Holly Wood: Famous Forests on Film

Find these film-star forests in real life

By Google Arts & Culture

Halo by Mikhail KapychkaThe Royal Society

Some forests are famous in their own right, but since the dawn of film some have become film stars, too! Scroll on to virtually visit some fantastic forests and learn about the well-known motion pictures filmed there.

1. Redwood National and State Parks, California, USA

California's redwood parks contain the world's tallest trees, and some of the oldest, too. They've also been used as a filming location for E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983), and the Jurassic Park films. Some tall tales indeed!

2. Fiordland, New Zealand

The fictional Fangorn Forest is home to the walking, talking tree-people called 'Ents' in J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings books. The Fangorn scenes in Peter Jackson's adaptations were shot here in Fiordland. Can you spot the Ent, Treebeard, roaming below?

3. Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina, USA

The Appalachian mountain landscape and old-growth forests of Pisgah provide the backdrop for scenes from The Hunger Games and Last of the Mohicans. 'Pisgah' is a Hebrew word meaning 'highest peak' or 'biggest achievement'. Can you reach the peak in Street View?

4. Dovedale, Ashbourne, UK

Robin Hood is known for riding through glens and stealing from the rich to give to the poor, and Ridley Scott's 2010 film saw him do so here, in Dovedale. But legend has it that Robin of Loxley plied his noble trade in a different famous forest...

5. Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, UK

...here in Nottinghamshire. Can you feel the arrows flying from the hidden merry men? Strangely, none of the many Robin Hood films have been shot here in the archer's legendary home, but it has been used as a location for the Tom Hardy film, Bronson.

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