Films, in an indirect way, can be wonderful travel guides, curated by directors who spend their whole career invested in interesting visual compositions. There are countless exotic movie destinations you can visit around the world, but many iconic films were shot in towns and outposts that otherwise might fall under the radar. In Texas, towns have served as backdrops for a breadth of dust-blown Westerns, desert horrors, and intimate coming-of-age films. From the wheat fields of the north to the arid mesas of the west, film directors have been drawn to Texas’s dramatic and sometimes extreme landscapes to set the mood and palette of significant cinematic moments.
Plenty of films have been shot in the big Texan cities like Austin and Houston, but for this list, we focused on smaller towns — destinations that were, in a way, put on the map because of their role in renowned movies. These are towns you might not have heard of, but something about them charmed the auteurs who chose to use them as backdrops. These smaller towns of Texas have a texture — faded road signs, quiet roads, wide ranches — that can’t be replicated in studios. In addition, each of these towns has filming locations that are still accessible, with exceptional scenery and interesting sites that go beyond their film ties, too.
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Marfa, Texas in Giant, There Will Be Blood, and more
Water tower seen from the courthouse in Marfa, Texas – Brady Daugherty/Shutterstock
Marfa’s significance in film history is hard to understate. What some have called Texas’s most unique town is an art lover’s paradise in the middle of nowhere. Its early major appearance on the big screen came in 1956 with the period piece “Giant,” starring James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor. If you drive into town from the west along Highway 90, you’ll see the film commemorated in a large (or even giant) “Giant” mural, depicting the movie set, with James Dean slinging a gun. The mural installation also plays music from Michael Nesmith on a continuous loop. The cattle ranch where much of the movie was filmed was Ryan Ranch, according to Movie-Locations.com, but the ranch house there has since been demolished. “Giant” fans should, however, stop by the Hotel Paisano, where the cast and crew stayed during shooting — the hotel has a room dedicated to “Giant” memorabilia.
Later, Marfa became a filming site for two Oscar-winning films, “There Will Be Blood” and “No Country for Old Men.” Both films are from 2007, and both, according to Chron, relied on Marfa as a backdrop because of its sprawling ranches and rugged desert. Most of “There Will Be Blood” was shot at the MacGuire Ranch in Marfa. Its manager David Williams (also credited as a producer for the film) told NPR, “We still are some of the wide-open, just pretty country that you don’t really get to see anywhere else.” The opening montage of “No Country for Old Men” also captures the vast, remote countryside of Marfa.
Marfa has its share of interesting places worth visiting in themselves. At the Marfa Lights Viewing Site, you can witness the mysterious illuminated orbs that hover over the city, still lacking any concrete scientific explanation.
Bastrop, Texas in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Friday the 13th
The Gas Station featured in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in Bastrop, Texas – @jenn_a.a / Instagram
If you’re a horror movie buff, Bastrop, Texas, is calling your name. The charming town outside of Austin branded as Texas’ “most historic small town” has amassed a good chunk of film history, too. In 1974, a gas station in Bastrop became a pivotal set piece in “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” The gas station is where the film’s protagonists stop to refill — only to be suspiciously told that the pumps are empty — and where they later, ill-fatedly, return. Dating back to 1960, the gas station has a gritty, retro feel that’s surprisingly well-kept — though the building was abandoned after the movie came out, it was bought in 2014 by two “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” fans who restored it and turned it into a horror-lovers’ outing, The Gas Station. From its 1970s-era Coca-Cola machine to the “We Slaughter Barbecue” sign, the site is lush with details that fans will appreciate. The Gas Station doesn’t actually serve gas but rather operates as a roadside barbecue joint and horror trinket shop, with slasher-themed cabin rentals available on site.
Bastrop cemented its place as a slasher stronghold with the 2009 remake of “Friday the 13th.” The film is set around a campsite by somewhere called Crystal Lake, but one of the real filming locations of the campsite was in fact Bastrop’s Lake Bastrop. Its piney shores and glassy waters provide the deceptively tranquil backdrop for campground mayhem. The lake has two actual campsites, a South Shore Park and North Shore Park, offering a mix of Airstreams, RV hookups, and glamping cabins. The eastern shore of the lake also skirts the North-South Trailway, a lovely hiking path that connects the two parks across 8 miles.
Smithville, Texas in Hope Floats and The Tree of Life
Western architecture along a street in Smithville, Texas – Philip Arno Photography/Shutterstock
Smithville, just 13 miles east of Bastrop, shifts the scenery from horror to heart. It’s a charming, artsy hub with a famous movie connection to the 1998 film “Hope Floats,” starring Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr. The movie was not only filmed in Smithville, but is also narratively set in the town. In the film, Sandra Bullock’s character moves back into her mother’s home in Smithville, which the Smithville Film Tour Map identifies as the stately home at the north end of Olive Street (as with any private homes, be mindful not to intrude). Other scenes in the film were shot along Main Street, including a scene set during the Festival of Lights, which actually takes place yearly in early December. Huebel’s Bier Garden, on Cleveland Street and North 2nd Street, is another film location that continues to exist — stop by for a drink and a pool game.
