Where Was Stranger Things Filmed? Every Real-Life Location Revealed

After five seasons and a play, the vast fanbase of the Netflix series “Stranger Things,” which draws inspiration from Amblin, is even larger than the expansive world-building iceberg it presents. The show, set in the most authentic representation of the 1980s, introduces iconic settings one after another. First, there’s Hawkins, Indiana – a small town that feels like a blend of Stephen Spielberg’s, Ray Bradbury’s, and Stephen King’s visions, as envisioned by the Duffer Brothers for their cast.

In my youthful days, I can’t help but reminisce about the familiar backdrops of this series that resonate so deeply with Gen Xers like me. From the tranquil tree-lined streets where we’d pedal our bikes long into the twilight, to the vibrant roller skating rinks bathed in neon light, arcades filled with pixelated adventures, high schools echoing with laughter and learning, the California skate park, and the iconic 1980s gathering place, the food court within the mall. Yet, these are just a few of the ordinary settings; there’s also the eerie Upside Down, the enigmatic Hawkins Laboratory, and a Russian prison that seemed to have been plucked straight from Ronald Reagan’s most chilling Cold War visions.

The producers’ dedication to vividly bringing each setting to life is a significant factor contributing to the series’ immersive quality. To achieve this, they employed several striking locations throughout Georgia, New Mexico, and Lithuania, some of which you can visit now. Here’s a comprehensive guide if you aim to explore them all – don’t forget to pack your D20 for those unexpected situations!

Much of the series was filmed around Atlanta

Georgia, with its attractive tax benefits for film studios, ancient architecture, varied landscapes ranging from dense forests to coastal ecosystems including tidal pools, barrier islands, estuaries, and extensive stretches of golden sand beaches, has emerged as a significant filming location over the past few decades. Shows like “Stranger Things,” “Ozark,” “The Walking Dead,” and “The Vampire Diaries” have been among those filmed in Georgia, with many locations for these shows being found in or around Atlanta.

The imposing five-story Late Modernist structure that serves as the ominous Hawkins National Laboratory is actually Building A from the Georgia Mental Health Institute. This same Brutalist design was featured in films like “Rings” (2017 sequel to “The Ring”), “Civil War” starring Kirsten Dunst, and various others such as “Hidden Figures,” “Ozark,” and “WandaVision.” At the time of filming, this mental health facility was situated on Emory University’s Briarcliff campus at 1256 Briarcliff Road in Atlanta. However, it has been marked for demolition as part of a future senior living community development project.

Additional noteworthy locations near Atlanta include Eddie Munson’s hidden gem, Skull Rock. This site can be found along Boat Rock Road SW in Southwest Atlanta, specifically at 1238 Boat Rock Road SW. In the real world, it is known as the Boat Rock Bouldering Area, a stretch of nearly a mile filled with boulders. The exteriors of both the Bingham and Lonnie Byers homes can be found in Atlanta. Their addresses are 835 Oakdale Rd NE and 930 Garibaldi Street SW respectively.

The Atlanta locations include an iconic quarry seen in other shows

The eerie-appearing lake where the false body of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) was discovered in “Holly, Jolly”, which was created by the oddities at Hawkins Lab, was actually filmed at another widely used location for TV and movie production. Known as Sattler Quarry, it’s situated at 1660 Johnson Rd NW in Atlanta, but it was previously Bellwood Quarry. This northwest Atlanta granite quarry, where Fulton Prison inmates worked for many years, has been operational for over a century. The city of Atlanta bought it in 2006 to transform it into a park and water reservoir.

Transformed with winding pathways, gazebos, and soon to include a bike park, the remarkable 35-acre green expanse, the city’s largest, is known as the Atlanta Beltline within the Atlanta park system. Renamed for former mayor Shirley Clarke Franklin in 2024, this site has been featured in numerous films and TV series. The reservoir plays a significant role in “The Walking Dead” episode “Tell it to the Frogs,” and it is also the location where Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) sang “The Hanging Tree” in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1.” Furthermore, it served as the setting for Steven’s Quarry in “The Vampire Diaries,” where the Salvatore brothers Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) underwent their vampiric transformations.

A few locations are from Atlanta’s suburbs

In Atlanta’s suburbs, numerous locations similar to those seen in “Stranger Things,” such as Starcourt Mall, can be found. However, unlike the bustling setting of “Stranger Things,” the actual Starcourt Mall, known as Gwinnett Place Mall, has fallen into disuse, much like many other once-thriving malls today. This mall, situated at 2100 Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth, Georgia, shut down its last store in 2025 and is now slated for demolition and redevelopment.

