Utah Leads US National Parks in Big-Screen Tourism Push

From Monument Valley’s sandstone buttes to the canyons of Zion and Arches, Utah and several other US states are leaning into their big-screen backdrops, using film tourism campaigns tied to national parks and nearby public lands to attract new waves of visitors and spending.

Utah Turns Its National Parks Into a Film Tourism Brand

Utah’s tourism agencies have increasingly framed the state as an outdoor soundstage, integrating national parks and surrounding public lands into film-themed marketing. Publicly available information shows that the Utah Office of Tourism and the Utah Film Commission work in tandem to position Utah as “America’s Film Set,” highlighting more than a century of Westerns, dramas and science fiction productions shot across the state’s red-rock landscapes.

Board documents from 2024 and 2025 indicate that Utah’s broader “Mighty 5” campaigns for its five national parks are now cross-promoted with film tourism assets, encouraging visitors who come for Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion to explore nearby filming locations mapped along state and federal lands. Materials reference the Utah Film Trail, physical markers and digital guides that direct travelers from well-known viewpoints inside or near national parks to recognizable scenes from films and television.

The Utah Film Trail itself showcases locations such as Dead Horse Point near Canyonlands, which has appeared in productions from “Thelma & Louise” to science fiction blockbusters, as well as sites around Moab associated with Western classics. While many of these places sit just outside formal park boundaries on state or tribal land, they are marketed alongside Utah’s national parks as a continuous cinematic landscape, nudging park visitors to stay longer and explore nearby communities.

State tourism plans suggest that this film-forward approach is intended to diversify visitation beyond the most crowded viewpoints and seasons. By promoting a web of film locations around national parks, including lesser-known overlooks and small towns, Utah aims to spread economic benefits more widely while taking some pressure off heavily visited park corridors.

Monument Valley Highlights the Intersection of Film and Protected Landscapes

Nowhere is the overlap between cinema and protected landscapes more pronounced than in and around Monument Valley, which straddles the Arizona–Utah border within Navajo Nation lands and sits within driving distance of multiple national parks. Monument Valley’s buttes have served as a backdrop for films from early silent Westerns to mid-century classics and modern productions, helping to cement the region as a visual shorthand for the American Southwest.

Tourism information from Navajo Nation and state travel offices describes how visitors can follow self-guided scenic drives and guided tours that foreground the valley’s film history, including viewpoints popularized by director John Ford and later by mainstream titles such as “Forrest Gump.” Highway pullouts on US Route 163, north of the tribal park, have become informal film tourism stops where travelers recreate iconic scenes against the same skyline they recognize from the screen.

Published coverage notes that this cinematic legacy has long supported local businesses providing guided tours, lodging and cultural experiences, even as Monument Valley itself remains outside the US National Park System. For nearby national parks such as Arches, Canyonlands and Mesa Verde, the prominence of Monument Valley in global media still plays an indirect role in drawing visitors to the broader Four Corners region, where they combine park itineraries with film-history stops on tribal and state-managed lands.

The region also illustrates the sensitivities that can accompany film tourism in culturally significant landscapes. Tourism guidance emphasizes that much of Monument Valley lies on sovereign Navajo land, and visitors are encouraged to use authorized routes, hire local guides and respect both environmental conditions and community norms while seeking out familiar movie vistas.

Other States Tie National Parks to Screen Credits

Utah is not alone in using film tourism to promote trips centered on national parks and adjacent public lands. State and regional tourism offices in Arizona, New Mexico, California and Montana have produced itineraries and promotional content that link park visits with famous scenes from Westerns, road films and contemporary television series.

In the Southwest, Arizona’s tourism office highlights Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Saguaro National Park and nearby public lands as filming backdrops for Westerns and modern productions, inviting travelers to explore settings they may have first encountered in cinemas or streaming series. In New Mexico, where portions of Carlsbad Caverns National Park and surrounding desert landscapes have appeared in science fiction and drama franchises, itineraries often pair national park visits with film-location tours around Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

On the West Coast, California’s tourism campaigns have pointed to national and state parks that have doubled as alien planets, prehistoric worlds or fantasy realms. Yosemite and Redwood country have periodically featured in science fiction and adventure films, while locations near Death Valley and Joshua Tree appear in music videos and commercials that reach global audiences. Promotional materials encourage visitors to “step into the scene,” framing hikes and scenic drives as a continuation of what they have watched on screen.

Farther north and in the Rocky Mountains, Montana and Wyoming have benefited from the popularity of series and films set against rugged backdrops resembling Yellowstone and Glacier regions. While some productions shoot on private ranches or state lands, tourism messaging frequently connects the imagery to nearby national parks, prompting travelers to build multi-day itineraries that combine wildlife viewing with visits to familiar cinematographic vistas.

National Parks Balance Visibility With Protection

The growing interest in film-induced travel comes as the National Park Service continues to manage record or near-record visitation at many sites. Public data from the agency’s tourism and economics program shows that visitors to US national parks spent tens of billions of dollars in local gateway communities in 2022, supporting hotels, restaurants, tour operators and related services near park boundaries.

At the same time, the National Park Service maintains permitting rules and impact assessments for professional filming and large-scale productions on park lands. Policy documents explain that while casual visitors can generally capture photos and video without special permission, commercial filming often requires permits that account for resource protection, public safety and potential disruptions to wildlife or other visitors.

Officials at the federal level have also signaled that high visitation, whether driven by social media, film exposure or traditional travel promotion, can strain trails, campgrounds and scenic corridors. Reports point to congestion and resource damage at some high-profile viewpoints in Western parks, prompting ongoing discussions about timed-entry systems, shuttle services and other measures designed to manage crowds.

For state tourism offices, this creates a delicate balance. Film tourism campaigns can attract enthusiastic audiences who wish to see landscapes they recognize, but promotion increasingly emphasizes off-peak seasons, lesser-known viewpoints and nearby communities in order to align with conservation and visitor-experience goals inside the parks.

Economic Promise and Future Directions for Film Tourism

Economic development materials from Utah indicate that film-related tourism has contributed billions of dollars to the state’s economy over recent decades, in part by encouraging visitors to extend their stays beyond standard national park circuits. Lodging, dining and guiding services in smaller communities stand to gain when travelers add film-location drives or studio tours to their itineraries.

Industry research on film-induced tourism more broadly suggests that recognizable locations can have a sustained effect on travel patterns, particularly when a destination continues to appear in new productions or streaming series. Destinations that maintain film trails, interpretive signage and curated digital content often see repeat visitation from fans who follow new installments or discover older titles.

As streaming platforms invest in content set in the American West, state tourism offices and local partners are exploring ways to connect new storylines to real-world landscapes. Planning documents from Utah and neighboring states reference collaborations with destination marketing organizations and travel trade partners to package film and park experiences together, including road trip itineraries that move visitors between blockbuster backdrops and quieter corners of the public lands system.

Observers note that the next phase of film tourism around US national parks is likely to focus on sustainability and cultural context. That includes encouraging visitors to engage with Indigenous-led experiences near places like Monument Valley, steering travelers to lesser-known state parks that have appeared on screen, and highlighting responsible recreation messages alongside cinematic imagery so that the landscapes that first captivated audiences remain intact for future generations of both filmmakers and travelers.