Stand By Me (1985)

I've actually managed to nail down the majority of the locations for this one. You simply will not find a more comprehensive guide to locations for this film anywhere else. So here is your guided tour of Castle Rock!

The fictional town of Castle Rock was actually filmed in Brownsville, OR. 

The bridge at the entrance to town on North Main Street over the Calapooia River was seen a couple times in the movie, when Billy & Eyeball were fishing & as the boys re-enter town at the end (44.390927,-122.98443).

As you drive up Main Street, as you reach the intersection with Park Avenue. this is where the boys parted ways at the end of the film. Vern walks east down Park Avenue (44.393484, -122.984353) and Teddy goes west up the driveway to the right (44.393630, -122.985238).

As you keep driving up Main Street into town, the sidewalk on the left is where Gordie walks at the start of the film & Chris jumps out of the truck to join him (44.393672, -122.984535).

As you reach the intersection with Spaulding Way in the center of town, this is where Gordie crosses the street at the start (44.394222, -122.984414). Look east down Spaulding - Chris & Gordie later walk down the sidewalk on the right at the end of the film (44.394168, -122.983835).

As you continue up Main Street you might notice that the storefronts have changed a bit since filming, so it's hard to pick out specific storefronts. On the left is where Gordie emerges at the start of the film, reading a comic book (44.394414, -122.984578).

Right outside the Brownsville Saloon at 419 Main Street  is where Gordie & Chris run into Ace & Eyeball (44.394588, -122.984583) (later, Ace is seen shooting pool here). After the confrontation, they walk south down the sidewalk - this is confusing because the Blue Point Diner sign is in a different spot now. 

Turn left at the "T"on Stanard. The narrow alley on the left (Holloway Heights) is where Chris shows Gordie his gun and shoots the barrel, directly behind 407 N. Main Street (44.394688, -122.984911).

Keep heading north on Main Street and take a right on North Avenue. Take the next right , then left up School Avenue up the hill. One of the trees up here is where the tree house was, overlooking the town (it's not there any more obviously).

This is a good spot to turn back & head back into town, since the next location is nothing exciting. If you want, go back out and take a right on Main. Go immediately left on Depot Ave. and head diagonally NW as it turns into Linn Way/Seven Mile Lane. Go a ways down here to the house at 1152 Linn Way (on the right). Behind this house is where Ace & buddies hung out. Obviously there isn't much to see from here so it's not too exciting. Don't do anything stupid like pull in their driveway - respect people's privacy! It's a bit of a pain to turn around on this road & head back where you came.

Get back to Main Street going south and take a right on Walnut Avenue. then go left at the "T" onto Fisher Street. The house on the right at 325 Fisher Street is Gordie's that was seen briefly (from the backyard) at the start of the film (44.393937, -122.988467). 

Continue on Fisher Street as it goes down into Pioneer Park. Somewhere in the large open spaces in this park the tent was erected for the pie eating contest. The exact location is unknown since you can't tell in the film.

That's it for your tour of Brownsville! If you want to check out the rest of the locations, prepare for a drive!

"Quidaciolus Market" where Gordie shops in a flashback scene was at the intersection at 91979 Territorial Road outside Franklin, OR (44.156501, -123.307387). The building sat derelict for years and finally appears to have been knocked down. 

If you head down Franklin Avenue you might be able to spot Vern's house (where his eavesdropping under the porch was the inciting event for the film) at 26403 Franklin Avenue...but it's pretty obscured from the road. If you look to your right, you'll have the same as Vern looking down the driveway.

When Ace races down the road and plays chicken, it was on Royal Avenue between Greenhill & Fish Road west of Eugene (44.070444, -123.226948). Southeast of here, Huston Road in Veneta is where Ace & pals play mailbox baseball. The "Roslan's" box at 88114 Huston was featured prominently before clobbering. 

Also west of Eugene at the end of a dead-end road is Wooster Auto Wreckers at 25857 Tidball Lane in Veneta. This was "Castle Rock Salvage" where the Gordie was chased by the ferocious guard dog Chopper. 

Farther south from Eugene in Walden, just east of Cottage Grove, is the red railroad bridge where the boys start their journey. There is now a paved bike trail here, so it's an accessible location (43.778419, -123.005698).

If you continue north on the bike path about 0.7 miles you'll be at the spot where the boys sat and counted change on the tracks and where Teddy played chicken with the steam train (43.787566, -122.996136)

The shots of the boys walking on the tracks through the woods appear to be filmed on what is now the Row River Trail along the east side of Dorena Lake. You can see the lake behind them in several shots.

The corpse bank/leech swamp were both located at the same location on the Coast Fork of the Willamette River in Pleasant Hill, OR. However, it is located on private property and not accessible. East of Goshen if you turn off Hwy 58 onto Dilley Lane & head to the end of it, you'll reach a gate. Beyond this spot on the riverbank the film crew constructed a section of railroad tracks above the spot where the boys found Ray Brower's body (43.988824, -122.965432). The swamp was an area built by the film crew in this same area - a large pit was dug out and lined with plastic. The area on the opposite bank of the river is the Mount Pisgah Arboretum and features a large network of trails, so it is possible you might be able to catch a view of this general area from across the way. 

Now if you're feeling particularly adventurous and have a lot of time to kill, you can head to perhaps the most famous location in this movie. I'm talking of course about the gigantic railroad trestle the boys cross and are chased by a steam train. This is many miles farther south on Lake Britton and near Burney Falls (which is also a cool spot to check out).

From the south (Burney Falls), go across the road bridge on Hwy 89 over the river. Take the next right onto the gravel road (Eagle Mtn. Lane). If you're coming from the north, turn east off Interstate 5 onto Highway 89 south of Mt. Shasta and take it all the way to Lake Britton. Right before you cross the road bridge over the lake, turn left on the Eagle Mountain Lane (the last left before the bridge). Park on the shoulder by the red gravel path (don't block the road, people use it) - the tracks have been removed from the line so it's just a gravel bed going to it. Walk south down the path until you see the HUGE bridge in front of you (41.014992, -121.618867). In the movie, the boys started on the opposite side and ran toward you. Gordie & Vern jumped off the left side and down the embankment - it's steep! The bridge is in progressively worse shape so I WOULD NOT GO ON IT - seriously, the timbers are rotting. The banks near it are really steep and drop right off to the river below, so don't get too close. Still, it's an incredible location and worth the visit just for the view- just be careful.

While you're out here you might as well stop at another location seen in one quick shot - the water tower the boys walk past. This was the Bartle Water Tower on the old Yreka Western Railroad. Unfortunately, all that remains today are the wooden supports (41.254835, -121.816773).

The steam engine used in the bridge scene was the McCloud River Railroad #25, now used on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, which departs from 402 South American Way in Garibaldi, OR.

At the very end of the film, we see adult Gordie (Richard Dreyfuss) finishing his story at going outside to spend time with his kids. This was filmed at the 1928 mansion located at 380 S. San Rafael Avenue in Pasadena, CA. This estate has been featured in countless film productions over the years - most notably as Wayne Manor in the original Batman TV series. Unfortunately it is off-limits to the public and not visible from the street.