Filming locationsUSA

Californian Circuit: Filming locations for the Back to the Future trilogy

If you are preparing a road trip in California and that you, like us, are fans of the trilogy Back to the future, I have good news: you can find a large part of the mythical locations from the films around Los Angeles!

Marty McFly's house, Hill Valley High School, Biff's house, Doc Brown's house, the famous parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall… several settings that we all know are actually real places in California.

And for the fans of the third episode, the journey continues even until Monument Valley, With its absolutely incredible Far West landscapes.

When we travel, I love finding the filming locations of the movies I like. I think it adds another dimension to the road trip: you don’t just discover a new place; you also recognize the sets that you’ve seen dozens of times on the screen.

So, if you grew up with Marty, Doc, the DeLorean and the famous time machine, get ready for a little trip through time!

«The road? Where we're going, we don't need roads!»

The filming locations of Back to the Future in California

The majority of filming locations Back to the future is located in the region of Los Angeles.

They are located in several cities and neighborhoods: Burbank, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Whittier, Arleta, and even City of Industry.

The advantage is that several places can easily be covered in one day of road trip.

Here are the main places I recommend you to include in your itinerary.

1. McCambridge Recreation Center: Marty's audition

📍 1515 N. Glenoaks Boulevard, Burbank, California

We start our tour in Burbank, with a place that is quite easy to recognize for fans of the first film.

It is at McCambridge Recreation Center that Marty and his group have their audition.

This scene appears at the beginning of Back to the future and immediately puts you back in the mood of the film.

Burbank is also an interesting stop when it comes to cinema in Los Angeles, as the city is at the heart of the Hollywood industry and close to many studios.

If you are planning a family road trip around Los Angeles, you can easily incorporate this address into a day dedicated to the filming locations.

2. Doc Brown's garage

📍 535 N. Victory Boulevard, Burbank

Another emblematic place in Burbank: the building associated with the garage Doc Brown.

It is especially in this sector that we find the first scenes of the film with Marty and his famous skateboard.

For me, it’s precisely these small places that make a road trip through cinema fun. Even when the film’s setting no longer exactly remains, you can immediately recognize certain buildings and put the scenes back in their context.

However, be aware: places have changed since the filming of the films in the 1980s. So you shouldn’t necessarily expect to find the exact same setting as in the film.

3. Marty McFly's house

📍 9303 Roslyndale Avenue, Arleta, Los Angeles

Here is an address that fans of Back to the future usually know very well!

This is where the house of Marty McFly in the first film.

The house is located in the Arleta neighborhood, north of Los Angeles.

Obviously, it is a residential area, so if you come to see it, please remember to stay in the public space and to respect the residents.

But from the street, it is perfectly recognizable the house that appears in the film.

Personally, that’s typically the kind of place I love to add to a road trip: a simple residential street instantly becomes a movie set the moment you know the movie.

4. The Twin Pines Mall

📍 Puente Hills Mall – 1600 Azusa Avenue, City of Industry

It is impossible to make a circuit Back to the future without going through the famous Twin Pines Mall !

Finally... the Lone Pine Mall !

It is here that Doc Brown presents his DeLorean to Marty and conducts his time experiment.

In the film, Marty then returns to 1955 and unintentionally causes a small change that has a rather funny consequence on the name of the shopping center.

After knocking over one of the two pines on the Peabody farm, the Twin Pines Mall becomes logically the Lone Pine Mall.

In real life, the place used for the parking scene is the Puente Hills Mall, At City of Industry, east of Los Angeles.

5. Doc Brown's house

📍 The Gamble House – 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena

We continue to Pasadena to discover one of the most recognizable sets from the first film: the house of Doc Emmett Brown.

The building used for the exterior scenes is The Gamble House, a magnificent historic house in Pasadena.

Built in the early 20th century, it is now considered one of the great examples of American Arts & Crafts architecture.

And that’s exactly what makes this stage interesting even if you didn’t come just to Back to the future.

6. Marty High School: Hill Valley High School

📍 Whittier Union High School – 12417 Philadelphia Street, Whittier

Welcome to Hill Valley High School !

In reality, Marty's high school is the Whittier Union High School, located in Whittier.

It is here that Marty meets Jennifer, crosses paths with Biff, and lives part of his high school life before his encounter with Doc completely disrupts his daily routine.

For fans of the film, this is obviously a must-visit place.

7. The houses of South Pasadena

This is probably one of the most fun sectors to discover when preparing a circuit. Back to the future.

Several important houses from the trilogy are located in South Pasadena, Especially on Bushnell Avenue.

And the big advantage is that they are relatively close to each other.

You can therefore park in the area and take a short walk to discover several settings.

8. The House of Lorraine

📍 1727 Bushnell Avenue, South Pasadena

It is here that he lives Lorraine Baines, Marty's mother, in 1955.

This house appears, in particular, in the scenes where Marty discovers his family when he arrives in the past.

And of course, when you know the history of the film, you can’t look at this house in the same way!

9. Biff's house

📍 1809 Bushnell Avenue, South Pasadena

A few houses further on, we find the one of Biff Tannen.

Biff is obviously one of the most emblematic characters of the trilogy and this house is part of the recognizable sets of the first film.

The neighborhood is now a classic residential area.

Once again, it is simply necessary to observe the houses from the street and respect the peace and quiet of the residents.

