Where was Paradise filmed?

This Paradise scene opens on Cord sitting at the kitchen table, cleaning his gun. His niece comes into the kitchen, and this conversation takes place with all of Cord’s nephews also eventually joining the discussion.

Claire: You’re going after those men, aren’t you?

Cord: Uh-huh.

Ben {Cord’s nephew}: Good! Get ‘em, Uncle Ethan! Kill ‘em!

Claire: Ben! Ben: They shot Marshall Walker!

Claire: That doesn’t mean that Uncle Ethan has to fight them Let’s just leave here. Move away. We can ranch anywhere.

Joseph: We can’t even ranch here.

Claire: We’re learning. We’re getting better every day.

Ben: I don’t wanna move.

Claire: Don’t you see? We have to. He might be killed.

Joseph: He won’t be killed. He’s the best!

Cord: I’m not the best, Ben. Not at anything that matters. I can’t even hang up my guns.

There are several public transit options that will take you to this Paradise film location. You can take bus lines 222, 501, or PINK or pick up the subway’s B Line (Red.)

Amelia and Cord stand in the streets, surveying the damage surrounding them. The town in shambles, and the mine is now no longer operable. The two discuss the state of affairs in the city.

Cord: Just look at it. One week, and it’s just like the mine was never here. I’ve seen it a hundred times before. First the mine and then the town.

Amelia: It’s because people leave. If they stay, it won’t happen.

Cord: They can’t stay if they’ve got nothing to stay for. Face it, Amelia, Paradise is a mining town. Without the mine, there’s no reason for it.

The Acton and Agua Dulce Shuttle will take you directly to the street where this well-known scene was filmed.

In this episode of Paradise, Cord meets Amelia on the steps of the bank. He dismounts from his horse and hands her a leather satchel. This conversation ensues between the two.

Cord: Hey, you forgetting something! {He hands her the satchel.} What’s all in there?

Amelia: It’s not the money. He’s stolen the divorce papers as well. Go on.

Cord: Going somewhere?

Amelia: San Francisco. I’m going to hire a lawyer and get the bank and the papers back.

Cord: Good idea.

To visit the site of this Paradise production location, bus lines 12 and 757 are your best public transportation options. These routes will take you to Placerita Canyon Road where you can travel the remaining distance to this film set on foot.

Cord stops by Charlie’s hotel. He has heard that Matthew Grady, a Texas ranger, has come to town and suspects he is there to arrest him and force him to return to Texas where he will stand trial. He rightly assumes that should he return to Texas that it is unlikely he will receive a fair trial. He and Charlie share this discussion in one of the best scenes in Paradise.

Cord: Noticed that you have a visitor.

Charlie: Visitor?

Cord: Don’t get yourself worked up, Charlie. I know who Matthew Grady is. I need to know why he’s here.

Charlie: Ethan, he’s just over here giving me a little courtesy call, and while he was here, he just happened to mention the fact he’s a Texas ranger.

Cord: I’m in a hurry, Charlie.

Charlie: Ethan, all I know is he’s down here on official business. That’s all I know.

Cord: Is he here for me? Take me back to Texas?

Charlie: Ethan, I can’t talk about that.

Cord: Then don’t.

Charlie: Ethan, all I know is he’s down here to take you back to Texas to stand trial. And he told me he’d try to take you back alive. That’s the truth.

Though it is difficult to pinpoint the precise spot where this Paradise film scene was shot in Columbia, you will easily recognize much of the landscape as a lot of footage was captured here in various different episodes. To reach Columbia by public transit, you can take any of the following bus lines: 210, 344, 40, 6, or 8.

In one of the final scenes in the series, Amelia awakens Cord to tell him of her plans to leave Paradise. Cord is hurt and groggy but still lucid when she rouses him from his sleep. The two share this dialogue.

Amelia: Ethan, are you listening? Ethan, I’m leaving.

Cord: Where are you going? I’ll be alright.

Amelia: No, honey. I’m leaving Paradise.

Cord: You’re leaving me?

Amelia: I can’t do it anymore. I can’t stay.

Cord: Why?

Amelia: Last night, in the hotel room, I lived out my worst nightmare. You were dead, and I was raising your sisters’ four children. My life didn’t matter anymore because without you, my life was just empty.

Cord: But I didn’t die.

Amelia: Not this time. But I can’t go through that again, and I know that if I stay, I’m gonna have to one day.

She tells Cord she loves him, and he tells her that he will not allow her to leave. She insists that he cannot stop her. He asks her for one final thing before she leaves to tell him one thing: if she will return. She turns away from his gaze, picks up her bags, and descends the staircase of the house to leave Paradise for good. After saying goodbye to the children, she enters her carriage and departs with the children watching her carriage ride away.

The best way to reach Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, the site of many of the best action scenes in Paradise, is via this shuttle service: Acton and Agua Dulce Shuttle.

Cord meets with John Taylor on the porch swing out front of the home he once shared with Amelia and the children. She is gone now, and he laments that he is unhappy with his life. He and John Taylor share these words with each other.

Taylor: You’re needed here, Ethan.

Cord: For what? Take care of sick birds? Keep an eye on wayward dancehall girls and shifty gamblers? Police school children and wet nurse Tiny? I don’t think so.

Taylor: You’re tired, Ethan.

Cord: I can’t even rest. Can’t even go home to the children I’m supposed to be raising.

Taylor: They understand. They understand a lot more than you think. So do I. It’s a family house, Ethan. It needs lights, voices, laughter, fire in the fireplace, and dinner cooking on the stove. Good night, Ethan.

Cord: John Taylor, I miss her.

Taylor: Amelia will be back.

Cord: How do you know?

Taylor: I’m old; I’m wise.

With these final words, John Taylor exits the scene with a smile.

This particular Paradise film set is now a private home that is indistinguishable from other residences in the area. Still, you can visit Sonora and walk the downtown core and residential areas, imagining each of your favorite scenes that were shot on these very roads only a few short decades ago. To reach Sonora, take the public bus line BROWN.