Boulder Creek has been a filming location for more than a century. A studio built a permanent gold-rush town outside town in 1915. Mary Pickford shot there in 1917. Hitchcock filmed the redwood scene in Vertigo up Highway 236 at Big Basin. Downtown played a fictional town called Buzzsaw in a 1992 Matthew Broderick comedy.
The location distinctions matter. Big Basin Redwoods State Park has a Boulder Creek mailing address, but it is not downtown. The tables separate documented productions from unresolved leads and identify where each scene was actually filmed.
Silent era: 1914–1923
Nearly all of this activity traces to one place: the Poverty Flat set, a roughly 25-building gold-rush town that George Middleton and Beatriz Michelena built on family land outside Boulder Creek in early 1915 for the California Motion Picture Corporation. Santa Cruz Silent Cinema also records the main stretch of Highway 9 doubling as a western mining town.
Film titles link to IMDb. Where a film has entered the public domain and a legitimate copy exists, we link that too.
| Film | Year | Location used | Evidence | Survives? Where to watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salomy Jane | 1914 | Boulder Creek area filming reported; scene-level detail unresolved | Research lead | Yes. Print found in Australia 1996, preserved by the Library of Congress. Watch free via the National Film Preservation Foundation |
| The Lily of Poverty Flat | 1915 | Poverty Flat set, Boulder Creek | Well documented | Presumed lost |
| The Rose of the Misty Pool | 1915 | Poverty Flat set | Well documented | Presumed lost |
| A Phyllis of the Sierras | 1915 | Poverty Flat set | Well documented | Presumed lost |
| The Half-Breed | 1916 | Poverty Flat set | Well documented | Survives; restored by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. No authorized free stream |
| A Romance of the Redwoods | 1917 | Poverty Flat set (town exteriors); stagecoach holdup in Ben Lomond | Well documented | Yes. 35mm print at the George Eastman Museum; public domain copy at the Internet Archive |
| Sudden Jim | 1917 | Boulder Creek reported as a fictional lumber town | Research lead | Lost |
| The Sunset Trail | 1917 | Boulder Creek, per IMDb only | Research lead; the Boulder Creek location appears only in a user-editable IMDb credit | Unresolved |
| Just Squaw | 1919 | Poverty Flat set | Well documented | Survives; print held by the Library of Congress. Reported as the only surviving Beatriz Michelena Features production |
| Heart of Juanita | 1919 | Poverty Flat set | Well documented | Presumed lost |
| The Flame of Hellgate | 1920 | Poverty Flat set | Well documented | Presumed lost. Michelena's final film |
| Soul of the Beast | 1923 | Boulder Creek, incl. Poverty Flat area; elephant performer Anna May | Well documented | Yes. Public domain copy at the Internet Archive |
| Salomy Jane (remake) | 1923 | Expanded settlement in the Boulder Creek area | Research lead | Lost |
| Evangeline | 1929 | Big Basin forest and waterfall sequences are claimed locally; the documented location photography was at Point Lobos, near Carmel | Research lead | Survives; entered US public domain in 2025. Copy at the Internet Archive |
The two Salomy Jane films are different pictures a decade apart: the 1914 original survives, while the 1923 remake is lost.
Two titles above use language that is offensive today. We keep them as released because that's how the films are cataloged in archives, and because how these productions handled race is part of the record.
Most of this footage no longer exists. A 1931 fire in the California Motion Picture Corporation's San Rafael storage vault destroyed the nitrate negatives.
Big Basin on film
The park is its own filming location with its own history, and the biggest name in it is Hitchcock.
| Production | Year | Location | Evidence | Where to watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vertigo | 1958 | Big Basin: the redwood forest sequence, which in the story represents Muir Woods | Confirmed | In copyright; rental or streaming |
| The Gnome-Mobile | 1967 | Big Basin redwood scenes | Research lead | Disney+ or paid rental |
| Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man | 2000 | Big Basin: bungee sequence among the redwoods | Research lead | Subscription streaming |
| The Truth About Beef Jerky | 2002 | Big Basin area | Research lead | Not located |
| The Tripper | 2006 | Big Basin (21600 Big Basin Way) and Santa Cruz; filmed February 2006 | Well documented | Rental |
Scottie and Madeleine's scene at the cross-section of the felled redwood in Vertigo represents Muir Woods in the story, but location research places the filming at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, from late September into October 1957. Hitchcock's own ranch was near Scotts Valley, a short drive from the park.
The Tripper, David Arquette's 2006 horror comedy, used the park's forest for its hippie-festival encampment and chase sequences. The available records do not establish whether any scenes were shot in Boulder Creek proper.
