Where was Jurassic Park filmed? From Hawaii’s jungles to California’s landscapes, discover the real locations behind the original dinosaur trilogy.
Welcome to Isla Nublar, where the views are spectacular, the dinosaurs are real, and the park’s safety plan is apparently “hope for the best.” The original Jurassic Park trilogy (1993-2001), turned Michael Crichton’s dinosaur thriller into one of cinema’s biggest adventures.
Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough led the first film, while the sequels shifted the spotlight between Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, and new survivors. The formula stayed remarkably consistent – bring people to a beautiful island, add dinosaurs, and wait for everything to go spectacularly wrong.
Costa Rica provided the fictional backdrop, while Hawaii and California supplied everything from lush jungles and dramatic valleys to deserts, redwood forests, and studio sets for the biggest dinosaur encounters.
From Kauai’s waterfalls to California’s towering redwoods, these real-world settings helped bring the Jurassic world to life.
Table of Contents
🧬 Jurassic Park Movies in Order
How many Jurassic Park movies are there? There are 7 dinosaur movies in the franchise. The original Jurassic Park trilogy, followed by the Jurassic World trilogy, plus Jurassic World Rebirth.
What’s the order of the Jurassic Park movies? The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies follow this release order:
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
- Jurassic Park III (2001)
- Jurassic World (2015)
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
- Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
- Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)
🦖 Jurassic Park Filming Locations
Step into the real-world settings behind Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna, where beautiful landscapes routinely became the backdrop for very bad days.
🌴 Manawaiopuna Falls, Kauai
Manawaiopuna Falls in Kauai’s Hanapepe Valley makes quite an entrance in Jurassic Park. The helicopter carrying Hammond, Grant, Sattler, and Gennaro approaches the roughly 400-foot waterfall before heading deeper into Isla Nublar.
The scene has spectacular scenery, a dramatic helicopter arrival, and absolutely no indication yet that everyone is about to have a terrible day. Popularly known as Jurassic Falls, Manawaiopuna Falls remains one of the trilogy’s most recognizable Hawaiian locations.
Book a tour:
- Kauai: Movie Locations Tour
- Kauai: Highlights & Movie Sites
- Manawaiopuna Falls (Jurassic Falls) Tours
- Hanapepe Valley Lookout Tours
What was filmed here:
- Helicopter arrival at Isla Nublar.
- Waterfall approach through Hanapepe Valley.
🌊 Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park, Kauai
Kauai’s Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park provides the dramatic mountain scenery seen during the helicopter journey to Isla Nublar. Its towering cliffs, deep valleys, and lush greenery make the island look almost impossibly remote.
The location needed very little help from Hollywood. The mountains already looked enormous, the valleys already looked wild, and the coastline already had the kind of scenery that makes people reach for their cameras.
Book a tour:
- Kauai: Movie Locations Tour
- Kauai: Highlights & Movie Sites
- Kauai: Air Tour of Na Pali Coast
- Kauai: Nā Pali Coast Zodiac Raft Sea Caves & Snorkel
- Kauai: Na Pali Coast Deluxe Power Catamaran Tour
- Kauai: Niihau & Na Pali Coast Full-Day Boat Tour
What was filmed here:
- Helicopter approach to Isla Nublar.
- Dramatic island flyovers.
🚪 Waikoko Forest, Kauai
Waikoko Forest on Kauai provided the setting around the famous wooden gates of Jurassic Park. The enormous entrance marks Hammond’s first big reveal of the park and gives the characters their first real glimpse of his dinosaur-filled dream.
The natural forest around Mount Waiʻaleʻale helped create the lush, isolated look of Isla Nublar. The gates and surrounding jungle became one of the trilogy’s most recognizable images, turning a Hawaiian forest into the front door of the world’s most ill-advised theme park.
Book a tour:
What was filmed here:
- Jurassic Park gates.
- Jungle entrance sequence.
🌿 Kualoa Ranch, Oahu
Kualoa Ranch on Oahu provided the lush valley and dramatic mountains for the famous Gallimimus stampede where Grant, Tim, and Lex watch the herd thunder across the landscape before scrambling for cover.
It’s a natural stand-in for Isla Nublar where the dinosaurs come charging through the valley while the humans decide that a fallen log is their best available shelter. The log remains at the Kualoa Ranch, where one of the franchise’s most memorable dinosaur encounters unfolded.
Book a tour:
- Jurassic Adventure Tour at Kualoa Ranch
- Oahu: Kualoa Jurassic Movie Set Adventure Tour
- Oahu: Kualoa Ranch Hollywood Film Locations Tour
- Hollywood Movie Sites Tour at Kualoa Ranch
- Kualoa Ranch Half Day Package with Lunch
What was filmed here:
- Gallimimus stampede.
- Grant, Tim, and Lex hide behind a log.
