Welcome To The Vasquez
Rock Location Shoot
Phase III of the the beamout effect project began by me taking a vacation up the west coast in late May 1999 in order to visit all of the national parks in this area. While I was in the Los Angeles area, I stopped off on May 22nd and 23rd to do a location shoot at the Vasquez rock formation, which is located north of Los Angeles. This famous rock formation has served as a location shoot for several Star Trek original series episodes including "Shore Leave" and "Arena", as well as countless other TV shows and movies.
On May 22, I spent about three hours in the afternoon just scouting out the rock formation to find the best angle in which to shoot the effect. Finding a suitable location to serve as my landing zone was not an easy task as this entire rock is at a significant slant. There was almost no level area anywhere on the entire rock. And trying to place my tripod on all this slanted rock was also a little frustrating.
During this first day, I also did a little bit of sightseeing and I climbed to the top of the rock formation where Captain Kirk dropped the boulder on the gorn captain. It is interesting to note that the boulder the gorn was using as a table to fashion his dagger still exists in the above photo. I also shot a few other background plates in the general area of the rock formation as well. These other background plates can serve as additional group beam-down locations in the future.
I was a bit surprised that the park had put a parking lot directly beside the rock formation, but even from the "Arena" episode this appears to have always been there. In fact, in the "Arena" episode you can actually see the gorn captain walking across the road in the above photo. Also, from the "Shore Leave" episode, I also seem to remember the land behind the rock formation to be undeveloped. Some thirty years later, this same area is now fairly well developed, with many houses dotting the landscape. Another odd thing about the rock formation is its close proximity to a major highway. I-14 is located about a mile directly south of where the above photograph was taken, and it is easily visible from the parking lot.
The actual shoot took place on the morning of May 23 from about 8:30 am to about 10:30. I was very fortunate that I didn't have any rain at the actual location shoot. I thought the day was going to be a complete washout because when I woke up at 6:30 am, it was raining. But by the time I got to the actual location shoot at 8:30, the sky was completely clear. I also had the rock formation completly to myself during the two hours I needed to do the shoot. Woo hoo! But just as I was fininishing up, the hords began decending on the rock so I had to give up and move on with the rest of my vacation.
I ended up taking two rolls of film during the shoot. While at this location, I first shot some clean background plates which only showed the rock formation. Then I scampered into the picture and took some photos of me standing in front of the formation with my Captains uniform on. Of course, I had to assume as close to the same pose as I could to when I originally beamed out of the transporter room almost five years earlier. I should note that a total of 14 hours was required to complete the image processing to create the five picture sequence seen on the previous web page.
Vasquez Rock's Location
For those of you interested in visiting Vasquez Rocks, here is where you can find it. Go north out of L.A. on I-5 towards Santa Clarita. When you get to the I-5/I-14 split go east/north on I-14. About 18 miles or so down I-14 you will reach the Escondido Canyon Road exit. About a mile or so before you get to this exit you will actually see the rock formation off to your left (north). Get off at this exit and turn left (north). Go about two miles down this road and you will see the park entrance on your left. Keep a good lookout for the entrace as it's not very obvious. Three dollars will get you in the park.
Last Updated: November 29, 2000
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