Downtown Boulder Creek on screen
| Production | Year | Location | Evidence | Where to watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out on a Limb | 1992 | Downtown Boulder Creek as the fictional town of Buzzsaw; the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District building at 13230 Highway 9 played the bank; chase sequences on Moon Drive off Highway 236 and beyond | Well documented | Paid rental |
| Graves End | 2005 | Downtown Boulder Creek and nearby mountain locations reported | Research lead | Not readily available |
| Motos | 2025 | Filmed in Boulder Creek on the director's own property; post-wildfire subject | Well documented | Free via Omeleto, a licensed short-film distributor |
Out on a Limb is the best-documented modern production. Directed by Francis Veber and released by Universal in September 1992, it starred Matthew Broderick, Jeffrey Jones, Heidi Kling and John C. Reilly, and shot across Northern California with Boulder Creek supplying the town of Buzzsaw. Location listings also place work in Bonny Doon, Davenport and Big Basin.
Music videos
| Artist | Title | Boulder Creek connection | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolf Jett ft. The T Sisters | Garden of Pain (2020) | Shot on 16mm in Boulder Creek, on the foundation of the drummer's home destroyed by the CZU fire | Confirmed: stated twice in the artist's official description |
| Avery Chapman | In California (2021) | Filmed in Half Moon Bay and Boulder Creek | Confirmed: stated in the artist's official description |
| Rachel Platten | Fight Song (2015) | The bar sequence is identified locally as Joe's Bar, downtown Boulder Creek | Local firsthand only: see below |
Wolf Jett's official description says Garden of Pain was shot on Kodak 16mm in Boulder Creek and dedicates the video to residents affected by the CZU Lightning Complex fire. The band filmed on the foundation of drummer Jon Payne's house, which the fire destroyed.
Local firsthand knowledge identifies the bar in Rachel Platten's Fight Song as Joe's in downtown Boulder Creek. No production or press source has yet documented that location, so the entry remains labeled local firsthand.
Share a filming record
If you worked on one of these productions or have a permit, photograph, call sheet, or firsthand memory, use the contribution link below. The most useful submissions identify the production, place, date, and how you know.
This page is reviewed quarterly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What movies were filmed in Boulder Creek?
The best-documented are A Romance of the Redwoods (1917, Mary Pickford and Cecil B. DeMille), Soul of the Beast (1923), and Out on a Limb (1992), in which downtown played the fictional town of Buzzsaw. At least eight silent films used the Poverty Flat set built outside town in 1915. Vertigo (1958) and The Tripper (2006) filmed at Big Basin, which has a Boulder Creek address but sits up Highway 236.
Was Vertigo filmed at Muir Woods?
No. The redwood forest sequence was shot at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, though the story places it at Muir Woods. This is one of the most common mistakes in Bay Area film geography.
Where is the bar in Rachel Platten's Fight Song video?
Local firsthand knowledge identifies it as Joe's Bar in downtown Boulder Creek, but no production or press source has yet documented the location.
Which Boulder Creek music video is best documented?
Wolf Jett's "Garden of Pain" (2020). The band's official description states it was shot on Kodak 16mm in Boulder Creek and dedicates it to residents affected by the CZU fire; it was filmed on the foundation of the drummer's home, which the fire destroyed.
Can I watch the old films for free?
Several are public domain. Salomy Jane (1914) streams free via the National Film Preservation Foundation, and A Romance of the Redwoods (1917), Soul of the Beast (1923) and Evangeline (1929) have copies at the Internet Archive. Links are in the tables above. We only link authorized or public-domain sources.
Can I visit any of the filming locations?
Big Basin Redwoods State Park is open for day use. Check parks.ca.gov for current access, since recovery from the 2020 CZU fire is ongoing. Downtown Boulder Creek is walkable. The Poverty Flat set is gone and its probable site is private property with no public access.
Why do so many old films from here no longer exist?
A 1931 fire in the California Motion Picture Corporation's San Rafael storage vault destroyed the nitrate negatives for nearly the entire studio output, which includes most of what was shot at Poverty Flat. Nitrate stock is also chemically unstable, and much American silent film was scrapped after sound arrived.
Is anything filmed in Boulder Creek today?
Independent and short-film production continues; the 2025 short Motos was filmed on private land in Boulder Creek. Productions of any size are far less common than during the silent era, and most local filming now happens without public announcement.
The gold-rush set at Poverty Flat is gone, but several films made there survive. Beatriz Michelena's film career can still be seen in the recovered print of Salomy Jane.