🌴 Halawa Valley, Molokai
Halawa Valley on Molokai provided the rugged Hawaiian landscapes used for Isla Sorna in Jurassic Park III where Alan Grant arrives expecting to search for Eric, only to find himself stranded on an island with a Spinosaurus and Velociraptors.
The valley’s wild landscape makes the situation look even more isolated and dangerous. Grant has already survived one dinosaur island, so agreeing to visit another one feels like a questionable professional decision.
Book a tour:
What was filmed here:
- Isla Sorna jungle scenes.
- Grant and the Kirby family’s search for Eric.
🏜️ Red Rock Canyon State Park, California
Red Rock Canyon State Park in California stood in for the fictional Snakewater, Montana paleontology dig where Alan Grant works at the beginning of Jurassic Park. The canyon’s distinctive rock formations created a convincing landscape for the opening sequences.
It establishes Grant as a paleontologist quietly digging up fossils when Hammond turns up with a proposal involving a private island and cloned dinosaurs. Some people get a promotion. Grant gets Velociraptors.
Book a tour:
What was filmed here:
- Grant’s Montana fossil dig.
- Opening paleontology scenes.
🌲 Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in Northern California gave The Lost World a darker and more imposing setting. The towering redwoods helped make Isla Sorna feel ancient, isolated, and very different from the tropical landscapes of the first film.
The redwood trees make the dinosaurs look even more impressive, giving the sequel its own visual identity while making Isla Sorna feel like a place where dinosaurs could disappear into the landscape.
Book a tour:
- Prairie Creek State Park: Redwood Forest Hiking Tour
- Redwood & Crater Lake National Park & Oregon 3-Day Tour from San Francisco
What was filmed here:
- Isla Sorna redwood sequences.
- Dinosaur encounters in the forest.
🌿 Fern Canyon, Humboldt County, California
Fern Canyon in Humboldt County provided the setting for one of The Lost World’s more unsettling encounters. Its narrow walls are covered in lush ferns, creating a landscape that looks like it has been waiting millions of years for dinosaurs to return.
Dieter Stark gets a much less scenic experience when he is attacked by a swarm of Compsognathus. The dinosaurs are tiny, but there are enough of them to make their size fairly irrelevant.
What was filmed here:
- Dieter Stark’s Compsognathus attack.
- Isla Sorna forest scenes.
🌆 San Diego Gaslamp Quarter
San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter provides part of the setting for The Lost World’s final act, when the escaped T. rex reaches the mainland, suddenly finding itself surrounded by city streets, buildings, and traffic.
It’s one of the franchise’s biggest changes of scenery, taking the dinosaur from isolated wilderness to downtown San Diego, and obviously not the kind of surprise anyone wants on a night out.
Book a tour:
What was filmed here:
- San Diego city sequences.
- T. rex rampage.
🌧️ Warner Bros. Stage 16, Burbank
Warner Bros. Stage 16 in Burbank provided the soundstage for the T. rex paddock attack. The production recreated the rain-soaked enclosure around a full-scale animatronic T. rex.
The dinosaur looked terrifying on screen, but keeping it functioning in the rain became a production headache. Its foam latex skin absorbed water, increasing its weight and affecting the hydraulics, while wet wiring could trigger unexpected movements.
Crew members had to dry the enormous dinosaur between takes. So while the characters were trying not to get eaten, the crew was trying to keep the T. rex from malfunctioning.
Nobody said making a dinosaur movie would be easy.
Book a tour:
What was filmed here:
- T. rex paddock attack.
- Rain-soaked Ford Explorer sequence.
🎬 Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood provided the soundstage for the giant Pteranodon aviary in Jurassic Park III. The production built a massive enclosure filled with mist and flying prehistoric predators.
The sequence was based on an idea from Crichton’s first Jurassic Park novel, which featured a Pteranodon attack on a suspension bridge. Spielberg left that sequence out of the original movie, but Joe Johnston finally brought the concept to the screen.
The result is one of the trilogy’s largest enclosed sets, filled with creatures that can fly. Naturally, the characters still have to go inside. At least the dinosaurs were not in charge of the construction.
Book a tour:
What was filmed here:
- Pteranodon aviary.
- Flying dinosaur attack sequences.
🧠 Jurassic Park FAQs
From dinosaur trivia to book differences and behind-the-scenes mishaps, here are the answers to the questions you probably didn’t know you had.
Where was Jurassic Park filmed in Hawaii?
Hawaii supplied many of the trilogy’s most recognizable landscapes, including Manawaiopuna Falls, Nāpali Coast, Waikoko Forest, Kualoa Ranch, and Halawa Valley.
Where was Jurassic Park 1 filmed?
The first Jurassic Park movie filmed in Hawaii and California, with locations including Kauai, Oahu, Red Rock Canyon State Park, and Warner Bros. Stage 16.
Where was Jurassic Park 2 filmed?
