fu. Now occupying close to 932 acres, Vasquez Rocks has been a Los Angeles County park ever since the original 40 acres was donated in 1971, meaning that all those original series shoots occurred when it was in private hands. But did you know, the initial location used in Arena that we see, the Cestus III base under attack, was also filmed in Vasquez. The camera turned 180 degrees around in the opposite direction, and used an abandoned fortress set from a one-season wonder, Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers, to Star Trek's tightly budgeted lucky game. When? It's Dr. Trek, Larry Nemechek. And yes, I am on Trek culture. And I am so glad to be beaming here in with you now for a visit every so often. But wait, I promised you 10 other times Star Trek used Vasquez Rocks. Number 10, Shore Leave. Star Trek, the original series, season one, episode 17. Yes, you Trekademics, you know. The scenes where Kirk fights with Finnegan, reminisces with Ruth, plus the Samurai, the Tiger, Don Juan, and that strafing fighter plane. They were all shot, not at Africa USA alongside the Glade Meadow scenes with the Black Knight, but over most of two days at Vasquez Rocks, about three miles to the north, on the backside of the famous Gorn Battle Rocks, so they don't steal the show. Or actually, who didn't steal from whom. It was actually the Metrons who must have wanted fresh looks, as Arena was filmed two weeks after Shore Leave, which makes the Finnegan fracas Star Trek's first visit to the classic landscape. It would not be the last, not just because the variety of landform looks available in one area, but even more so, the rocks are within Hollywood's so-called 30-mile zone radius. That's your TMZ. That was negotiated so as to allow cheaper location shooting costs without the studio having to pay out meals and transport for the cast and crews, or even mandated overnight travel stays. After two days of filming those scenes there, first-run U.S. audiences originally saw the Vasquez site on Star Trek on December 29, 1966. Number nine, the alternative factor. Star Trek The Original Series, Season 1, Episode 20. Yes, the episode with so many questions. And would John Barrymore have been a better choice than Robert Brown? And how does a native from an antimatter universe walk around on a matter universe starship without causing a little cataclysmic reaction problem? Look, the alternative factor is dogged with so many problems. But that is indeed Vasquez Rocks on display when the landing party scrambles around Lazarus's little mini-ship. Actually, it's the backside of the famous angle of the rocks that we see, or at least most of the time. You know, the middle of the three planned shoot days on location was lost due to bad weather, and the makeup shoot? Well, let's just say this alien planet's sun sure cycles in and out of flat-seeming daylight at times, flat as a Fresnel lamp lens on Desilu Stage 10. Number 8, Friday's Child, Star Trek The Original Series Season 2, Episode 3. So, after a threefer in Season 1, and a round of budget cuts for Season 2, the original series would make one more visit out to Vasquez Rocks and stage it all from a totally different angle. Friday's Child remains my favorite undervalued and overlooked original series episode for so many reasons. So much McCoy. McCoy fully taking his place structurally in the Trek Trinity. McCoy actually giving the landing party briefing. We actually seeing a landing party briefing. Scotty in command and to the rescue. A laughing Flintstones ha-ha ending for the ages. Leonard Nimoy, and two words. Julie freakin' Newmar. Thank you, Dorothy D.C. Fontana. On the downs, though. Those tall walking tassel carpets as alien warriors look like they're burning up in that desert planet heat. But hey, you can't have everything. That's why, despite those tent camp scenes that were obviously filmed on a stage, shooting the Overland Pursuit and our hero's strategy banner over two long days at Vasquez Rocks adds so much scope to this one. Even a high-tech avalanche. you know those Capella Four scenes are actually across the main park road and opposite the main rocks in their backside which are all carefully kept out of frame here go to the site yourself with some guidance and you realize just how compact all that location shoot was accomplished so much done with opposite angles and close-ups on a rock wall and a faux cave entrance that all look far bigger on screen hey it's the magic of hollywood on a budget but still it's another case where you too can bring along your own flip-top communicator and imagine your hyper frequency stopping some rebel alien pursuers right in their tracks number seven star trek 4 the voyage home no really you'll blink and miss it hey in the years after the original series died and found resurrection through the rerun generation, fan savvy had time to grow. And even in the pre-internet days, hungry Trek folks had more and more making of books and magazines and