40th Anniversary Meetup - Research

[Whistler]

I went to the filming areas you can get to for my birthday trip last year.  It’s i think like a 2 hour trip outside of San Fran.  (I live in Reno) all the speeder bike chase sites and Princess Leia’s meet up with wicket and the two scout troopers are still there.  But the entire battle of Endor where they placed the Shield Bunker is gone.  It’s an awesome sight though.  Just don’t get your drone stuck in one of the trees like I did.

[BikerScout007]

Just now, Whistler said:

I went to the filming areas you can get to for my birthday trip last year.  It’s i think like a 2 hour trip outside of San Fran.  (I live in Reno) all the speeder bike chase sites and Princess Leia’s meet up with wicket and the two scout troopers are still there.  But the entire battle of Endor where they placed the Shield Bunker is gone.  It’s an awesome sight though.  Just don’t get your drone stuck in one of the trees like I did.

Awesome!  Hope to tap your knowledge for this meetup.  And @BigJasoni as well

[BigJasoni]

On 1/11/2023 at 1:49 PM, BikerScout007 said:

It's going to be tough because it is like....the middle of nowhere!  But we'll try to find a spot that's convenient for the most amount of people.  

I mean, I'm sure most of you know this, but the film was shot on private property around trees that were clear cut after production.  So we would only be getting close!  

There are some trees that I believe were filmed with the Steadicam for the speeder bike chase that are still there.

Lol. Well, I always tell people I grew up in "the middle of nowhere," but there is civilization around for those wondering.

So, just as a little background, I was born and raised in the town of Fortuna, CA back when ROTJ was being filmed. Of course, I was a youngling back then, but me and my friends were old enough to tell some 'tall tales' about seeing Luke Skywalker at Safeway and finding Ewok remnants out in the woods. Regardless, there were a few areas that were used for filming. Some scenes were filmed about 90 minutes north of my hometown by the Oregon boarder, but those areas aren't as well known as the speeder bike scenes. Fortunately, both areas are in state parks, so neither were clear cut, but since the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park was closely guarded during filming, pin-pointing the actual location isn't as simple as the speeder bike scene. However, if you search around, you'll find resources similar to this:

Additionally, if state park staff is present (which they rarely are anymore), they'll give you directions to the location.

Now, if anyone wanted to make the trip and take a walk through the tree canopy, you can visit the Trees of Mystery Park in Klamath, CA. Here's a few pictures from when I visited the park back in September:

Pretty easy to find the Trees of Mystery. Here's the landmark at the entrance. There's also a nice "tourist trap" gift store where you can buy clothes, wooden trinkets, redwood saplings and snacks.
 

Klamath is about an hour north of where we were talking about doing the photo shoot, but it's a fun place to go see. Of note, it costs $25 for all-day access to the park, but even after spending my entire childhood out there, I still find it worth the price of admission. Keep in mind that Klamath is indeed "out in the middle of nowhere," but as you travel up Highway 101, you'll get amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and have several opportunities to visit other state parks and venues.

Also, if peeps don't feel like traveling that far north, but still want to walk through the tree canopy, you can do the Redwood Skywalk up in Eureka:
https://www.redwoodskywalk.com/

10 hours ago, Whistler said:

I went to the filming areas you can get to for my birthday trip last year.  It’s i think like a 2 hour trip outside of San Fran.

For those planning on visiting/ driving, it's actually closer to 5 hours north of San Francisco, so please plan accordingly. The trip from SF to Fortuna is incredible though, I've driven it hundreds of times and I love it even more now that I'm older. For those who want to fly into the area, look for flights into the Eureka/ Arcata airport. Fortuna is about 15 minutes south of Eureka and 30 minutes south of the airport.

By the way, I keep mentioning Fortuna because it's the closest town to Cheatham Grove which is where the speeder bike scenes were filmed. There's a few hotels in Fortuna and a bunch of places to eat/ gather. However, the other option would be camping at Grizzly Creek State Park. Grizzly Creek is a typical state park campground, so you'll have access to restrooms and showers, but don't expect much; they're essentially glorified porta-potties. Camping is a fun option however and the main campground is about 3 minutes down the road from Cheatham Grove.

