Movies Made in Appalachia

Published on January 01, 2015
Written by Ray Access

Most people know that the very popular movie The Hunger Games (2012) filmed many of its scenes in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. Dupont State Forest, in fact, is home to the Hunger Games Unofficial Fan Tours. The list of movies filmed in Central Appalachia, though, shows the versatility and breadth of the region’s charms. Here is an incomplete list of some of the best movies made in the seven-state area and the cities they used as settings:

Georgia

I’d Climb the Highest Mountain (1951): Helen

Deliverance (1972): Tellulah Gorge

Smokey and the Bandit (1977): Redan, Stone Mountain

Little Darlings (1980): Hard Labor Creek State Park, Rutledge

My Cousin Vinny (1992): Alto, Monticello

Remember the Titans (2000): Atlanta, Covington, Marietta, Rome, Sprayberry

Sweet Home Alabama (2002): Fayetteville, Starr’s Mill

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013): Atlanta

Kentucky

The Kentuckian (1955): Corbin, London

The Flim-Flam Man (1967): Irvine

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980): Jenkins, Van Lear, Whitesburg

Next of Kin (1988): Hazard

Fire Down Below (1997): Hazard

North Carolina

Thunder Road (1958): Asheville

Being There (1979): Asheville (including the Biltmore Estate)

Firestarter (1984): Chimney Rock, Lake Lure

Dirty Dancing (1987): Asheville, Lake Lure

Bull Durham (1988): Asheville

The Hunt for Red October (1990): Lake James

The Last of the Mohicans (1992): Asheville, Blue Ridge Parkway, Chimney Rock Park, Pisgah National Forest, Weaverville

The Fugitive (1993): Blue Ridge Parkway, Bryson City, Dillsboro, Sylva

Nell (1994): Fontana Lake, Franklin, Robbinsville

My Fellow Americans (1996): Asheville (including the Biltmore Estate), Black Mountain, Marshall, Waynesville

Digging to China (1997): Cherokee

The Green Mile (1999): Blowing Rock, Blue Ridge Parkway

28 Days (2000): Asheville, Black Mountain, Wilmington

Hannibal (2001): Asheville (including the Biltmore Estate)

The Hunger Games (2012): Barnardsville, Black Mountain, Cedar Mountain, Dupont State Forest, Pisgah National Forest, Shelby

South Carolina

Deliverance (1972): Chatooga River, Lake Jocassee

The Abyss (1989): Gaffney

Coupe de Ville (1990): Greenville, Spartanburg

Sleeping with the Enemy (1991): Clinton, Spartanburg

Walker Payne (2006): Gaffney

Leatherheads (2008): Boiling Springs, Greenville, Greer, Tigerville, Traveler’s Rest

Tennessee

A Walk in the Spring Rain (1970): Blount and Sevier Counties

The Evil Dead (1979): Morristown, Hamblen County

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1981): Chattanooga

Starman (1984): Chattanooga

Big Business (1987): Campbell County

Delta Force 2 (1989): Carter and Elizabethton Counties

Days of Thunder (1990): Bristol

Love Potion #9 (1990): Chattanooga

Cobb (1994): Chattanooga

The Jungle Book (1994): Fall Creek Falls State Park

The Specialist (1994): Rock Island State Park

Box of Moonlight (1995): Knoxville

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1995): Fall Creek Falls State Park

Virginia

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980): Wise County

The Four Seasons (1981): Charlottesville

Crazy People (1990): Roanoke

True Colors (1991): Charlottesville

What About Bob? (1991): Roanoke, Smith Mountain Lake

Sommersby (1993): Bath and Charlotte Counties, Lexington

Major Payne (1995): Charlottesville

Kingpin (1996): Shenandoah Valley

Hearts in Atlantis (2001): Staunton

War of the Worlds (2005): Rockbridge County

Evan Almighty (2007): Charlottesville, Staunton, Waynesboro

J. Edgar (2011): Warrenton

West Virginia

Fools’ Parade (1971): Moundsville

Sweet Dreams (1985): Martinsburg

Lassie (1994): Hinton, Sandstone Falls

Mothman (2000): Point Pleasant

Gods and Generals (2003): Berkeley Springs, Charles Town, Harper’s Ferry, Martinsburg

Super Size Me (2004): Beckley

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004): Fayetteville, Grandview, Kanawha County

We Are Marshall (2006): Huntington, Kenova

Unstoppable (2010): Benwood, Follansbee, Wheeling