Just a short distance from the home featured in “Hope Floats” is the residential address that was the childhood home portrayed in “The Tree of Life” (2011). Much of the neighborhood scenes of the protagonist’s childhood are set around the blocks encompassing this house. The film’s titular oak tree was found just outside of Smithville and brought into town with the help of a helicopter and the fire department, according to Texas Monthly. Memorabilia from both “The Tree of Life” and “Hope Floats” are on view in Pocket’s Grille, which Texas Monthly described as “Smithville’s unofficial film museum.” It also serves well-reviewed hamburgers that have earned it 4.4 stars on Google.
Marathon, Texas in Paris, Texas
Railroad tracks leading out to the desert in Marathon, Texas – Jjay69/Shutterstock
In the opening sequence of Wim Wenders’ award-winning “Paris, Texas” (1984), we see a mute man, played by Harry Dean Stanton, wandering through a Texan desert landscape, where he’s eventually reunited with his brother. Despite its namesake, the film’s narrative never actually lands in Paris, Texas. However, the opening sequence was filmed in Texas, in a small town called Marathon. Marathon perfectly embodies the stark, lonely mood evoked by the film, with miles of shrub-covered plains stretching out around it and views of the jagged Chisos Mountains. In the movie, the protagonist and his brother post up for a night at the Marathon Motel and RV Park, which visitors can still book a room at today. It’s a rustic setting, complete with an adobe courtyard and a slatted windmill.
Aside from being the opening anchor of “Paris, Texas,” Marathon’s other claim to fame is its proximity to Big Bend National Park, a deadly yet iconic destination with treacherous cliffs and sweeping vistas. The park, with its desolate, gorge-carved terrain, has also served as a backdrop for numerous movies, including “Barbarosa” (1982), “All the Pretty Horses” (2000), and “No Country for Old Men” (2007). Marathon’s Gage Hotel is a go-to lodging for visitors coming to explore Big Bend. Travel blogger Voyage by Victoria said she came to Marathon “solely based off of the Gage Hotel.” The hotel building itself is an elegant, cinematic destination, but it’s the adjacent Gage Gardens — a surprisingly lush, European-style oasis — that is a must-stop (and free to visit) on a Marathon excursion.
Pilot Point, Texas in Bonnie and Clyde
The historic Farmers and Merchants Bank in Pilot Point, Texas – Sabrina Janelle Gordon/Shutterstock
Standing at the town square of Pilot Point, Texas, you might recognize one particularly majestic building from the original outlaw lovers film, “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967). After the partners in crime decide to up their crime spree during the Great Depression, they stage their first bank robbery right here in Pilot Point, at the historic Farmers and Merchants Bank. In the film, you see the leads (played by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty) hold up the bank, before dashing into a car parked outside its sand-colored brick front and hightailing it away through the streets of Pilot Point.
The building, dating back to 1896, was an actual Farmers and Merchants Bank, and you can still see the name engraved over its column-flanked entryway. Though it did operate as a bank up until the Great Depression, there’s no evidence that it was ever robbed by the real-life Bonnie and Clyde. However, there is a rumor that the criminals were seen around Pilot Point’s town square, as Texas Highways reported.
Whether there’s any truth to the rumor or not, the Farmers and Merchants Bank building became an iconic site for its cameo in the film, enough to land the town on the Texas Classics Film Trail. According to an Instagram post from October 2025, the historic bank is being restored for use as a speakeasy and restaurant, though it’s unlikely visitors will be able to go inside the building for a while. However, Pilot Point hosts the playfully morbid annual Bonnie & Clyde Days festival that film fans should consider a pilgrimage for. A highlight of the festival is reenactments of the film’s famous bank robbery scene.
Methodology
Sign over the Hotel Paisano in Marfa, Texas – Josh on the Trail/Shutterstock
Various towns in Texas have attracted filmmakers for as long as films have been made, and we selected five that truly showcase why that’s the case. These are destinations rich with film history, whether it be iconic landmarks spotlit on screen, recognizable scene backdrops, or attractions that celebrate their ties to the industry.
We used publicly available filming location databases, including Movie-Locations.com and the Texas Film Commission, to verify where scenes were shot in each town. To ensure travel-friendliness, we only included destinations where prominent filming locations are publicly accessible. Towns with more significant film connections (to movies that are more acclaimed and well-known) were emphasized in our picks, as was additional travel value beyond film tie-ins, like local scenery, unique accommodations, and well-reviewed businesses.
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Read the original article on Islands.