2024 rolled around, and as a gamer, I found myself reminiscing about the old Patrick Henry High School on 109 S. Lee Street – my virtual school-turned-battlefield in the game world. This Stockbridge landmark, serving dual roles as both Hawkins Middle and High Schools, was no more; it had been razed to pave the way for a $73 million STEM high school.

But wait, there’s more! My real-world counterpart of the Hideaway bar, Smokin’ Cues, still stood tall in Stockbridge. Just another day in the life of a gamer, uncovering the connections between the digital and physical worlds.

After operating for almost 70 years, Hodge Army Navy at 507 Cobb Parkway SE in Marietta, Georgia, which was once Hawkins’ weapons shop known as The War Zone, had to close its doors due to online competition. Other nearby locations that appeared on screen include the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, which stood in for woods, and the Harrington residence at 8253 Carlton Road in Riverdale. The actual Tiffany’s Kitchen in Lithia Springs was where Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown) obtained her meals, while Benny’s Burgers were depicted on the show. Bradley’s Big Buy in Palmetto served as the location near Weathertop where Dustin and Mike searched for Eleven on bikes during Season 1. The real Winston’s Fair Mart in Winston and Tucker’s Joppa and Sarahs Lane were the settings for Eleven’s van-flipping bike chase in Season 1.

The real-life downtown Hawkins is a town square in Jackson

Downtown Hawkins resembles a typical, quaint Main Street U.S.A. town, where most daily necessities are available in its adorable storefronts along the main road. In reality, downtown Hawkins is actually the picturesque Jackson, Georgia – only about an hour’s drive from Atlanta. The entirety of Jackson can be explored during a relaxing afternoon stroll or by joining the Stranger Things Guided Tour.

Begin your journey at Mulberry Street’s town square, nestled between 2nd Street and Oak Street. Embark on a leisurely walk through Jackson, where you’ll find the location of Hawk Theater, once the beloved local cinema of the town before Starcourt’s grand cinema took over. Interestingly, it’s Bradley’s on the Square, a popular restaurant and pub, that now occupies the spot, making it an ideal dining destination for you.

Just a short walk away, you can discover the Butts County Probate Court, which was used as the exterior for Hawkins Public Library. Additionally, you’ll notice the location near the Butts County Water and Sewer Authority where Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) argue following Will’s funeral in “The Body”, and the alley where they later fight in “The Monster.” Also, at 4 Second Street, you’ll find Melvaid’s General Store, which is known as Jackson Drug in reality, where Joyce works.

Many of the houses are in East Point, Georgia

In the show “Stranger Things”, many of the houses depicted are actually private homes. It’s fun to drive past them, but remember to keep your distance and be considerate of the families living there. Unlike some fans of “Breaking Bad” who threw pizzas on Walter White’s house, we should respect these residents’ privacy. Interestingly, you can spot several houses from “Stranger Things” if you take a leisurely drive through Mike (played by Finn Wolfhard) and Lucas’s (Caleb McLaughlin) neighborhood in East Point, Georgia, which is a suburban area located just 13 minutes from Atlanta.

Begin your journey on Piney Wood Lane, where you’ll encounter Mike and Nancy Wheeler’s residence (numbered 2530), followed by the Sinclair house (2550). Sandwiched between these two homes at address 2545 is the house where the group of friends, dressed as Ghostbusters, are mistaken for exterminators by an older lady.

Moving along Piney Wood Drive, you’ll find the late Barb Holland’s home at number 2980 and Dustin Henderson’s family residence slightly further down the road at 2886. Lastly, make your way to 2461 McAlpine Terrace to discover a vantage point overlooking the Wheeler household.

A few other spots are from East Point

When visiting East Point, don’t forget to explore other notable locations around town:

* At 2903 RN Martin Street, take a look at the abandoned Old Atlanta Utility Works that transformed into Brimborn Steel Works. This place served as the hideout for the Mind Flayer in Seasons 2 and 3.
* Head down to 2813 East Point Street where you’ll find the First Baptist Church. The show used exterior shots of this building to portray Hawkins General Hospital, where Chief Hopper (David Harbour) nervously enters a vehicle from Hawkins National Laboratory in “The Upside Down” to negotiate with Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine).
* Follow Thompson Avenue and you’ll eventually reach the scenic view that appears in the series.

