Stranger Things filming locations: visiting Hawkins in Georgia, from Jackson to Starcourt
Guide · Travel · Filming locations
Hawkins does not exist, but you can go there: the town in the show is an assembly of small towns around Atlanta, in Georgia, an hour's drive from one another. Here are the places you can see, what they have become, and a two-day itinerary to do it all.
The essentials
- The base: Atlanta, Georgia; rent a car
- Downtown: Jackson, an hour to the south
- Starcourt: a mall in Duluth, to the north
- the Creel house: Rome, an hour and a half to the northwest
Contents
Jackson: downtown
The town's main street, with its brick facades, its movie theater and its shops, is Jackson's, a town of five thousand people an hour south of Atlanta. That is where the street scenes of every season are shot, including the 1985 shopkeepers' protest and the ruined town of 1987, rebuilt on site. The shopkeepers play along: posters, souvenirs, and a welcome used to fans.
The Hawkins T-shirt, for the trip.
In the shopChief Hopper Hawkins Police tank top36,90 €See the product
The houses and the lab
| Place of the show | Real place | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| the Byers house | A private house south of Atlanta | See from the road, without going in |
| the Wheeler house | A suburban residential neighborhood | See from the road |
| The lab | A former psychiatric hospital on a university campus | See the exterior |
| High school and middle school | A former school in Stockbridge | Outdoor, depending on the days |
| The Palace Arcade | A Palmetto laundromat, redecorated for season 2 | See the facade |
| Starcourt | A wing of a mall in Duluth | The set was taken down; the mall exists |
| the Creel house | A historic house in Rome | See from the street; visits during events |
| The quarry and the lake | Private quarries and lakes around Atlanta | Hard to access |
The houses are private property: you look at them from the street, you do not ring. The owners of the Byers house long welcomed fans kindly; respect is the condition for that to last.
Starcourt and the Creel house
The mall of Season 3 was built in a wing of a real Duluth mall, north of Atlanta, with real 1985 signs; the set was taken down after the shoot, but the mall exists and fans recognize the volumes there. The Creel house is a Victorian home in Rome, an hour and a half to the northwest, filmed from the outside: it can be visited at occasional events, and can be seen from the street all year.
What you cannot visitThe inside of the lab, the Upside Down Creel house, the tunnels, the Abyss: all of that is on a soundstage, in Atlanta, closed to the public. The show built more than it filmed outdoors; the places you can visit are the facades.
A two-day itinerary
Day 1, the south: Jackson in the morning, for downtown and lunch; the Byers house and the arcade in the afternoon; the high school at the end of the day, on the way back to Atlanta. Day 2, the north: Starcourt in Duluth in the morning, the Creel house in Rome in the afternoon, back to Atlanta in the evening. Count on four to five hours of driving a day, and a car: nothing is reachable by transit.
Advice
Start from Atlanta, rent a car, and check the events: Jackson and Rome organize fan days, with rebuilt sets and sometimes actors. Respect private property, do not block the streets, and buy something from Jackson's shopkeepers: they are the ones who keep Hawkins alive. Guided tours exist, leaving from Atlanta, for a day, for those who do not want to drive.
The Hopper figure, the police chief.
In the shopSet of 8 figures, the Hawkins party series B39,90 €See the product
The map of the places, from north to south
| Place | What was filmed there | Distance from Atlanta |
|---|---|---|
| Rome | The Creel house (exteriors) and the Pennhurst asylum, in a private school | About 1 h 30 northwest |
| Duluth | Gwinnett Place Mall, the Starcourt of 1985 | About 40 minutes northeast |
| Atlanta | The lab, in a former psychiatric institute; the Bellwood quarry; the studios | The center |
| East Point | Exteriors from season 1, including a library and a church | Southwest of town |
| Stockbridge | Hawkins middle school and high school, in a real high school | About 30 minutes south |
| Jackson | Downtown Hawkins: the main street, city hall, the bridge | About 1 hour south |
| Griffin | The Season 4 trailer park | About 1 hour south |
| Fayetteville | The Byers house, private property | About 45 minutes south |
What you can do, and what you cannot
You can walk through downtown Jackson, photograph the town-hall facade and the shops on the main street, sit on the benches where the party was filmed, and visit the shops that sell Hawkins souvenirs. You can see the Creel house in Rome from the street, and drive to the Duluth mall, whose surroundings are accessible. You can also park at a distance from the Byers house, and look at it from the road.
You cannot go into the houses, which are private property, nor into the lab, on a closed campus, nor into the studios, where the interiors were built. Hopper's cabin no longer exists, and the season 4 scenes in Russia were filmed in Lithuania, those in Nevada in New Mexico. Respect for the residents is the rule: Jackson has lived with the fans since 2016, as long as they stay on the sidewalk.
A two-day itinerary, in detail
Day 1, south: leave Atlanta in the morning, Stockbridge for the high school, then Jackson for the main street and lunch, then Fayetteville for the Byers house seen from the road, and Griffin for the trailer park. Back to Atlanta at the end of the day by way of the Bellwood quarry, to be seen from the park around it.
Day 2, north: Duluth in the morning for the mall, then Rome for the Creel house and Pennhurst school, with lunch in historic downtown Rome. Back by the lab campus, to photograph from the street. In two days, you have seen Hawkins in 1983, Starcourt in 1985, and the Creel house in 1986; Russia and Nevada take other trips.
The town poster.
In the shopChief Hopper Hawkins Police hoodie59,90 €See the product
TakeawayJackson: downtown, an hour south of Atlanta. The houses and the lab: facades, from the street. Starcourt in Duluth, the Creel house in Rome. Two days, a car, respect for the residents.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Stranger Things filmed?
In Georgia, around Atlanta: Jackson for downtown, suburbs for the houses, Duluth for Starcourt, Rome for the Creel house, and Atlanta studios for the interiors.
Can you visit Hawkins?
Yes, by car from Atlanta: Jackson, the Byers house, the lab, the arcade, Starcourt and the Creel house can be seen from the outside. The interiors are on a closed studio lot.
Can you go into the Byers house?
No, it is private property. You look at it from the street.
How long to see everything?
Two days, with a car: the south (Jackson, the houses, the high school) then the north (Starcourt, the Creel house).
Where are the season 4 locations in Georgia?
The Creel house and the Pennhurst asylum in Rome, northwest of Atlanta, and the trailer park in Griffin, to the south. The Russian prison is in Lithuania, the Nevada bunker in New Mexico.
Can you visit the Starcourt mall?
Its surroundings, yes: the Gwinnett Place mall, near Duluth, is in decline but accessible from the outside. The 1985 sets were taken down after filming.