(Originally written in 2016, rewritten in 2024.)

As a kid in 1989, I saw this film on opening night and it became a lifelong favourite, bad reviews be damned. So in 2016 I decided to indulge my childish fantasy by trying to visit as many filming locations as I could. After all, what better thing to do in the spirit of the film than go on a cross-country road trip?

In 2016 information about the filming locations was sparse. There were a few incomplete blogs, forum posts, and a news article from the Carson Daily newspaper, but that was about it. Now, in 2024, all of the filming locations have been found. In particular, Rob On Location has the most comprehensive list.

The Wizard was shot in two parts: one in the high desert around Reno, and the other in southern California. The goal of this guide is to provide a template for a driving tour of the filming locations around Reno, which can be completed in a day.

This means I’ll be excluding the southern California filming locations, but I’ll list them here briefly for completeness:

Universal Studios Hollywood & Cabazon Dinosaurs⌗

These are large, well documented tourist destinations in California.

Twin Pines Motel⌗

The Wizard presents this as a motel in Nevada, but after some assistance from Dead Motels USA, it turns out that this is the Sierra Pelona Motel in Agua Dulce, California.

Agua Dulce Airpark⌗

Also in Agua Dulce is this popular filming location. The building where Jimmy, Haley, and Corey meet Lucas for the first time was also filmed for MacGuyver:

The Tour⌗

Anyway, that’s enough about California. Let’s get on with the tour, which starts in Reno. This article describes the tour in a roughly clockwise direction from there. Driving time for the whole circuit is about seven hours, not including “stop and look” time. These pins are meant to serve as rough driving wayfinders and do not mark individual filming locations. Sometimes there’s more than one filming location per pin.

(Map courtesy of OpenStreetMap in accordance with its copyright.)

The Biggest Little City in the World⌗

The Reno strip along with its iconic sign is the perfect place for the tour to start. The strip itself has changed a lot since 1989: for example the railway tracks have been sunken below the strip, and many casinos have been converted into apartments.

South of downtown Reno is the Peppermill Casino, used as a filming location during the “training montage” scenes where Haley sits poolside while Corey relays messages to Jimmy from Nintendo. However, the Peppermill has been heavily renovated since then, so it’s now unrecognizable compared to what was shot for the film.

Also in Reno is the Woods’ family home.

I. Hirschdale Road, California⌗

Taking exit 194 off of I-80, just west of the California border will land you on Hirschdale Road. The road loops back under I-80, where the scene of Corey, Jimmy, and Haley walking under the overpass was filmed.

If you continue on Hirschdale Road, you’ll drive by some cozy-looking country homes before crossing the Truckee River on a small bridge. Keep going and Hirschdale Road will eventually dead-end as a packed dirt road where “Hirschdale Auto Wrecking” used to be.

If you look at the above picture closely, you’ll see the company name clearly on the banner near the top of the frame. The story goes that Hirschdale Auto Wrecking was forced to close and move away from the area due to environmental concerns.

II. Truckee, California⌗

Truckee is well signed along I-80. This town is where the “in the shorts” scene was filmed at the intersection of Truckee Way & Church Street. It’s also where the kids made the bet with some older businessmen in a bar (as of 2024 known as Bar of America.)

III. Pyramid Lake⌗

This location takes a bit of time to get to, but it’s a very scenic drive through the high desert. As you approach the east side of Pyramid Lake on Nevada Highway 446, be on the lookout for a single tree on the side of the highway. This is where the film’s opening sequences were filmed.

You can see the tree in this screen capture from the film (red arrow) with Jimmy walking along the highway (yellow arrow):

This opening sequence is actually made up from two different filming locations. Take a look at the geography (especially the silouhette of the mountains) of the image above, and compare it to this cut of Jimmy walking along the highway:

Notice how the mountains in the background changed? There are also other inconsistencies in the opening sequence. Consider that the tree appears just to the left of the frame (but in front of the vehicle) where the officer stops Jimmy:

Then the tree is nowhere in sight when the vehicle pulls away:

Even the colors of the shots dramatically shift from one cut to the next. The shots filmed near the tree were taken during the day, but the other shots taken at the unknown location were during sunset or sunrise.

IV. Hazen, Nevada⌗

On US50 Alternate is the small town of Hazen. Notice how in the film, US50 was a simple two-lane highway, but today, has been upgraded to four lanes. This is a big part of why, as of this writing, Hazen Market is permanently closed. The barrier separating westbound from eastbound traffic caused visits to this iconic market to drop significantly.

V. 7227 Reno Highway⌗

This address is just west of Fallon. In 2016, it was easy to spot thanks to this large “for sale” sign.

This is the location of the old Star-Vu Drive-In Theatre. It’s mostly a barren field now, but the theater concession/projection building was still standing in 2016, complete with both projectors inside. This is where Haley, Corey, and Jimmy talked after discovering the contents of Jimmy’s lunchbox:

VI. Historic Downtown Dayton⌗

This is the location of the second altrication between Putnam and Woods. It was filmed on Main Street in Dayton: the Fox Hotel is clearly visible in the film.

VII. Mound House⌗

In 2016, the iconic “black widow” car from the “Send Me An Angel” montage was still visible at 10087 Highway 50 East.

VIII. Gardnerville & Minden⌗

At the end of Eddy Street in Gardnerville, you’ll find the “Greenriver Institution” (actually the Reid Mansion), where Corey absconded with Jimmy.

Back up the road in Minden, on Esmeralda Avenue, are two filming locations. One (on the left hand side of the above photo) was staged as a restaurant for the film. This is where Haley came up with the idea of going to Video Armageddon in California. It’s also where Woods and Putnam got into their first altrication.

Across the street is the C.O.D. Casino, which was the Greyhound stop where Haley met Corey and Jimmy for the first time.

IX. Genoa⌗

Just off of US395 on Genoa Lane, and about halfway to Genoa is a view like this:

This is where Haley, Corey, and Jimmy were robbed of a few bucks by the group of cow farmers.

X. Lake Tahoe Scenic Overlook⌗

It seems fitting to end the tour with the film’s most iconic scene: the “Lake Tahoe Scenic Overlook” on Nevada Highway 431!