The Mystical Place In Hawaii Where Dinosaurs Once Roamed
By Megan Shute|Published October 20, 2018
×
Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
From jungles and rainforests to mountains and valleys, there are parts of the Hawaiian Islands that will transport you to another time and place – perhaps when dinosaurs roamed free? While the Hawaiian Islands were formed long after dinosaurs roamed this earth, there is one mystical place in Hawaii that will easily make you feel as though you’ve walked onto the set of Jurassic Park. In fact, this lush Hawaiian valley was one of the primary filming locations for both the original Jurassic Park films and the new Jurassic World movies.
While much of Jurassic Park was filmed on the island of Kauai, the most accessible filming location for the popular movie franchise is found on Oahu.
This is Kualoa Ranch, a lush, verdant slice of Hawaiian paradise that has played host to a variety of film and television productions throughout the years — including Jurassic Park.
A lush, verdant valley surrounded by towering mountains on three sides, it’s easy to see why Ka’a’awa Valley was used as a filming location for Jurassic Park. It really doesn’t get more prehistoric than this.
When Alan Grant and the children find themselves in the path of a herd of Gallimimus fleeing from a T-Rex, they take shelter under a fallen tree. More than twenty years after filming, that same tree remains on the grounds of Kulaoa today, accompanied by a bright sign to make it more obvious.
Many other iconic scenes were filmed here, and you might even catch a glimpse of some remaining set pieces, including the Indominus Rex dinosaur pen, the Jurassic Park gate, and the Gyrosphere loading dock.
Not only will you be transported to the Jurassic era, but you’ll get to check out filming locations for 50 First Dates, The Hunger games, Godzilla, George of the Jungle, Along Came Polly, and more.
Even though real dinosaurs never roamed this valley, fans of Jurassic Park will love visiting this prehistoric-looking Hawaiian valley.
Have you ever visited Kualoa Ranch? If not, what are you waiting for? In addition to movie sites tours, you’ll discover ziplines, horseback riding, ATVs, boat tours, and more.
To discover another incredible place used in the filming of the 1993 classic Jurassic Park, click here.
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
