Where Was MASH Really Filmed?

One doesn't always tune into a dramedy for the sweeping vistas that accompany the show's parade of laughs and pain. But "M*A*S*H" always managed to make those vistas look gorgeous. The hit series' impressive mountains and grassy hills helped draw viewers into the blood-soaked, tragicomic lives of the soldiers who make up the 4077. You can tell by simply looking at the show that it's not filmed on a soundstage, so where did CBS and 20th Century Fox shoot the popular sitcom that audiences tuned into by the millions?

It turns out that a very American set of locales was used to stand in for Uijeongbu, South Korea. Despite the show's setting, not a single frame of "M*A*S*H" was filmed overseas. What's more, not only are the show's sets located in the United States, you can even hike through two of them today. Where are the show's sets, where do you have to go to visit them, and what can be seen when you get there? Here are all of the places where "M*A*S*H" was filmed.

Regular viewers of "M*A*S*H" will notice that many of the show's scenes take place in the exterior of the camp, showing off medical tents and other apparatus as Jeeps zoom around the grounds and the doctors and soldiers wend their way through the war. But despite the series' sense of authenticity, these scenes were shot not in Korea but at the former Fox Ranch in Malibu Creek State Park in Malibu, California. For over a decade, this is where the 4077's tent city was pitched and where dozens, if not hundreds, of iconic scenes were filmed.

Since Malibu Creek Park is now public property, anyone can hike to this shooting site and spend a little time traversing the grounds. A variety of vehicles used when the show was in production, along with one of the iconic multi-directional signposts and a picnic area with benches and netting, exist on the site as a tribute to the series. Informational placards explaining what used to be in the area and the historical significance of each artifact are also posted around the park. Unfortunately, these items were slightly damaged in the Woolsey Fires of 2018, but the seating area and signpost have since been restored to their pre-fire conditions. You can download a map to the 4077's location on the official Malibu Creek State Park website.

The iconic "M*A*S*H" opening credits show off large mountain ranges as an Army helicopter flies over them. Sometimes, those rock formations even show up in actual episodes, particularly when the doctors have to journey beyond the base camp and into the battlefield to help out injured soldiers. Additional scenes set in the Korean camps were also shot in this hillier location from time to time. Once again, these scenes were all shot in the United States, as the mountains are the Santa Monica Mountains, located in Santa Monica, California.

Like the Malibu Creek Park set, the mountain range, too, is open for hiking, biking, and horseback riding throughout the year. One can walk along the Backbone Trail and then roam around the hills and dales, just like you're surgeon Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) and B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell). While all the signs that "M*A*S*H" once filmed in the mountains have long since disappeared, you can take a look at a view just like the one millions of viewers watched during the show's opening credits for eleven seasons.

Did the show actually shoot scenes inside of those tents? As it turns out, they didn't. Most of the series' interior shots — including surgery scenes in which BJ and Hawkeye show off their surgical skills as well as interactions that took place in the supply warehouse or the surgeons' personal tents — were all filmed at 20th Century Fox's studio faculties.

"M*A*S*H" kept sets on Stage 9 at the studio, including a massive recreation of their outdoor Malibu Creek Park set. This allowed them to handle night filming and outdoor scenes that they couldn't risk being spoiled by inclement weather. The sets were so similar, just how many of the series' exterior shots were actually shot in the great outdoors versus how many played out on a soundstage may be one of the biggest unanswered questions in "M*A*S*H" history. Fun fact: allegedly, a bathroom was added to the stage because the show's actors were tired of walking the long distance to use the studio's existing facilities between takes.

Unfortunately, the studio faculties aren't open to the public, as Stage 9 tends to host shows that don't film before live studio audiences, and the sets have been dismantled for decades. "Bones" was the last long-tenured show to shoot there, though a plaque outside of the studio does commemorate the tenure of "M*A*S*H*" and its (much less successful) sequel series, "After M*A*S*H."

Want to learn more about the 4077? Looper has you covered with "M*A*S*H" storylines that simply disappeared without being resolved and a breakdown of M*A*S*H* actors who have sadly passed away.