Dhruv Trivedi
Wind River is a 2017 Western noir murder mystery that follows an FBI agent and a local tracker as they team up to unravel a grisly killing. Set amidst a stark, snowy backdrop, the film is as forceful as the elements it portrays and shows a not oft seen side of the country. The spectacular surroundings also add a lot to the mysterious nature of their film, with natural beauty juxtaposed with the ugly central crime. Are you curious about where ‘Wind River’ was filmed? We’ve got you covered.
Wind River Filming Locations
The film is set in Wyoming, and filming took place in the state as well as in neighboring Utah. So important is the film’s backdrop that the landscape was described by the film’s writer and director, Taylor Sheridan, as an antagonist character in itself. Filming took place from March 12, 2016, until April 25, 2016, and the crew apparently had trouble filming some of the snow scenes near the end of the schedule with the advent of spring, forcing them to go to higher and higher altitudes. Here are the specific locations that were used to bring the movie to life.
Summit County, Utah
The film was extensively filmed in Summit County, Utah, where many of the mountainous scenes were shot on location. The production used Park City Studios and Utah Film Studios, located at 4001 Kearns Boulevard, in Park City, as their base, though principal photography was largely done outdoors in natural surroundings to give the film its characteristic wild and mountainous backdrop. The Summit County courthouse, located at 60 North Main Street in Coalville, was used as a stand-in to depict the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.
The Wasatch Back Region, which covers multiple counties of Utah, including Summit County and is on the eastern side of the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains, was used extensively for shooting the film’s many mountain scenes.
Other Locations in Utah
Wasatch County, which shares part of the Wasatch Back region, was also extensively used for filming outdoor mountainous scenes.
The movie’s climactic scene, set on Gannett Peak, actually used Hidden Peak as a stand-in for filming. At 10,971 feet above sea level, Hidden Peak is one of the higher peaks of the region and is located in the community of Snowbird in Salt Lake County, Utah.
Fremont County, Wyoming
The essential Wyoming backdrop for the film was lensed in Fremont County. The Lander city limits sign seen near the beginning of the film was filmed on location in the city of Lander.
The film’s namesake, a Native American Reservation that stretches over 3000 square miles across multiple counties, including Fremont and Hot Springs, was also used for filming, though locations in Utah were largely used as a stand-in for the reservation. The scene depicting the sign for the reservation was filmed at the reservation itself, in Wyoming. Some establishing shots were also seemingly filmed at the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Read More: Wind River Ending, Explained