articles that brought them the ins and outs of classic show details like the Vasquez Rock shoots. Perhaps that's why Harve Bennett and Leonard Nimoy, producer and director on Star Trek IV The Voyage Home, who still had a little spare cash after two weeks on location in San Francisco, sent a small team out to Vasquez in April 1986. Their task was to film someone as Spock meditating atop the twin slant peaks. From their obvious and iconic side is a very organic representation of Vulcan for the movie's pre-getaway opening scenes. Remember now? Future Star Trek creatives would. Stick a pin in map. Number six. Who watches The Watchers? Star Trek The Next Generation, season three, episode four. Oh, fast forward to the Next Generation era, and one ambitious script early in season three was actually going to spend money for an early season location shoot and even build a small alien village. We're talking about this tale about incognito Federation anthropologists studying a humanoid proto-Vulcan society from a duct pine until they're exposed. It needed a lot of scope to tell it well. So, why not take Trek back to Vasquez Rocks for the first time on a series in over 20 years? Only this time, tilt the camera up and use the full height of that rocky peak for Mintaka 3. The Next Generation crew spent two days at this site in August 1989, midway through their eight-day shoot, and I'm guessing none of them realized at the time what a spiritual impact the final location scene of the script would bring. That heartfelt moment when the Mentokan leader Nuria gives Picard the tapestry scroll that we see draped over the back of his desk chair for the rest of his career, well, it obviously resonated as a pivotal moment in his journey. And yes, we know exactly where Tapestry Rock is located. I'd use in thumbnails I tell you that for nothing. I plan to take these designs and transfer them by a quantum duplication onto hats, mugs and posters so look out for those. Back! Treat this unlimited supply as a limited time deal get your t-shirt quick! Who's your daddy? Number 5. Star Trek Voyager season two episode two you know deep space nine went on many locations to film from lush cool gardens to sweltering gravel quarries but sadly ds9 never made it to vasquez rocks voyager though did find its way back once the rock stood in for the site of the kazon training moon Teroc Teroc with a kazon a not a kardassian the voyager film crew spent a day there in july 1995 with Chakotay and the Kazon Ogle Youth car, a.k.a. Aaron Eisenberg's other character, for initiations. Most of their scenes were located atop a series of vertical, close, thin rock folds, literally just across the main park roll from the tilt rocks. But you'd never know it from the episode, which was intentional. But it would be the last time that Star Trek, like Spock with his ears, would hide those two famous points. Number four, Maps and Legends and The End is the Beginning, Star Trek Picard, Season 1, Episodes 2 and 3. I don't know which seemed more unlikely at one point, that we'd ever revisit the later life adventures of Jean-Luc Picard, or that Toronto-based Star Trek TV would ever find a way to once again shoot scenes at its most famous location. Much less brazenly identify the whole thing. as Vasquez rocks. But that's exactly what we got, on screen, in text, with the LA-based Picard series and the introduction of troubled Starfleet retired commander Raffi Musiker, amid her isolation from both Starfleet and her former mentor JP, who's been ghosting her for years. Film crews spent a number of days at the park in early May 2019, filming work that we would see in finished form nine months later across both episodes now the story of raffi's drug addiction and her life in a trailer struck many fans as a sad turn for Starfleet seemingly dumping on its veterans and they echoed the character's bitterness at being shunned by her one-time senior from his historic posh and family wine estate that always struck me as a short-sighted point though seeing as Raffi apparently had the best Wi-Fi on the planet and how could Starfleet force veterans into therapy and treatment if they refused if they didn't want to do it how was she living in the Vasquez Rocks i mean on one level it was a cute wink sure but for me it opened up a whole can of worms more troubling than Raffi's status the question of whether in our utopian 24th century Earth Vasquez Rocks was no longer a public park, no matter who owned and operated it? I mean, if not, then did Starfleet randomly make it a practice and had the access to place its troubled veterans and small housing units in parklands? Is that part of the park off-limits to regular citizen use? Does it defeat the goal of sharing an amazing natural landmark with the public if its most famous attraction is occupied by private housing, troubled veteran or otherwise? and if it's no longer a park then why and who does own it if land ownership in 300 years has any semblance to our grubby