The historic civic area located between East Point Street, West Cleveland Avenue, Church Street, and Linwood Avenue houses the Old East Point Library, although it may not appear so from the exterior, it was utilized for the Hawkins Public Library. The East Point City Hall, which managed to avoid demolition in 2011 due to community protests, served as the Hawkins Town Hall.

A few Stranger Things locations are in Fayetteville, Georgia

Just a short 20-minute drive south of Atlanta’s city center lies Fayetteville, Georgia – another popular location for filming “Stranger Things”. Notably, the Byers family home is situated at 149 Coastline Road. What makes this even more exciting is that you can actually stay there, as it’s a three-bedroom Airbnb accommodating up to six guests! Remarkably, the owners have gone to great lengths to replicate the film set, including the Christmas light alphabet and BMX bikes, making your visit feel just like stepping into Hawkins.

At 422 Lees Lake Road stands the Ives family residence, inhabited by Eleven’s biological mother Terry (Aimee Mullins) and her aunt Becky (Amy Seimetz). On the intersection known for its plant life, Dogwood Trail meets Flower Road, is where Hopper pauses to place a call during his journey towards the Ives household accompanied by Joyce. Bethany Cemetery, where Will Byers’ funeral took place in Season 1, is an ancient cemetery in Fayetteville dating back to the Civil War era.

Douglasville, Georgia is home to two major sites

Approximately 20 minutes west from Atlanta lies Douglasville, a charming suburb boasting two significant locations where “Stranger Things” was filmed. One of these is a versatile building that functions as both Family Video and the adjoining Palace Arcade, where Dustin’s high score on Dragon’s Lair was surpassed by Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink). Originally a laundromat and dry cleaning establishment at 6501 E. Church Street, the location had been vacant for a couple of years before being transformed into the popular teen hangout by the show’s producers.

Make your way to Courthouse Square West, where you’ll find the recently renovated building that served as the Hawkins Police Department. Located at 8549 Courthouse Square West, this building has undergone extensive changes over the past few years, making it barely resemble its former self. However, if you take a close look, you’ll notice that the arrangement of windows and doors bears a striking similarity to the original Hawkins law enforcement headquarters – almost as if it were an inverted version of the department from another dimension.

Stone Mountain, Georgia is also home to several key Stranger Things sites

Approximately a thirty-minute drive northeast of Atlanta lies the peaceful town of Stone Mountain, nestled next to Stone Mountain Park – a vast Georgia state park encompassing the famous granite outcropping and its large rock carving depicting Confederate leaders, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and Robert E. Lee.

Multiple locations near Stone Mountain have been showcased in the series “Stranger Things.” The residence where Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery), Max, and their mother Susan (Jennifer Marshall) dwell is located at 5280 Moore Street; however, in the episodes “The Battle of Starcourt” and “Trick or Treat, Freak,” this address is referred to as 4819 Cherry Lane by Max, and in another instance it’s mentioned as being on “Old Cherry Road.” The luxurious mansion where Mayor Larry Kline (Cary Elwes) resides is found at 5505 Bahia Mar Circle, while the opulent Loch Nora home seen in other scenes can be spotted at 1590 Planters Row.

Much of the Hawkins Woods footage from Stranger Things was shot at Stone Mountain Park, including the location where Will’s fort in “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” was set up. Additionally, scenes featuring Lucas, Dustin, Steve, and Max walking along the tracks, as well as the sequence where Dustin and Steve try to entice Demodogs with a meat trail, were also filmed here. The Scottish Inns at 6255 Memorial Drive served as a stand-in for Nancy and Jonathan’s Motor Motel in Season 2. Lastly, Roane Hill Cemetery was used to film Barb’s funeral scene.

Two filming locations are in or near Rome, Georgia

About an hour and a quarter to the northwest of Atlanta, along I-75, lies the quaint town of Rome, Georgia. In this town, you can find two notable locations connected to Victor Creel (portrayed by Robert Englund) from the hit series “Stranger Things.” The most striking is likely the actual house that stood in for Victor Creel’s former residence, situated at 906 E 2nd Avenue within the East Rome Historic District. Contrasting the run-down dwelling discovered by the kids in “Stranger Things,” the real-life version, known as Claremont House, is a stunning seven-bedroom Second Empire Victorian mansion built in 1882.