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=421

With all that said, here's a few pics of the campground:

But most importantly, here's pics of the grove:

So as you can tell, there's plenty of opportunities for an awesome shoot. Here's a short video I shot of the speeder bike path:
https://youtube.com/shorts/OQAGk2rY8sk?feature=share

10 hours ago, BikerScout007 said:

Hope to tap your knowledge for this meetup.  And @BigJasoni as well

Absolutely! I hope this post helps gain interest. Hopefully I'll be able to make the trip, but if not, I'll be more than happy to help out however I can.

[iceknyght]

Man, those pics bring back memories.  I was in the Scouts (many, MANY moons ago) and did a LOT of camping trips and I still have that Paul Bunyan and Babe statues seared into my brain!  LOL!  Even those campground pics look familiar...  It's beautiful up there.

[BigJasoni]

17 minutes ago, iceknyght said:

Man, those pics bring back memories.  I was in the Scouts (many, MANY moons ago) and did a LOT of camping trips and I still have that Paul Bunyan and Babe statues seared into my brain!  LOL!  Even those campground pics look familiar...  It's beautiful up there.

Jason,
I'd be interested in knowing where you grew up? You know that's a small community. I was in Scouts also; I wouldn't be surprised if we crossed the same path.

[BikerScout007]

Hey Pathfinders and soon-to-bes

This thread will be for planning our meetup in Northern California for the 40th Anniversary.  Tentatively planned for June (no exact date set yet).  

I've asked @iceknyghtand @BigJasoni to lend some of their expertise, as they have been to the area before.  I am going to circle in @ShaunPugtoo since he's part of GGG and we will definitely need their guidance.

 

[BikerScout007]

Okay so here's a list of things I've thought of that we can work from:

1.  Date.   Obviously May 25th would have been perfect, but Memorial Day weekend, kids still in school, etc. will probably make this problematic.  @BigJasoni suggested June as a good time of year, so I think we should go with that.  I will start a poll to see what Saturday works best for folks.

2.  Logistics -- how are we getting there?   Need to know closest airport, roads.

3.  Accommodations -- what are the closest hotels?

4.  The meeting spot -- we need to decide where we are doing the meetup.  Should be somewhere that is convenient for people to find.  I think we need to prioritize that over finding exact locations from the film.  If we can do both, great, but I don't want people getting lost.  Also we need to be cognizant of the environment and not do any damage to the area we shoot in.

5.  Local organizations - Once a meeting spot is decided upon, what local organizations need to be notified?  Police?  National Park Services?  It's one thing to have one or two people do a one-off photo, but once we are talking dozens then usually some sort of arrangements with local official need to be made.   Will we need insurance?  We should also coordinate with Golden Gate Garrison since this is their turf.  

6.  Charity -- do we want to use this opportunity to raise funds?  "Save the Redwoods" is a charity dedicated to preserving these areas, maybe we want to fundraise for them.  Say $20 for each person who shows up?   Spitballing here....

7.  Merch --  and before anyone brings it up, we'll look into doing some sort of patch for the attendees.  Perhaps this can be tied into number 6.  

8.  Props -- @MrPoopie and I have discussed bringing up the So Cal Speeder Bike.  That means a long drive for us.  We can also see what GGG has.  

9.  Other invitees -- Obviously we will do an all Scout Trooper pic, but I think invitations can go out to any Battle of Endor troopers -- so TKs, AT-ST drivers, etc.  

Thoughts?  Am I missing anything?

[Whistler]

I can’t believe I didn’t go to the trees of mystery 😂.  I was literally in front of that Paul Bunyan statue and didn’t go the rest of the way.  Where was this a year ago @BigJasoni 😂.  I found most of the GPS coordinates for the speeder bike scenes on a couple of websites.  I started doing Star Wars filming sites ever since I was in the military.  Started with the Rogue One set in the Maldives in 2014.  It’s a really cool little tourist thing to do.  Are they gonna open Skywalker ranch back up? Or did they?

