Mescal Movie Set--Saturday 1/24/2026
Trip Cost $22 (Please note important information below)
Grab your cowboy hat and boots and mosey on over to the world-famous Mescal Movie Set! The 1880’s cinematic town was home to the movie Tombstone, The Quick and the Dead, and over 80 other westerns. Notable actors such as Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Lee Marvin, and Clint Eastwood have walked its dusty streets.
"An 1880s Western Town, Surrounded by the High Desert Plains of Southeast Arizona and the Rincon Mountains." The film history of the Mescal area dates back over 70 years with scenes from Winchester 73 with Jimmy Stewart, The Big Country with Gregory Peck, and Cimarron with Glenn Ford. The physical set was built as a town in 1968-1969 for Monte Walsh, starring Lee Marvin and Jack Palance. This movie mirrors the current situation with the Mescal Set. An aging cowboy realizes the west he loves will soon be gone, and there is no room for cowboys like him. Released the same year was the Western comedy Dirty Dingus Magee with the legendary Frank Sinatra. Another Hollywood legend graced the set when Elizabeth Taylor filmed Poker Alice.
A succession of movies followed, including The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean starring Paul Newman, The Outlaw Josey Wales with Clint Eastwood, and Tom Horn with Steve McQueen. The 1990s had major big-budget productions. Tombstone starred Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, and many other notables such as Charlton Heston, Harry Carey Jr., and narration by Robert Mitchum. It has become a cult classic and easily the most quoted western of all time. The Quick and the Dead followed with Hollywood "A-Listers" Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe, Gene Hackman, and a very young Leonardo DiCaprio.
Country music fans will recall the 1986 remake of Stagecoach starring the Highwaymen, including Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristopherson. Mescal was also used in The Gambler with Kenny Rogers.
The Mescal Set was an alternative town set for many episodes of your favorite western TV series, including Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Magnificent Seven, and Little House on the Prairie. Fans will also remember it as the town of Sweetwater in The Young Riders series.
Mescal was also a popular site for TV Movies, including The Sacketts, with Tom Selleck, Glenn Ford, and Sam Elliott, Maverick with James Garner, Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster, and Buffalo Soldiers with Danny Glover.
As of Valentine's Day 2021, Mescal is no longer attached to the Old Tucson Studios group as a secondary film site. The set is now on its own and building its notoriety as the world-famous Mescal Movie Set. Kartchner Ventures is thrilled to give Mescal a well-deserved facelift and is dedicated to helping bring the film industry back to Southern Arizona. Please join us in celebrating such a western treasure!
Contact the guide Danny Valenzuela at 602-568-5759 or dvsundevil@gmail.com with any questions.
We will meet in the GVR Photography Club at 9:00 AM for departure at 9:15 AM to the Movie Set. Please do not leave on your own. If you wish to carpool, $15.00 is an appropriate amount for the driver. Lunch afterwards will be at the Mescal Bar & Grill.
GVR is requiring that every person participating in club's field trips sign a one-time waiver absolving GVR of any liability. You will be required to sign the waiver at the Photography Club before the trip departs if you haven't already completed one.
If you need to canceI, please contact Field Trip Coordinator Lynn Rozema at (719) 351-5193 or Irozema51@gmail.com. On the day of departure call Danny.
Last refund date is January 17, 2026.
NOTICE:
NOTE -- IMPORTANT CHANGES:
Be sure to have your GVR card with you for each and every field trip. Without it, you won't be allowed to go on the trip. No refunds will be granted for failure to comply with this requirement. To protect GVR and club member benefits, GVR has implemented a new process that requires each field trip participant to come into the club and scan his/her GVR card to confirm eligibility. We no longer have the option of typing in your name or GVR number – only the physical GVR card will do.
We will no longer meet in the parking lot. We will meet in the GVR Photography Club where you will scan your GVR card confirming your eligibility to go on the trip. We’ll also review important/late-breaking information, pair up drivers and riders, provide driving directions, and give participants a chance to visit the restrooms prior to departure. Again, be sure to have your GVR card with you.
This is a walking tour over mostly smooth dirt/gravel. All participants need to be responsible for an assessment of their mobility and health issues relating to field trips. Some trips may not be appropriate, but you must make that determination. However, the trip leader may deny participation in a specific field trip to anyone deemed not suitably prepared or able to walk with the group.
The club strives to provide several field trips specifically designed for members with physical limitations.
In order to participate in this event, you must be a member of the GVR Photography Club and GVR.
The GVR Photography Club is located in the Recreation Village of Santa Rita Springs.