WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Friday the 13th.
The Friday the 13th series is one of the most iconic franchises of the horror genre due mainly to its iconic setting of Camp Crystal Lake, which was shot in various locations. Jason Voorhees owes much of his villainous notoriety to his wooded hunting grounds that have served as the site for dozens of his gruesome killings in his notorious hockey mask. Camp Crystal Lake is an essential component of the Friday the 13th series since it was where the vengeful horror legend was born. It has become nearly as iconic as its evil resident slasher Jason, considering how the fictional summer campground established a thematic standard for modern slasher films and the horror genre in the past few decades.
Crystal Lake’s heavy forest setting provides dense coverage for Jason to hide under the cover of darkness as he picks off his unsuspecting victims one by one. The simple log cabins at Camp Crystal Lake provide limited hiding spaces for those unfortunate enough to get caught in Jason’s violent grasp, most of whom are smoking, drinking, or engaging in other forms of youthful debauchery. The lake itself is the place where Jason drowned due to his counselors’ negligence and marked the original story of Jason’s dark upbringing. Given the significance of Camp Crystal Lake to the overall story of Jason Voorhees, here are all the Friday the 13th shooting locations listed by the franchise’s chronology.
Friday The 13th (1980)
The real-world setting of the first Friday the 13th film is by far the most famous. The grounds used for Camp Crystal Lake is a Boy Scout retreat called Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco located in Hardwick, New Jersey. The camp is still operating to this day, but unfortunately, that means that fans can’t visit the site without getting in trouble for trespassing. However, No-Be-Bo-Sco occasionally holds elaborate Crystal Lake Tours on select Friday the 13th days complete with props and memorabilia.
Nearby Blairstown, where Crystal Lake’s own town was shot, also pays tribute to the film with an exhibit at the Blairstown Museum that expanded to a full-on Friday the 13th museum. Locals express that the date of Friday the 13th has become a sort of holiday for the community and the town holds a “Jason Fest” to celebrate the film’s legacy. The Roy’s Hall concert venue in Blairstown typically screens Friday the 13th on these days as well as appearing in a shot of the film itself. Interior shots were also shot next door to Blairstown in Hope.
Friday The 13th Part 2 (1981)
The sequel moved its filming locations from New Jersey to Connecticut, shooting in the rural and heavily wooded county of Litchfield. The village of New Preston provided the backdrop for downtown scenes including the casino where the counselors visited the bar. The cabins along Camp Kenmont’s North Spectacle Pond, located just outside the town of Kent, were where Jason stalked his prey at Camp Crystal Lake. In addition, the city of Waterbury, located in the much more urbanized eastern part of Connecticut, was where audiences visited the house of the sole survivor of the first film, Alice Hardy.
Unfortunately, the sets for this entry have not been nearly as well-preserved as those for the first film. Alice’s house in Waterbury has been demolished, although interior scenes were shot in what is now a rehabilitation center in Torrington. The casino in New Preston was a popular nightlife spot for years before completely burning down. Camp Kenmont is still active but the property was sold to another owner. The residences on North Spectacle Pond called Bromica Lodge were also destroyed.
