On The Set: Vasquez Rocks

By Michael Hawk on February 4th, 2010

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From time to time I enjoy using the Real TV Addict space to acquaint you with the unsung heroes of the entertainment industry.  There’s the gaffers, the set medic, the craft service guy who always has the best gum not that cheap stuff that loses its flavor after three chews, the honey wagon driver/cleaner, the army of production assistants running about town like ants, and the list goes on and on.  But today I want to talk to you about what could be considered the most important outdoor set nature ever gave us.  I present….. Vasquez Rocks!!

Look familiar?  They should, as this one time hide out for famed bandit Tiburcio Vasquez has quite literally been a member of Hollywood’s elite since the dawn of motion pictures.  Nestled in Agua Dulce, CA between the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys, this unique looking formation of rocks has served as the backdrop for hundreds of productions from The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to Friends.

Did someone say Star Trek?  Yeah, Trek is why most of my kind (you know, nerds) recognize these rocks.  Most famously Captain Kirk battled the lizard like Gorn in the season 1 episode “Arena.”  In fact, every series of the Star Trek universe with the sole exception of Deep Space Nine, filmed in the Vasquez park for a total of 8 episodes.  Trek even brought this showy extension of the San Andreas Fault into the movies with appearances in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and the recent J.J. Abrams reboot.  Apparently Vasquez Rocks is a little slice of alien on Earth!

Which leads me to the part where I admit I was a really big fan of the show Roswell.  Let the snickering commence.  In my defense, it was mainly the first two seasons and we all have our guilty pleasures.  Vasquez was a huge part of the show’s mythology serving as the hidden space ship that brought the three young alien characters to Earth in the infamous Roswell crash of 1947.  Shots of the pointy rocks were featured in every episode until one day when the ship took off leaving the famous profile without its tip.  As far as I know, no other program has made Vasquez such an integral part of the overall series.

Of course, long before the space western was born, the more traditional western ruled the Rocks.  The Rifleman, Maverick, Bonanza, The Cisco Kid, and Zorro all rode their horses beneath the jagged peaks.  This of course leads to the odd physics of the very stationary Vasquez Rocks being located in virtually every western state at one point or another.  From Oklahoma and New Mexico, all the way up to the Dakotas, these boulders have moved around more than an Army brat.  A pretty impressive feat for a 900 plus acre area of solid sandstone.

Some other notable highlights of Vasquez’s TV career include:

• Medium
• From the Earth to the Moon
• Monk
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer
• Airwolf
  
• 24
• MacGyver
• Charmed
• Las Vegas
• CSI
  
• Alias and
  
• Misson: Impossible

The great thing about a piece of entertainment history like Vasquez Rocks is how accessible they are.  Clearly visible from the CA-14 freeway (as in “oh my God they’re right there!”), this park is open to hikers and photographers alike with Rangers offering guided tours October through May.  There’s also numerous naturalist presentations, star viewing parties (a difficult task in the light pollution of Los Angeles), and an Easter service in addition to the frequent sight of film and television production.  Kind of out of the way, but not a bad little stop off if you’re planning a touristy trip to Tinsel Town.

I don’t know what we’d have to do to get Vasquez Rocks a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but I believe the pursuit to be noble.  Let’s get on that people.  So next time you’re watching your favorite show, keep an eye out for my old friend Vasquez Rocks, a true legend in the industry.

(Photo Source: http://trekmovie.com/)