[Donovan]

definitely following this thread closely.. as soon as we get a date and location im booking my flight and hotel

[Harbinger]

Went camping up there about 10 years ago and would be down for another trip. Beautiful place:

[Nigoki]

Can’t commit just yet, but really hoping I can make it. 
Especially since the trip I was going to take with Blizzard Force to filming locations in Norway for ESB’s 40th was scheduled for Mid March 2020 and yeah…that didn’t go as planned

[Retrofire]

We might also want to check and make sure we're not there over any major town functions like a bike meet or car show. I'm thinking of areas like Coachella or Gilroy that have big festivals and such like. I know from living in Oakland for several years that a lot of the smaller cities in CA have festivals of some sort. Just a thought.

[BikerScout007]

6 minutes ago, Retrofire said:

We might also want to check and make sure we're not there over any major town functions like a bike meet or car show. I'm thinking of areas like Coachella or Gilroy that have big festivals and such like. I know from living in Oakland for several years that a lot of the smaller cities in CA have festivals of some sort. Just a thought.

@BigJasoni@Whistler thoughts on this?

I looked up the calendar of events at Cheatham Grove and didn't find anything.  That's most likely going to be our spot:

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=421

[Rockhop7]

Following

[kindabusy]

Feel free to reach out to any of us members in the Golden Gate Garrison if you need recommendations or planning help! There are lots of places with redwood trees outside of the filming location and might be easier accessible for people who might be using rental cars and hotels.
FYI- It's never called San Fran. It's always San Francisco or SF. Never ever EVER San Fran! 😉

xo

[BikerScout007]

3 minutes ago, kindabusy said:

Feel free to reach out to any of us members in the Golden Gate Garrison if you need recommendations or planning help! There are lots of places with redwood trees outside of the filming location and might be easier accessible for people who might be using rental cars and hotels.
FYI- It's never called San Fran. It's always San Francisco or SF. Never ever EVER San Fran! 😉

xo

We are absolutely going to need the help of GGG!  Thanks for chiming in

[Whistler]

47 minutes ago, kindabusy said:

Feel free to reach out to any of us members in the Golden Gate Garrison if you need recommendations or planning help! There are lots of places with redwood trees outside of the filming location and might be easier accessible for people who might be using rental cars and hotels.
FYI- It's never called San Fran. It's always San Francisco or SF. Never ever EVER San Fran! 😉

xo

My bad @kindabusy 😂.  @BikerScout007 I was going to say Cheatham Grove just because that’s where the majority of the speeder bike scenes were filmed.  I just know that almost all those towns have light amenities around here which makes getting a hotel around there difficult but I’m sure there’s a way to get it done.  I’m trying to find the site I saw the gps locations of some of the iconic scenes like 👇🏻 

[BikerScout007]

Cheatham Grove is the way I'm leaning.  There are lots of places in California to photograph tall trees, but I think for the 40th we need to go for it!

[Hoda]

Oooh definitely interested in coming out for this

[Laubi]

5 hours ago, BikerScout007 said:

Cheatham Grove is the way I'm leaning.  There are lots of places in California to photograph tall trees, but I think for the 40th we need to go for it!

That should be the goal. If you're going to the redwoods to celebrate the anniversary of RotJ, then you should do it at the original film locations. 

And they are also reasonably easy to find and reach. From the parking lot, there is a circular route along which you can find the most prominent locations that are still recognizable. To my knowledge those are the only locations still out there. All action scenes with explosions and the scenes around the bunker were shot in an area that had already been released for clearing beforehand, which meant that no more damage could be done there. The scenes of Vader's burning were filmed on the grounds of Skywalker Ranch.

I was there in 2015: https://www.instagram.com/skywalkingacrossthestars/

For accommodation I would have suggested the Ship Ahsore Resort, the crew hotel at the time during filming, but apparently that is closed. It's also a bit further away from the still existing filming locations, but we were there in 2015 and the bartender could still remember one or two funny anecdotes. 