The Lost World filmed in Northern California and San Diego, including Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Fern Canyon, and the Gaslamp Quarter.
Where was Jurassic Park 3 filmed?
Jurassic Park III filmed in Hawaii and California, including Halawa Valley and Universal Studios Hollywood.
Was Jurassic Park filmed in Costa Rica?
No. Costa Rica is the fictional setting for Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna. The actual filming took place primarily in Hawaii and California.
What is Jurassic Park based on?
The original Jurassic Park movie was based on Crichton’s 1990 novel, while The Lost World drew from his 1995 sequel. Jurassic Park III created a new story around his characters and elements.
How different is the Jurassic Park book from the movie?
The Jurassic Park book is darker and makes significant changes to the characters and story. Hammond, Gennaro, Muldoon, Malcolm, Grant, and the children all differ from their movie counterparts.
What happened to John Hammond in the book?
Book Hammond is far less charming than his movie counterpart. He dies after falling and being attacked by Compsognathus, while movie Hammond survives and becomes one of the franchise’s more sympathetic characters.
Did Ian Malcolm die in the book?
Yes. Malcolm is declared dead at the end of the first novel, although Crichton brought him back for The Lost World by explaining that doctors managed to save him.
What happened to Gennaro in the book?
Book Gennaro is brave, capable, and survives Isla Nublar. The Jurassic Park movie gave him a much less fortunate storyline, ending with the infamous bathroom scene and a hungry T. rex.
Was Alan Grant different in the book?
Yes. Book Grant already likes children, while the movie starts him off disliking them. The film also changes Tim and Lex’s ages and personalities.
What happened to Robert Muldoon in the book?
Book Muldoon is an alcoholic who uses a rocket launcher against dinosaurs and survives the island. The Jurassic Park movie version is a sober tracker who is killed by Velociraptors after delivering the famous “Clever girl” line.
Did the Jurassic Park books have Carnotaurus?
Yes. The Lost World novel features Carnotaurus with active camouflage, allowing the dinosaurs to blend into their surroundings. The original trilogy never used the concept.
What happened to Isla Nublar in the Jurassic Park book?
The novel ends with the Costa Rican air force bombing Isla Nublar to destroy the park and remaining dinosaurs. The Jurassic Park movie leaves the island intact.
Is The Lost World movie similar to the book?
Not particularly. Spielberg kept Isla Sorna and the trailer sequence but changed much of the story, adding InGen mercenaries, eco-warriors, and the T-Rex’s San Diego rampage.
Was the Pteranodon aviary in the Jurassic Park book?
Yes. The first novel features a Pteranodon attack on a suspension bridge. Spielberg cut the sequence from the original movie, but Joe Johnston later adapted the idea for Jurassic Park III.
How powerful was the Jurassic Park III Spinosaurus?
The production built a 24,000-pound hydraulic Spinosaurus, the largest animatronic attempted by Stan Winston’s studio. During the T. rex fight, its mechanical force reportedly tore the head from the T. rex animatronic.
Was there a Jurassic Park IV before Jurassic World?
Yes. One abandoned script involved the missing Barbasol can, mercenaries, trained dinosaurs, and genetically engineered human-dinosaur hybrids. The concept was eventually abandoned.
How was the T. rex water ripple made?
The famous ripple was created using a guitar string mounted beneath the dashboard and connected to the bottom of the cup. Plucking it produced the expanding rings in the water.
Why did the T. rex animatronic struggle in the rain?
The 9,000-pound animatronic absorbed water through its foam latex skin, affecting its weight and hydraulics. Crew members had to dry it between takes, as wet wiring could trigger unexpected movements.
Who played the main Jurassic Park characters?
- Sam Neill: Dr. Alan Grant
- Laura Dern: Dr. Ellie Sattler
- Jeff Goldblum: Dr. Ian Malcolm
- Richard Attenborough: John Hammond
- Julianne Moore: Dr. Sarah Harding
- William H. Macy: Paul Kirby.
What are some other movies like Jurassic Park?
- The Mummy (1999): Adventurers unleash an ancient supernatural evil.
- Congo (1995): Explorers uncover deadly jungle mysteries.
- King Kong (2005): Giant ape battles on a mysterious island.
- Godzilla (2014): Giant monster threatens modern civilization.
- Jurassic World Trilogy (2015-25): Dinosaurs return to a fully operational park.
📺 Where to Watch Jurassic Park
Ready to return to Isla Nublar? Here’s where to find the original dinosaur adventure, preferably from somewhere with functioning electricity and no Velociraptors.
From Hawaii’s waterfalls and valleys to California’s forests and deserts, the original Jurassic Park trilogy turned real locations into some of cinema’s most memorable dinosaur territory.
Disclaimer: This fan-created article is provided for entertainment purposes only. We don’t guarantee the accuracy of any of these facts and don’t recommend making important life decisions based on them. All referenced titles, names, and related intellectual property are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
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