How Star Wars Transformed the Northern California Redwoods into Endor for ‘Return of the Jedi’

In the early 1980’s, the third installment of the wildly popular Star Wars franchise was in production, and creator George Lucas was looking to create a forested moon named Endor for his action-packed movie. Lucas found the perfect location just north of where he grew up in Modesto, California, in a beautiful place called the Redwood National Park.

In April of 1982, the Star Wars filming crew descended on the northwest corner of California to create a world in which the Star Wars fans had never experienced for Return of the Jedi. The NorCal redwoods would provide the stage for the home of the Ewoks, an epic speeder bike chase and a battle that would spark the end of the Empire.

The battle scene and much of the Ewok scenes were filmed on the private property owned by a logging company in the town of Smith River, near the Avenue of the Giants. Unfortunately, much of the area you see in the film was eventually clearcut. Here are a couple scenes from that area:

But there is an area that remains full intact since the shooting of the film, and that is located in the Chetham Grove section of Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park, where the speed chaser scene was filmed. If you go visit the area today, you’ll see much of the same trees as in these scenes:

It’s no surprise that Lucas chose to film the forested Endor moon in the beautiful redwood forest of NorCal. When you look at the scenes, the trees look so big that it’s hard to imagine they could grow on planet Earth. But they can, and for anyone lucky enough to visit the Redwood National and State Parks, it’s like traveling to another world. Maybe a Star Wars world?

May the Force be with you, NorCal.