In any case, a great idea and I wish I could participate. But maybe I can help from here if there is a need.

[BigJasoni]

11 hours ago, BikerScout007 said:

@BigJasoni@Whistler thoughts on this?

I looked up the calendar of events at Cheatham Grove and didn't find anything.  That's most likely going to be our spot:

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=421

The two major events in the Fortuna area each summer are the Rodeo and AutoXpo Car Show; both take place in July. Unless you’re a rodeo or car fan, you don’t want to be anywhere around the area when either are in town; the population of the area swells to crazy proportions and every hotel and camp ground gets overrun.

In June, everyone in the area is just prepping for the rodeo, so it’s pretty calm. The weather is also great during that time and we haven’t reached the peak months of the fire season. 
 

4 hours ago, Laubi said:

For accommodation I would have suggested the Ship Ahsore Resort, the crew hotel at the time during filming, but apparently that is closed.

The Ship Ashore Resort (motel) is way up there in Smith River and yes it’s closed. For those interested in making the trip up the coast to the Jedediah State Park, I’m sure you can swing by and look, but there’s not much to see. Smith River isn’t exactly known for tourism, but there is a casino/hotel there if you’re interested. 

[Jason745]

Really stoked on this trip. I’ll be following this thread closely for sure.

[BigJasoni]

All, it's been a couple days, so I just wanted to post a few items and answer some of Mickey's questions from last Friday.

On 1/13/2023 at 12:30 PM, BikerScout007 said:

Okay so here's a list of things I've thought of that we can work from:

1.  Date.   Obviously May 25th would have been perfect, but Memorial Day weekend, kids still in school, etc. will probably make this problematic.  @BigJasoni suggested June as a good time of year, so I think we should go with that.  I will start a poll to see what Saturday works best for folks.

2.  Logistics -- how are we getting there?   Need to know closest airport, roads.

3.  Accommodations -- what are the closest hotels?

4.  The meeting spot -- we need to decide where we are doing the meetup.  Should be somewhere that is convenient for people to find.  I think we need to prioritize that over finding exact locations from the film.  If we can do both, great, but I don't want people getting lost.  Also we need to be cognizant of the environment and not do any damage to the area we shoot in.

5.  Local organizations - Once a meeting spot is decided upon, what local organizations need to be notified?  Police?  National Park Services?  It's one thing to have one or two people do a one-off photo, but once we are talking dozens then usually some sort of arrangements with local official need to be made.   Will we need insurance?  We should also coordinate with Golden Gate Garrison since this is their turf.  

6.  Charity -- do we want to use this opportunity to raise funds?  "Save the Redwoods" is a charity dedicated to preserving these areas, maybe we want to fundraise for them.  Say $20 for each person who shows up?   Spitballing here....

7.  Merch --  and before anyone brings it up, we'll look into doing some sort of patch for the attendees.  Perhaps this can be tied into number 6.  

8.  Props -- @MrPoopie and I have discussed bringing up the So Cal Speeder Bike.  That means a long drive for us.  We can also see what GGG has.  

9.  Other invitees -- Obviously we will do an all Scout Trooper pic, but I think invitations can go out to any Battle of Endor troopers -- so TKs, AT-ST drivers, etc.  

Thoughts?  Am I missing anything?

1. Date: I'll jump in the pool and encourage you all to do the same.

2. Logistics: Closest Airport is the Eureka/ Arcata (ACV) Regional Airport. It's tiny. My experience with the airport is that half the flights leaving early in the morning are delayed due to heavy fog. However, I flew out a few months ago and had no issues. The servicing major airports are San Francisco, Los Angeles and Denver, so be prepared for a layover if you're flying from anywhere else. I said it previously, but I really enjoy the drive from San Francisco, so that's an option also.