10. George McFly's house

📍 1711 Bushnell Avenue, South Pasadena

Still in the same area, you can also find the house associated with George McFly.

It is here that Marty discovers his father when he returns in 1955.

This part of South Pasadena is really interesting for fans, as several iconic houses are concentrated in a few streets.

11. The tree where George spies on Lorraine

📍 Bushnell Avenue, South Pasadena

Do you remember George, hiding in a tree to watch Lorraine?

This scene is one of the great moments of the first film.

The Bushnell Avenue area served several important scenes in Marty's life in 1955.

12. The «Enchantment Under the Sea» ball»

📍 Hollywood United Methodist Church – 6817 Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles

It is impossible to talk about Back to the future without mentioning the famous end-of-year party.

The «Enchantment Under the Sea Dance» is one of the most iconic scenes in the trilogy.

It’s especially during this ball that Marty plays with the group, that George finally has to find the courage to embrace Lorraine, and that Marty realizes that his return to 1985 depends directly on that moment.

13. Griffith Park and the DeLorean

📍 Griffith Park, Los Angeles

Griffith Park also appears in several scenes of the trilogy.

The park is immense and allows you to discover another side of Los Angeles, far from the large avenues and very urban neighborhoods.

If you’re traveling with family, this is a step you can easily combine with other must-see attractions in Los Angeles.

My tour Back to the Future around Los Angeles

If you want to include several filming locations in your road trip without spending all your time on the road, I recommend grouping them by sector.

📍 Burbank

  • McCambridge Recreation Center
  • Doc's garage

📍 Pasadena

  • The Gamble House
  • Other filming locations

📍 South Pasadena

  • House of Lorraine
  • Biff's house
  • George's house
  • Other filming locations

📍 Whittier

  • Hill Valley High School

📍 City of Industry

  • Puente Hills Mall / Twin Pines Mall

📍 Arleta

  • Marty's house

📍 Los Angeles

  • Hollywood United Methodist Church
  • Griffith Park

How much time should I plan to visit the places?

If your goal is simply to see a few iconic places, you can include several of them. over a day around Los Angeles.

However, if you really want to take the time to take the photos, stop in the different neighborhoods, and enjoy Los Angeles with children, I recommend that you split the visits over several days.

In fact, that’s what I prefer to do when we travel as a family: rather than visiting as many places as possible, I prefer to include a few places in our itinerary and use the rest of the day to explore the neighborhood.

Is it possible to visit the interior of the houses?

No, and it’s important to point that out.

Most of the houses used in Back to the future are today some of the private properties.

You can recognize them from the street, but you obviously cannot enter the properties.

Some may also have been modified since filming.

My tips for organizing your Back to the Future tour

📍 Save all the addresses in Google Maps

I recommend that you create a list «Back to the Future» in Google Maps and register all the addresses before your departure.

🚗 Plan for a car

To film multiple locations around Los Angeles, the car is clearly the most convenient means of transportation.

🏠 Respect private homes

Even if you are a huge fan of the trilogy, remember that these houses are private residences today.

👨‍👩‍👧👦 A fun activity with children

If you are traveling with your family, you can prepare something small before departure. Quiz Back to the Future and have the children recognize the different places during the road trip.

Why I love this kind of road movie

What I particularly like about the United States is the opportunity to revisit places that we have always known from movies and TV series.

And Back to the future is particularly well suited for this type of trip.

We go from a residential street in South Pasadena to a huge shopping mall, from a high school in Whittier to a historic house in Pasadena, and then we completely change our surroundings when we arrive in Monument Valley.

For me, that’s exactly what makes a road trip in California It’s also exciting: we don’t just make a list of monuments to visit.

We traverse landscapes, neighborhoods, and cities that we sometimes have the impression of already knowing… simply because we have seen them hundreds of times on our screens.

And when you travel with children, it’s even more fun to be able to combine visits, cinema and discovery.

The filming locations of Back to the Future to remember

If you only need to remember a few of them for your road trip, here are the ones I would prioritize:

🎬 Marty's House
9303 Roslyndale Avenue, Arleta

🎬 Maison de Doc
The Gamble House, Pasadena

🎬 Twin Pines Mall
Puente Hills Mall, City of Industry

🎬 Hill Valley High School
Whittier Union High School, Whittier

🎬 Maison de Lorraine
1727 Bushnell Avenue, South Pasadena

🎬 Biff's House
1809 Bushnell Avenue, South Pasadena

🎬 George's House
1711 Bushnell Avenue, South Pasadena

🎬 Monument Valley
Arizona/Utah

So, ready to take the DeLorean?

 

Address:McCambridge Park Recreation Center 1515 Glenoaks Blvd Burbank, CA

 Biff's building

Address:Plaza Hotel-Casino Las Vegas, Nevada

 The Burger King (Marty hanging on to the pickup with a skateboard)

Address:535 North Victory Blvd Burbank, CA

 The parking lot at Promenade des 2 Pins

Address:Puente Hills Mall Colima Road Southwest Entrance City of Industry, CA

 Marty High School

Address:Whittier Union High School 12417 Philadelphia St. Whittier, CA

 

 Scener from the third episode in 1885 Monument Valley

Jonathan with the Delorean from the second episode of the trilogy

photos: Jonathan Bartolozzi

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