Los Angeles has many popular filming locations, but few can be the backdrop for a tropical island or jungle wilderness. One rare convenient location for Hollywood is the Los Angeles Arboretum, whose palm fringed pools and prehistoric forrest has been the settings for shoots from Fantasy Island to Jurassic Park.
The LA Arboretum finds some of its original landscaping in the late 1800s when Elias Jackson (“Lucky”) Baldwin purchased Rancho Santa Anita and developed the land as a resort and a wet oasis in a primarily dry region. What became the city of Arcadia was designed as a resort—meant to bring the indulgences of Las Vegas into Los Angeles’ back yard. From 1885 to 1886, Baldwin built the Queen Anne Cottage, a structure that stands today and has appeared in such shoots as the opening to Fantasy Island, and an episode of Murder She Wrote.
Other locations, such as the Prehistoric Forest, may only lay across a small pond from the Queen Anne Cottage and yet it could be a world away, cut off by the towering trees and tropical ferns. Although it is ostensibly set of the coast of Costa Rica, scenes for two of the Jurassic Park films were shot in the arboretum.
Such landscaping is the result of California and Los Angeles jointly purchasing the land in 1947. By 1956, the arboretum was opened to the public and has been a popular visitors, events, and filming location ever since. Wandering around these immersive environments, with flora grouped by geographic region, it is understandable why it was used to shoot parts of the Tarzan movies and Katy Perry’s music video for “Roar.”
Learn more about the history of the Los Angeles Arboretum from our sister site, The Land Patents‘ post Rancho Santa Anita.
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