little system today of course many fans saw that scene and that text graphic and just smiled and said cool now i promised you 10 other times Star Trek used Vasquez Rocks the truth is only seven of those other visits were in the flesh so to speak you may think you saw those famous tilted ledges on screen thrice more, and you did, but not as a result of live on-screen shooting. Here, hold on, hold on. Number three, other uses. The rocks are depicted in a Zerillian holosim of their home world in Unexpected for Enterprise, aka the pregnant trip one, then on the big screen as Vulcan itself in Star Trek 2009, blended into CGI landscapes, and, as Vulcan again, or more precisely, Navarre, in the 32nd century of all is possible, Undiscovery, showcasing the still bumpy Burn Era unification at last of Vulcans and Romulans. Again, these were not live shoots, but all either stills or video, and then heavily manipulated with CGI and inserted as background. Number two, outside of Star Trek. But forget CGI. Vasquez Rock's Natural Area County Park is very real, and it's easy to locate and visit. If you find yourself in greater Los Angeles, it's an easy 45 minutes, outside of rush hour, out northeast from Hollywood, up the 14th Freeway via the 5, in Agua Dulce, and sporting a very spiffy Visitor's Nature Center. They're waiting for you, including some Trekkie items in their little gift shop. They also do mention the geology of the place, as well as the original indigenous native dwellers. Note that the center and the whole park, though, are closed on Mondays. But even then, you can park along the roadway down from the gate and walk in along the Pacific Crest Trail. And that visitor's center even gives a nod to The Rock's full IMDb resume. Everything from Roswell, 24, and CSI, to Alien Nation, Sliders, Buffy, and for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fans, it's a bit confusing. Vasquez Rocks was used as a setting for the Rangers Command Center, even though the building itself that you see was actually on the other side of Los Angeles, just in Ventura County. The Brandeis Bardeen Institute's House of the Book. Or as we know it, Camp Kittimer. Unless, of course, Loresborg are hiding around out there. Now on the big screen, you've seen Vasquez Rocks everywhere from the original Bela Lugosi 1931 Dracula to Blazing Saddles, Army of Darkness, Austin Powers, and Planet of the Apes for starters. Not to mention the spoofs of that famous Kirk Gorn face-off. Bill and Ted's Excellent Journey, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and, of course, The Big Bang Theory in Season 4. Although, those are studio fake rocks standing in for real ones. Because, once again, that's a studio backdrop and CGI behind our cosplaying quartet of actors, not the actual location on site. In fact, this TBBT episode wants you to think that the boys with their stolen car and no phones are stuck miles from anywhere and have to hitchhike. But when you make your own away mission to Vasquez Rocks and look around, you wonder why our heroes didn't simply approach any of a half dozen homes within a half mile of the place. Ah, Hollywood magic. Number one, the Vasquez Rocks on tour. all right i'm fudging this one a little bit but hey if you enjoyed that list in details welcome to Dr. Trek's world look it's just a reminder that there's a lot of this information out there to visit Vasquez Rocks on your own but if you want the comfort of a customized and concierge tour and takeaways with Dr. Trek to Vasquez Rocks or over 50 other location Trek sites large and small around LA. Get in touch with me at treklandtreks.com. What's more, 2026 is not only the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, but also the return after 10 years of the big hashtag LA to Vegas Trek film site location five-day tour that I lead for Terrence Cassidy and his Geek Nation tours. The big tour also features on-site appearances by Armin Shimerman, Tim Russ, Cirroc Lofton, Gorn Caffin, Bobby Clark, and more to be announced. The big tour in July and August is cozy. It needs 10 fans minimum, but cuts off at 20 maximum. It runs July 30th through August 3rd, and the bus visits Vasquez Rocks, as well as many more locations, until it winds up in Las Vegas, the day before the big Trek to Vegas convention at the Rio Hotel. Though, con admission is not required. There's also a one-day tour out to the Kurt death scenes of Generations, and more, in Nevada's Valley of Fire State Park, too, if you like. But whether you jump aboard the big Geek Nation Tours LA to Vegas group next year for the 60th, or take a private day tour trek sometime with me next time in LA, or just set out to catch these sights yourself, Ha, there's nothing like standing in the places of iconic Star Trek moments like Vasquez Rocks, in uniform or out. And in a time when peeps want experiences, not souvenirs, Trek tourism, can we call it that, has truly got to be the undiscovered country of fandom. Trek well, everybody.