In the July/August 2022 issue of Perspective magazine, production designer Chris Trujillo highlighted the “distinctively grand atmosphere” of Claremont. According to Trujillo’s account, the design team painstakingly replicated each intricate, hand-carved detail of the mansion’s interior on a soundstage and incorporated dreamlike elements in the upper levels. Trujillo described their creative process as designing a complex layout for the upper floor and attic to facilitate the prolonged exploration scenes and climactic confrontation that occur there.

Approximately a 10-minute drive lies Mount Berry’s authentic Pennhurst Mental Hospital equivalent, known as Kerley County Mental Hospital in Indiana. This specific facility, where Creel resided since 1959, housed the criminal ward. In reality, Pennhurst was filmed at the picturesque Ford Buildings of Berry College, a captivating set of stone structures that have also been showcased in “Sweet Home, Alabama” and “Remember the Titans.

Some of the show was filmed in Albuquerque

In contrast to most of “Stranger Things” being filmed in Georgia, numerous locations for the series’ California scenes were actually shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For instance, Eldorado High School was utilized as a stand-in for Lenora Hills High School. Although you can’t go near the high school due to it still being operational, you can explore Snow Park arroyo, where an episode from Season 4 was filmed featuring Eleven diving deeply into Max’s mind. In this scene, the drainage area serves as a skate park.

In reality, the junkyard-turned-golf course in Lenora Hills, California, where Argyle (Eduardo Franco) and Jonathan Byers played golf, evaded a military attack alongside Mike and Will, and buried Agent Harmon (Ira Amyx), is actually Montessa Park, a 577-acre off-road vehicle area situated at 3615 Los Picaros Road SE in the city’s South Valley. Through some television production wizardry, the quirky Route 66 Americana Motel, found at 5908 Central Avenue SW, stood in for an Alaskan motel that Joyce and Murray (Brett Gelman) visited. Lastly, the Byers’ residence in California can be spotted at 13212 Montgomery Boulevard Northeast.

You can also pay a visit to two eateries that appeared in the show. Drop by Cafe 66 New Mexican Restaurant to experience the authentic County Line Cafe, and travel a bit outside the city to 3476 NM-47 in Los Lunas for Aliberto’s Mexican Food, which was featured as Surfer Boy Pizza.

You can visit the time capsule skating rink in Albuquerque

As a devoted fan of “Stranger Things,” I can’t help but feel the thrill of stepping into the shoes of my favorite characters by visiting the Albuquerque skating rink that served as their hangout spot in the show. It’s where Eleven, Will, and Mike shared some unforgettable moments… until the chilling scene where El retaliated against her bully Angela (Elodie Grace Orkin) by breaking her nose with a roller skate. This happened after Angela poured a milkshake on El, making fun of the presumed demise of her adoptive father, Hopper. Quite a turn of events at that skating rink!

In the TV show, the skating rink is referred to as Rink-O-Mania. This rink, situated at 400 Paisano St NE, just north of I-40, appears as if it’s straight out of an ’80s photo album. During the filming of the series, this rink, which opened in January 1980 and is also featured in Amazon’s “Outer Range”, was known as Roller King. However, since then, its name has been changed to Skate-O-Mania.

According to Skate-O-Mania’s FAQ section, Netflix generously provided the rink with their 1980s makeover by giving them the entire “Stranger Things” filming set. This was an unprecedented move since they have never done this across all four seasons of the show! As a result, we received a fantastic renovation for free and now have a complete set that fans can visit and enjoy for years to come.

Lithuania was the site of the show’s most controversial location

For filming scenes that depicted Russia, the production team of “Stranger Things” established their base in Lithuania. Kyviškės Airport in Kyviškės was used as a stand-in for Yuri’s Fish N Fly, while St. Nicholas Church in Semeliškės took on the role of Yuri’s warehouse in the series.

Instead of filming Kamchatka Facility at its intended location, the producers’ choice to shoot it in Lukiškės Prison, Vilnius, Lithuania, stirred controversy among various international groups. The reason for this backlash was that they opted to use a site with historical significance: Lukiškės Prison had served as a prison and holding facility during World War II, where some Lithuanian collaborators assisted Nazis in the brutal Ponary massacre.

Originally a place known for its long history of torment and cruelty, lasting over a century, this former prison now functions as an artistic and musical hub. It even boasts a 1980s-inspired “Stranger Things” cell for visitors to explore during guided tours of the premises.

2025-05-25 23:32