Where Silverado Was Filmed (& How The Location Became A Legacy)

Summary Cerro Pelon Ranch in New Mexico was the primary filming location for Silverado, lending authenticity to the classic Western.

Filming in the beautiful wide-open spaces of New Mexico added visual appeal to the film's homage to traditional Westerns.

The ranch set used in Silverado has been a popular location for various Hollywood productions, adding to its iconic status.

Silverado is one of the most iconic Westerns of the '80s, with a set that has been reused many times since - but where else was it filmed? Kevin Costner's Western epic, Silverado, is a Lawrence Kasdan-directed, Academy Award-nominated film that follows a group of misfit cowboys and outlaws who band together to protect the people of the small town of Silverado. Featuring one of the cruelest Western villains in Brian Dennehy as Cobb, a corrupt and violent sheriff, Silverado is a homage to the Westerns the actors in the film grew up with and an original tale all its own.

Much of Silverado's success is a result of the work of cinematographer John Bailey, who was responsible for filming the sweeping, gorgeous shots of the American West and the lands around the fictional town of Silverado. The commitment to filming the movie in gorgeous wide-open shots makes it worth watching alone. Whether it's a gunfight in a dusty alley or a wagon train treading across a prairie, each scene is uniquely beautiful. Even better, the filming locations can actually be visited by viewers who are impressed enough to want to see the real thing.

Related 10 Great Westerns Where The Hero Isn't Actually A Gunslinger Though shootouts and marksmanship are essential parts of the Western genre, plenty of movies allow their hero to have many other talents.

Silverado Was Filmed On Location At The Cerro Pelon Ranch In New Mexico

The Film Was Shot In Multiple Locations Throughout New Mexico

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Despite only having a small budget of $26 million, Silverado was filmed on location, primarily at the Cerro Pelon Ranch in New Mexico, via Giggster. Other filming locations include North Galisteo, Baldy Mountain, and Rinconada Pass. Cerro Pelon, originally called Cook Ranch (via RepublicWorld), served as the setting of the town itself, but it's those gorgeous mountainous and desert areas around New Mexico that place Silverado in league with the beautiful Western films that it's attempting to emulate.

White Rock is featured heavily in the opening moments of the movie, which also gives stunning views of the Rio Grande and surrounding Jemez Mountain. It's a site to behold on film, let alone in real life.

It's a true old-fashioned Western that tries to capture what made those films so special and filming the movie on location goes a long way to capturing the essence of those films.

Silverado is not a neo-Western, nor does it try to reappraise the genre. It's a true old-fashioned Western that tries to capture what made those films so special and filming the movie on location goes a long way to capturing the essence of those films. Costner, Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, and Danny Glover look like men out of time when an actual, staggering mountain range is just over their shoulders.

The Silverado Set Is Still Standing — And Has Been Used In Several Hollywood Productions

The Cerro Pelon Ranch Has Appeared In More Westerns And Even The MCU

The Cook Ranch was discovered somewhat by accident. Kasdan and his crew were out scouting locations by helicopter in 1984, in preparation for their upcoming movie, Silverado, via New Mexico. At the same time, Bill and Marian Cook were considering how they could put their ranch to better economic use. Enter Silverado's location manager knocking on their door and asking if they could film a new movie on the Cook's land. Bill recalls the meeting,

"As I remember, he knocked on the door and said, 'We'd like to do a little shooting here.' There wasn't any great motivation for me one way or another, but I said okay. It just grew from that into a big budget movie and the Silverado set was built."

Initially, the crew only wanted to build two or three structures, but eventually, the entire town was built there. Everything from the saloon to the jailhouse was constructed with many of the buildings as three-dimensional structures rather than just facades. The scenic location has been used in many movies since Silverado, with its locale and already constructed set being major enticing factors, via MovieMaps. A network of roads cutting through the ranch also makes filming in nearby locations easy. Silverado and subsequent movies have put Cerro Pelon Ranch on the map, even if most people don't know its name.

Other Productions Filmed At Cerro Pelon Ranch Title Year The Legend of the Lone Ranger (movie) 1981 Silverado (movie) 1985 Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (movie) 1987 Longarm (TV) 1988 Desperado: Avalanche at Devil's Ridge (movie) 1988 Lonesome Dove (TV) 1989 Young Guns II (movie) 1990 Into the Badlands (movie) 1991 The Last Outlaw (movie) 1993 Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) 1993-2001 Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (movie) 1993 Wyatt Earp (movie) 1994 East Meets West (movie) 1995 Buffalo Girls (TV) 1995 The Lazarus Man (TV) 1996 Last Man Standing (movie) 1996 The Hi-Lo Country (movie) 1998 The Return of Desperado (movie) 1998 Wishbone's Dog Days of the West (movie) 1998 The Bachelor (movie) 1999 Wild Wild West (movie) 1999 All The Pretty Horses (movie) 2000 The Missing (movie) 2003 3:10 to Yuma (movie) 2007 Appaloosa (movie) 2008 Thor (movie) 2011