I learned in March that the outdoor scenes of Little House on the Prairie were taped in Simi Valley, and since the 50th reunion festival was such a big hit, the chamber of commerce decided to host tours to the sets. This past June they had a tour booked for every weekend, but now I believe they offer tours one Saturday out of a month.
Well, I know my friend from New Hampshire would have loved it if I went and I didn’t want to let her down, so I signed up for another trip – this time to see the outdoor sets.
Personally speaking, I thought the $75.00 price tag was a bit hefty, but I really can’t complain. This was a bus tour and you had to pay for the bus somehow.
The name of the outdoor film location was called “Big Sky Ranch,” and it was the home to the Ingalls home and the town of Walnut Creek. It was about an hour from where the indoor scenes were filmed in Hollywood. The episode where Nellie gets pushed into the water was filmed on the Big Sky Ranch, and the Sweetheart tree is still growing on the ranch.
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| Sweetheart Tree |
Unfortunately, there was a fire in 2003 which destroyed most of the actual structures that were left on the ranch, but for the 50th festival, they created some mock-ups and placed them on the ranch so you would get a flavor of where they stood on the set.
My tour was set for 1215. I really should have picked an earlier time, because it was kinda’ hot – in the 90’s when it was time to take off. Dean Butler was on the tour before me, but he wasn’t on my tour. I did manage to get a picture of him, which was nice. They had a kiosk that sold coffee, water, and snacks. I stopped by a local place to eat a bite for lunch. Our tour was late leaving because the previous tour was late getting back. I think it took about 15 minutes to make it out to the Ranch.
When we got there, it was dusty. As I was sitting in the back of the bus, it was hard to hear the tour guide. The Ranch had several rolling hills.
I think the easiest visual for me, was the opening scene, when the girls are running down the hill. The bus stopped in that area, and we were allowed to get off and take pics, but we couldn’t go past the roped off area because of critters and snakes.
I got some nice pictures of the area, and it was nice to connect with like-minded people and fans of the show. It’s absolutely amazing how many people just loved the show and enjoyed the books. They were selling some souvenirs, but I didn’t pick up any at this time.
Overall, if you’re a fan of the show, you’ll enjoy the getaway. I took some cool pics and got to see something I wouldn’t normally have.
Extra links:
https://collider.com/little-house-on-the-prairie-filming-locations/
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