I Found Lord of the Rings Lands in Utah

Utah Just Might Be Middle Earth

If you grew up in the early 2000’s you probably experienced the Lord of the Rings movies directed by Peter Jackson. The films had long epic shots of hobbits, orcs, and elves running around middle earth.

These movies were from the JRR Tolkien books which described an epic story of halflings trying to toss some magic rings into Mordor. If you were as nerdy as me, they captured the imagination.

Jackson filmed the movies in New Zealand where he did a masterful job of recreating the vision of the writer. I was such a big fan of the books growing up that I was worried about what the movies would look like. I couldn’t have imagined anything better than what they did.  

I have no complaints with New Zealand, but growing up here in Utah, Peter Jackson may not have had to go across the world to find middle earth. I have found plenty of amazing places here in Utah that I think would fit. Check out this location in eastern Utah.

This is from an area kind of by Hanksville. Tell me this doesn't look like somewhere a company of orcs would run.

Here's the same knife blade poking from the earth at a different angle. Looks like something near Helms Deep.

From this angle, it is almost an old statue from ancient men called the Dunadan. It makes me want to buckle on my sword and start hunting some orcs.