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Part III marks the first time that a Friday the 13th film was not shot on the East Coast since the crew needed a more controlled environment to regulate the movie’s 3D effects. Instead, production took place in Veluzat Motion Picture Ranch in Santa Clarita, California with its own constructed barn, cabin, and lake. The ranch is still used to this day as a production site, but the cabin that was used in the film burned down in 2012. In addition, the scene with the biker gang was shot at what is now the Green Valley Cafe in the Santa Clarita area.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
The opening to The Final Chapter was also at Veluzat Ranch but the rest of the film takes place in different locations. The expendable teens went skinny-dipping in the waters of Zaca Lake while they hiked along the trails that surround the area. Strangely, the Zaca Lake Lodge marks the third time so far that a Friday the 13th shooting location burned down, this time more recently in 2016. The place is a popular filming site with its ties to Hollywood productions going all the way back to the silent era. The lake was also where the Universal Monster classic Creature from the Black Lagoon was shot. In addition, the residence of Tommy Jarvis and his family is a privately owned house in Topanga, CA.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Production for the Friday the 13th series remained in California in various locations around the Los Angeles area. As opposed to the other entries in the franchise, a chunk of the action was shot in the middle of an urban area, albeit in the idyllic Franklin Canyon Park, tucked inside the Beverly Hills portion of the Santa Monica Mountains. The Pineway Halfway House where Tommy Jarvis is institutionalized is a privately-owned property called Rancho Rosito located in Camarillo, California. Corey Feldman’s cameo was shot in his own backyard as he was too who was busy shooting The Goonies to appear on set.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
For the sixth film, production was primarily moved down south to Georgia. The town scenes, including the sheriff’s office where Tommy Jarvis fails to convince the law that Jason is back from the dead, were shot in Covington. Located outside of Atlanta, the small city shares common ground with Rob Zombie’s Halloween II which was also shot there. The camp scenes took place in Camp Daniel Morgan around Hard Labor Creek State Park’s Lake Rutledge a couple of miles east of Covington. Luckily, the camp still exists and holds occasional tours and screenings, perhaps because Jason Lives is so well-beloved by Friday the 13th fans.
A point of contention exists over which cemetery Jason emerged from at the beginning of the film. Fansites often state that it was Covington Cemetary, but screencap comparisons and recovered call sheet documents reveal that it was actually Old Madison Cemetary in Madison, GA. It’s comforting to know that what is considered arguably the most entertaining entry in the series has had its shooting locations comparatively well-preserved.
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Production for The New Blood stayed in the south but moved over to neighboring Alabama, specifically within Baldwin County and around the city of Mobile. Byrnes Lake was chosen for the primary outdoor location, although the cabins were all constructed for the film only to be torn down once production ended. There was even a gator wrangler hired to be on set in case the beasts attacked the cast and crew but fortunately, the gators weren’t active during the time of the shooting. A number of interiors were also built in Los Angeles for filming and the crew went back to Topanga Canyon, California for the interiors of the house.
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Jason’s trip to New York City infamously doesn’t even take place within The Big Apple for the majority of the movie. Despite the fact that Jason Takes Manhattan was the most expensive Friday the 13th film to date, its $5 million budget still wouldn’t cover the would-be cost of shooting entirely in New York. Production took place mostly in Vancouver and surrounding areas within British Columbia as well as with some interior shots in Los Angeles. The only scene that was legitimately shot in New York was in Times Square, which attracted a sizable crowd of Friday the 13th fans to watch Jason actor Kane Hodder perform in the hockey mask.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
The crew returned to southern California to shoot the ninth installment in Thousand Oaks. The town contained the Canyon Ranch Studio for outdoor production, as well as nearby urban locales such as Joey B.’s Diner. The Voorhees residence where Jason goes to hell was filmed at a private house in the suburban West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, specifically on Eagle Mountain Street.
Jason X (2001)
The horror sci-fi crossover Jason X takes place entirely on a spaceship. The film crew used a soundstage to construct the sets in Toronto, Canada. There are no Camp Crystal Lake locales to be found here beyond a virtual simulation that’s created for part of the movie. However, Jason X includes a fun cameo appearance where director David Cronenberg gets stabbed and showcases one of the franchise’s most creative kills with Jason killing someone in a vat of liquid nitrogen.
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
After years of teasing audiences and studio meddling, the big crossover between two icons of the slasher sub-genre, Freddy vs. Jason, was born. It was shot in and around Vancouver, using an impressive amount of on-location settings compared to the past few previous films. Jason’s shack was located along the shore of the picturesque Buntzen Lake, although the set was demolished after filming. However, there were also some interiors and street shots that were filmed on a Universal Studios lot in Hollywood.
Friday The 13th (2009)
The 2009 remake of Friday the 13th took the action to Central Texas around the Austin area. Neighboring Bastrop provided outdoor recreation areas for camp scenes on Friday the 13th, while Austin, Round Rock, and Wimberley contained on-location structures like houses and stores. The city of Austin itself conveniently holds film studios for a more controlled environment as well. Additionally, the crew also traveled to Camp Fern in the East Texas town of Marshall to shoot more on-location outdoor scenes.