3. Accomodations: The nearest town to Cheatham Grove is Fortuna which is approximately 20 minutes away. When you search online, Carlotta is listed as the nearest town, but Carlotta is nothing more than a post office, a couple farms, and two abandoned mills; nowhere to stay unless you want to camp. Camping at Grizzly Creek is pretty good, but as I stated previously, it's not glamorous.
If you're looking for a hotel, I would suggest the Comfort Inn & Suites, Best Western Country Inn, Super 8, and the Redwood Fortuna Riverwalk Hotel. All four of these are located alongside the Eel River in Fortuna and are next to the Eel River Brewing Company which is a pretty good restaurant. There's a handful of other good restaurants in town, but if I get my vote, I'm pigging out at Round Table Pizza. Lol... the stupid things you miss when you live on the East Coast.
There's also the Bear River Casino Resort which is just a couple miles north of Fortuna. It's pretty much the newest thing in the area and definitely the nicest hotel. If you're feeling nostalgic, the Victorian Villiage of Ferndale has a few historical places.
I wouldn't advise anyone to stay in Eureka.

4. The meeting spot: I would advise meeting up at Grizzly Creek and then journeying over to Cheatham Grove together. The Grove is a 6 minute drive, but honestly, there's only enough room for a handful of cars to park. Here's a pic of the parking area:

So another option would be to drop off boxes at the parking area with some "guards" and then start shuttling everyone over. This is honestly going to be the trickiest part of the day.

5. Local Organizations: I don't think notification is necessary, but I'm sure it would be welcome. The Grizzly Creek State Park has group sites available which can be reserved 6 months prior to arrival. I just ran a generic check for June 2-3 and they have a site available. They have contact information available on their site, but I'm not sure if the park is fully staffed or not. When I went there back in October, we just dropped our day use payment in the drop box and put the little card in the window of our car.
The park gets a lot of use from organizations, i.e. cub scouts etc. so they're used to large groups coming in. There's other camp grounds in the area, but not as close as Grizzly Creek. I like Humboldt Redwoods State Park which is in the Avenue of the Giants, which is where there were a lot of "Star Wars sightings" when I was younger. The local rumor was that they shot scenes in the Avenue of the Giants, but preferred the ones from Cheatham Grove. Avenue of the Giants is pretty awesome though; lots of touristy places, a few "greasy spoon" restaurants, and a Hobbit walking trail. Lol. 
The local news organizations would absolutely love notification of this trip. My guess is that the trip would be featured in the Lost Coast Outpost which is like the local source of information that everyone out there loves.
I think the GGG should really take the lead on this since it is their turf... 5.5 hours north of San Francisco, but still their jurisdiction. I'm very happy to lend a hand since it was my home, but we're still trying to determine if we'll be able to make the trip from Virginia.

6. Charity: I'm asking around on this one. At it's heart, this is a logging community, so we may want to donate to an organization that has good community support. Every timber worker I know considers their self a responsible steward of the land's natural resources, but there's others who see it much differently. I'd hate to go in thinking we're donating to a great cause, but then find out that 75% of the local community think we're there to protest. I know that sounds silly, but these are the complaints I've heard my entire life. Not a bad suggestion at all, but we definitely need to do some research.    

7. Merch: See above comment, but if we were to do a patch, it would immediately be put in a place of honor amongst my collection; even if I can't make the trip.

8. Props: You guys got this one. Honestly though, if you don't feel like making the drive, the area has the most perfect natural props in existence.

9. Other Invitees: I would love to see TKs and anyone from the Battle of Endor included. Selfishly, I don't think I'll be able to finish a Scout in time, but I'll have the TK on standby waiting to go. I would also love to announce this to my buddies in the FISD; I'm sure we'd see good support.

Lastly, my family and best childhood friend still live there. My buddy is an "amateur" photographer and graphic artist that said he'd love to do pictures for us if he gets time off from work. I told him that as we continue planning I'll keep him informed, but his work is absolutely insane. As long as we do this on a weekend, he should be able to support and put some stuff together that'll blow our collective minds. Just a thought.

I hope this all helps.

[BikerScout007]

3 minutes ago, BigJasoni said:

 

I hope this all helps.

This helps TREMENDOUSLY!  Thank you.  This is exactly the kind of insider knowledge we need

[Donovan]

This is definitely going to be an expensive trip with travel costs alone... hoping i can save up in time...